diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 1248-0.txt | 9081 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 1248-h/1248-h.htm | 10554 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/1248-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 206911 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/1248-h/1248-h.htm | 10956 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/1248.txt | 9467 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/1248.zip | bin | 0 -> 199469 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/old/bbill10.txt | 9753 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/old/bbill10.zip | bin | 0 -> 196431 bytes |
11 files changed, 49827 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/1248-0.txt b/1248-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..93f240a --- /dev/null +++ b/1248-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9081 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1248 *** + +LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS + +The Life Story of William F. Cody ["Buffalo Bill"] + + +by Helen Cody Wetmore + + + + +LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS + +THE LIFE STORY OF COL. WILLIAM F. CODY "BUFFALO BILL" + +AS TOLD BY HIS SISTER HELEN CODY WETMORE + + + + +TO THE MEMORY OF A MOTHER WHOSE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER STILL LIVES A +HALLOWED INFLUENCE + + + + +GENEALOGY OF BUFFALO BILL. + +The following genealogical sketch was compiled in 1897. The crest is +copied from John Rooney's "Genealogical History of Irish Families." + +It is not generally known that genuine royal blood courses in Colonel +Cody's veins. He is a lineal descendant of Milesius, king of Spain, that +famous monarch whose three sons, Heber, Heremon, and Ir, founded the +first dynasty in Ireland, about the beginning of the Christian era. The +Cody family comes through the line of Heremon. The original name was +Tireach, which signifies "The Rocks." Muiredach Tireach, one of the +first of this line, and son of Fiacha Straivetine, was crowned king of +Ireland, Anno Domini 320. Another of the line became king of Connaught, +Anno Domini 701. The possessions of the Sept were located in the present +counties of Clare, Galway, and Mayo. The names Connaught-Gallway, after +centuries, gradually contracted to Connallway, Connellway, Connelly, +Conly, Cory, Coddy, Coidy, and Cody, and is clearly shown by ancient +indentures still traceable among existing records. On the maternal side, +Colonel Cody can, without difficulty, follow his lineage to the best +blood of England. Several of the Cody family emigrated to America in +1747, settling in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The name is +frequently mentioned in Revolutionary history. Colonel Cody is a member +of the Cody family of Revolutionary fame. Like the other Spanish-Irish +families, the Codys have their proof of ancestry in the form of a crest, +the one which Colonel Cody is entitled to use being printed herewith. +The lion signifies Spanish origin. It is the same figure that forms a +part of the royal coat-of-arms of Spain to this day--Castile and +Leon. The arm and cross denote that the descent is through the line of +Heremon, whose posterity were among the first to follow the cross, as a +symbol of their adherence to the Christian faith. + + + + +PREFACE. + +In presenting this volume to the public the writer has a twofold +purpose. For a number of years there has been an increasing demand for +an authentic biography of "Buffalo Bill," and in response, many books +of varying value have been submitted; yet no one of them has borne +the hall-mark of veracious history. Naturally, there were incidents in +Colonel Cody's life--more especially in the earlier years--that could be +given only by those with whom he had grown up from childhood. For +many incidents of his later life I am indebted to his own and others' +accounts. I desire to acknowledge obligation to General P. H. Sheridan, +Colonel Inman, Colonel Ingraham, and my brother for valuable assistance +furnished by Sheridan's Memoirs, "The Santa Fe Trail," "The Great Salt +Lake Trail," "Buffalo Bill's Autobiography," and "Stories from the Life +of Buffalo Bill." + +A second reason that prompted the writing of my brother's life-story is +purely personal. The sobriquet of "Buffalo Bill" has conveyed to many +people an impression of his personality that is far removed from the +facts. They have pictured in fancy a rough frontier character, without +tenderness and true nobility. But in very truth has the poet sung: + + "The bravest are the tenderest-- + The loving are the daring." + +The public knows my brother as boy Indian-slayer, a champion +buffalo-hunter, a brave soldier, a daring scout, an intrepid +frontiersman, and a famous exhibitor. It is only fair to him that a +glimpse be given of the parts he played behind the scenes--devotion to +a widowed mother, that pushed the boy so early upon a stage of ceaseless +action, continued care and tenderness displayed in later years, and the +generous thoughtfulness of manhood's prime. + +Thus a part of my pleasant task has been to enable the public to see my +brother through his sister's eyes--eyes that have seen truly if kindly. +If I have been tempted into praise where simple narrative might to the +reader seem all that was required, if I have seemed to exaggerate in any +of my history's details, I may say that I am not conscious of having set +down more than "a plain, unvarnished tale." Embarrassed with riches of +fact, I have had no thought of fiction. H. C. W. + +CODYVIEW, DULUTH, MINNESOTA, February 26, 1899. + + + + +LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS. + + + +CHAPTER I. -- THE OLD HOMESTEAD IN IOWA. + +A PLEASANT, roomy farm-house, set in the sunlight against a background +of cool, green wood and mottled meadow--this is the picture that my +earliest memories frame for me. To this home my parents, Isaac and Mary +Cody, had moved soon after their marriage. + +The place was known as the Scott farm, and was situated in Scott County, +Iowa, near the historic little town of Le Clair, where, but a few years +before, a village of the Fox Indians had been located; where Black Hawk +and his thousand warriors had assembled for their last war-dance; where +the marquee of General Scott was erected, and the treaty with the Sacs +and Foxes drawn up; and where, in obedience to the Sac chief's terms, +Antoine Le Clair, the famous half-breed Indian scholar and interpreter, +had built his cabin, and given to the place his name. Here, in this +atmosphere of pioneer struggle and Indian warfare--in the farm-house +in the dancing sunshine, with the background of wood and meadow--my +brother, William Frederick Cody, was born, on the 26th day of February, +1846. + +Of the good, old-fashioned sort was our family, numbering five daughters +and two sons--Martha, Samuel, Julia, William, Eliza, Helen, and May. +Samuel, a lad of unusual beauty of face and nature, was killed through +an unhappy accident before he was yet fourteen. + +He was riding "Betsy Baker," a mare well known among old settlers +in Iowa as one of speed and pedigree, yet displaying at times a most +malevolent temper, accompanied by Will, who, though only seven years +of age, yet sat his pony with the ease and grace that distinguished the +veteran rider of the future. Presently Betsy Baker became fractious, and +sought to throw her rider. In vain did she rear and plunge; he kept his +saddle. Then, seemingly, she gave up the fight, and Samuel cried, in +boyish exultation: + +"Ah, Betsy Baker, you didn't quite come it that time!" + +His last words! As if she knew her rider was a careless victor off +his guard, the mare reared suddenly and flung herself upon her back, +crushing the daring boy beneath her. + +Though to us younger children our brother Samuel was but a shadowy +memory, in him had centered our parents' fondest hopes and aims. These, +naturally, were transferred to the younger, now the only son, and the +hope that mother, especially, held for him was strangely stimulated by +the remembrance of the mystic divination of a soothsayer in the years +agone. My mother was a woman of too much intelligence and force of +character to nourish an average superstition; but prophecies fulfilled +will temper, though they may not shake, the smiling unbelief of the most +hard-headed skeptic. Mother's moderate skepticism was not proof against +the strange fulfillment of one prophecy, which fell out in this wise: + +To a Southern city, which my mother visited when a girl, there came a +celebrated fortune-teller, and led by curiosity, my mother and my aunt +one day made two of the crowd that thronged the sibyl's drawing-rooms. + +Both received with laughing incredulity the prophecy that my aunt and +the two children with her would be dead in a fortnight; but the dread +augury was fulfilled to the letter. All three were stricken with +yellow fever, and died within less than the time set. This startling +confirmation of the soothsayer's divining powers not unnaturally +affected my mother's belief in that part of the prophecy relating to +herself that "she would meet her future husband on the steamboat by +which she expected to return home; that she would be married to him in a +year, and bear three sons, of whom only the second would live, but that +the name of this son would be known all over the world, and would one +day be that of the President of the United States." The first part of +this prophecy was verified, and Samuel's death was another link in the +curious chain of circumstances. Was it, then, strange that mother looked +with unusual hope upon her second son? + +That 'tis good fortune for a boy to be only brother to five sisters is +open to question. The older girls petted Will; the younger regarded him +as a superior being; while to all it seemed so fit and proper that the +promise of the stars concerning his future should be fulfilled that +never for a moment did we weaken in our belief that great things were +in store for our only brother. We looked for the prophecy's complete +fulfillment, and with childish veneration regarded Will as one destined +to sit in the executive's chair. + +My mother, always somewhat delicate, was so affected in health by +the shock of Samuel's death that a change of scene was advised. The +California gold craze was then at its height, and father caught the +fever, though in a mild form; for he had prospered as a farmer, and +we not only had a comfortable home, but were in easy circumstances. +Influenced in part by a desire to improve mother's health, and in +part, no doubt, by the golden day-dreams that lured so many Argonauts +Pacificward, he disposed of his farm, and bade us prepare for a Western +journey. Before his plans were completed he fell in with certain +disappointed gold-seekers returning from the Coast, and impressed by +their representations, decided in favor of Kansas instead of California. + +Father had very extravagant ideas regarding vehicles and horses, and +such a passion for equestrian display, that we often found ourselves +with a stable full of thoroughbreds and an empty cupboard. For our +Western migration we had, in addition to three prairie-schooners, a +large family carriage, drawn by a span of fine horses in silver-mounted +harness. This carriage had been made to order in the East, upholstered +in the finest leather, polished and varnished as though for a royal +progress. Mother and we girls found it more comfortable riding than the +springless prairie-schooners. + +Brother Will constituted himself an armed escort, and rode proudly +alongside on his pony, his gun slung across the pommel of his saddle, +and the dog Turk bringing up the rear. + +To him this Western trip thrilled with possible Indian skirmishes and +other stirring adventures, though of the real dangers that lay in our +path he did not dream. For him, therefore, the first week of our travels +held no great interest, for we were constantly chancing upon settlers +and farm-houses, in which the night might be passed; but with every +mile the settlers grew fewer and farther between; until one day Will +whispered to us, in great glee: "I heard father tell mother that he +expected we should have to camp to-night. Now we'll have some fun!" + +Will's hope was well founded. Shortly before nightfall we reached a +stream that demanded a ferry-boat for its crossing, and as the nearest +dwelling was a dozen miles away, it was decided that we should camp by +the stream-side. The family was first sent across the ferry, and upon +the eight-year-old lad of the house father placed the responsibility of +selecting the ground on which to pitch the tents. + +My brother's career forcibly illustrates the fact that environment plays +as large a part as heredity in shaping character. Perhaps his love for +the free life of the plains is a heritage derived from some long-gone +ancestor; but there can be no doubt that to the earlier experiences +of which I am writing he owed his ability as a scout. The faculty for +obtaining water, striking trails, and finding desirable camping-grounds +in him seemed almost instinct. + +The tents being pitched upon a satisfactory site, Will called to Turk, +the dog, and rifle in hand, set forth in search of game for supper. He +was successful beyond his fondest hopes. He had looked only for small +game, but scarcely had he put the camp behind him when Turk gave a +signaling yelp, and out of the bushes bounded a magnificent deer. Nearly +every hunter will confess to "buck fever" at sight of his first deer, so +it is not strange that a boy of Will's age should have stood immovable, +staring dazedly at the graceful animal until it vanished from sight. +Turk gave chase, but soon trotted back, and barked reproachfully at his +young master. But Will presently had an opportunity to recover Turk's +good opinion, for the dog, after darting away, with another signaling +yelp fetched another fine stag within gun range. This time the young +hunter, mastering his nerves, took aim with steady hand, and brought +down his first deer. + +On the following Sabbath we were encamped by another deep, swift-running +stream. After being wearied and overheated by a rabbit chase, Turk +attempted to swim across this little river, but was chilled, and would +have perished had not Will rushed to the rescue. The ferryman saw the +boy struggling with the dog in the water, and started after him with his +boat. But Will reached the bank without assistance. + +"I've hearn of dogs saving children, but this is the first time I ever +hearn of a child saving a dog from drowning," ejaculated the ferryman. +"How old be you?" + +"Eight, going on nine," answered Will. + +"You're a big boy for your age," said the man. "But it's a wonder you +didn't sink with that load; he's a big old fellow," referring to Turk, +who, standing on three feet, was vigorously shaking the water from his +coat. Will at once knelt down beside him, and taking the uplifted foot +in his hands, remarked: "He must have sprained one of his legs when he +fell over that log; he doesn't whine like your common curs when they get +hurt." + +"He's blooded stock, then," said the man. "What kind of dog do you call +him?" + +"He's an Ulm dog," said Will. + +"I never heard tell of that kind of dog before." + +"Did you ever hear of a tiger-mastiff, German mastiff, boar-hound, great +Dane? Turk's all of them together." + +"Well," said the ferryman, "you're a pretty smart little fellow, and got +lots of grit. You ought to make your mark in the world. But right now +you had better get into some dry clothes." And on the invitation of the +ferryman, Will and the limping dog got into the boat, and were taken +back to camp. + +Turk played so conspicuous and important a part in our early lives that +he deserves a brief description. He was a large and powerful animal of +the breed of dogs anciently used in Germany in hunting the wild boars. +Later the dogs were imported into England, where they were particularly +valued by people desiring a strong, brave watch-dog. When specially +trained, they are more fierce and active than the English mastiff. +Naturally they are not as fond of the water as the spaniel, the +stag-hound, or the Newfoundland, though they are the king of dogs on +land. Not alone Will, but the rest of the family, regarded Turk as the +best of his kind, and he well deserved the veneration he inspired. His +fidelity and almost human intelligence were time and again the means of +saving life and property; ever faithful, loyal, and ready to lay down +his life, if need be, in our service. + +Outlaws and desperadoes were always to be met with on Western trails in +those rugged days, and more than once Turk's constant vigilance warned +father in time to prevent attacks from suspicious night prowlers. The +attachment which had grown up between Turk and his young master was but +the natural love of boys for their dogs intensified. Will at that time +estimated dogs as in later years he did men, the qualities which +he found to admire in Turk being vigilance, strength, courage, and +constancy. With men, as with dogs, he is not lavishly demonstrative; +rarely pats them on the back. But deeds of merit do not escape his +notice or want his appreciation. The patience, unselfishness, and true +nobility observed in this faithful canine friend of his boyhood days +have many times proved to be lacking in creatures endowed with a soul; +yet he has never lost faith in mankind, or in the ultimate destiny of +his race. This I conceive to be a characteristic of all great men. + +This trip was memorable for all of us, perhaps especially so for brother +Will, for it comprehended not only his first deer, but his first negro. + +As we drew near the Missouri line we came upon a comfortable farm-house, +at which father made inquiry concerning a lodging for the night. A widow +lived there, and the information that father was brother to Elijah Cody, +of Platte County, Missouri, won us a cordial welcome and the hospitality +of her home. + +We were yet in the road, waiting father's report, when our startled +vision and childish imagination took in a seeming apparition, which +glided from the bushes by the wayside. + +It proved a full-blooded African, with thick lips, woolly hair, enormous +feet, and scant attire. To all except mother this was a new revelation +of humanity, and we stared in wild-eyed wonder; even Turk was surprised +into silence. At this point father rejoined us, to share in mother's +amusement, and to break the spell for us by pleasantly addressing the +negro, who returned a respectful answer, accompanied by an ample grin. +He was a slave on the widow's plantation. + +Reassured by the grin, Will offered his hand, and tasted the joy of +being addressed as "Massa" in the talk that followed. It was with +difficulty that we prevailed upon "Masse" to come to supper. + +After a refreshing night's sleep we went on our way, and in a few days +reached my uncle's home. A rest was welcome, as the journey had been +long and toilsome, despite the fact that it had been enlivened by many +interesting incidents, and was thoroughly enjoyed by all of the family. + + + +CHAPTER II. -- WILL'S FIRST INDIAN. + +MY uncle's home was in Weston, Platte County, Missouri, at that time the +large city of the West. As father desired to get settled again as soon +as possible, he left us at Weston, and crossed the Missouri River on +a prospecting tour, accompanied by Will and a guide. More than one day +went by in the quest for a desirable location, and one morning +Will, wearied in the reconnoissance, was left asleep at the night's +camping-place, while father and the guide rode away for the day's +exploring. + +When Will opened his eyes they fell upon the most interesting object +that the world just then could offer him--an Indian! + +The "noble red man," as he has been poetically termed by people who have +but known him from afar, was in the act of mounting Will's horse, while +near by stood his own, a miserable, scrawny beast. + +Will's boyish dreams were now a reality; he looked upon his first +Indian. Here, too, was a "buck"--not a graceful, vanishing deer, but +a dirty redskin, who seemingly was in some hurry to be gone. Without a +trace of "buck fever," Will jumped up, rifle in hand, and demanded: + +"Here, what are you doing with my horse?" + +The Indian regarded the lad with contemptuous composure. + +"Me swap horses with paleface boy," said he. + +The red man was fully armed, and Will did not know whether his father +and the guide were within call or not; but to suffer the Indian to +ride away with Uncle Elijah's fine horse was to forfeit his father's +confidence and shake his mother's and sisters' belief in the family +hero; so he put a bold face upon the matter, and remarked carelessly, as +if discussing a genuine transaction: + +"No; I won't swap." + +"Paleface boy fool!" returned the Indian, serenely. + +Now this was scarcely the main point at issue, so Will contented himself +with replying, quietly but firmly: + +"You cannot take my horse." + +The Indian condescended to temporize. "Paleface horse no good," said he. + +"Good enough for me," replied Will, smiling despite the gravity of the +situation. The Indian shone rather as a liar than a judge of horseflesh. +"Good enough for me; so you can take your old rack of bones and go." + +Much to Will's surprise, the red man dropped the rein, flung himself +upon his own pony, and made off. And down fell "Lo the poor Indian" from +the exalted niche that he had filled in Will's esteem, for while it was +bad in a copper hero to steal horses, it was worse to flee from a boy +not yet in his teens. But a few moments later Lo went back to his lofty +pedestal, for Will heard the guide's voice, and realized that it was the +sight of a man, and not the threats of a boy, that had sent the Indian +about his business--if he had any. + +The guide had returned to escort Will to the spot which father, after +a search of nearly a week, had discovered, and where he had decided +to locate our home. It was in Salt Creek Valley, a fertile blue-grass +region, sheltered by an amphitheater range of hills. The old Salt Lake +trail traversed this valley. There were at this time two great highways +of Western travel, the Santa Fe and the Salt Lake trails; later the +Oregon trail came into prominence. Of these the oldest and most historic +was the Santa Fe trail, the route followed by explorers three hundred +years ago. It had been used by Indian tribes from time, to white men, +immemorial. At the beginning of this century it was first used as an +artery of commerce. Over it Zebulon Pike made his well-known Western +trip, and from it radiated his explorations. The trail lay some distance +south of Leavenworth. It ran westward, dipping slightly to the south +until the Arkansas River was reached; then, following the course of this +stream to Bent's Fort, it crossed the river and turned sharply to the +south. It went through Raton Pass, and below Las Vegas it turned west to +Santa Fe. + +Exploration along the line of the Salt Lake trail began also with this +century. It became a beaten highway at the time of the Mormon exodus +from Nauvoo to their present place of abode. The trail crossed the +Missouri River at Leavenworth, and ran northerly to the Platte, touching +that stream at Fort Kearny. With a few variations it paralleled the +Platte to its junction with the Sweetwater, and left this river valley +to run through South Pass to big Sandy Creek, turning south to follow +this little stream. At Fort Bridger it turned westward again, passed +Echo Canon, and a few miles farther on ran into Salt Lake City. Over +this trail journeyed thousands of gold-hunters toward California, +hopeful and high-spirited on the westerly way, disappointed and +depressed, the large majority of them, on the back track. +Freighting outfits, cattle trains, emigrants--nearly all the western +travel--followed this track across the new land. A man named Rively, +with the gift of grasping the advantage of location, had obtained +permission to establish a trading-post on this trail three miles beyond +the Missouri, and as proximity to this depot of supplies was a manifest +convenience, father's selection of a claim only two miles distant was a +wise one. + +The Kansas-Nebraska Bill, which provided for the organizing of those +two territories and opened them for settlement, was passed in May. 1854. +This bill directly opposed the Missouri Compromise, which restricted +slavery to all territory south of 36'0 30" north latitude. A clause in +the new bill provided that the settlers should decide for themselves +whether the new territories were to be free or slave states. Already +hundreds of settlers were camped upon the banks of the Missouri, waiting +the passage of the bill before entering and acquiring possession of +the land. Across the curtain of the night ran a broad ribbon of dancing +camp-fires, stretching for miles along the bank of the river. + +None too soon had father fixed upon his claim. The act allowing settlers +to enter was passed in less than a week afterward. Besides the pioneers +intending actual settlement, a great rush was made into the territories +by members of both political parties. These became the gladiators, with +Kansas the arena, for a bitter, bloody contest between those desiring +and those opposing the extension of slave territory. + +Having already decided upon his location, father was among the first, +after the bill was passed, to file a claim and procure the necessary +papers, and shortly afterward he had a transient abiding-place prepared +for us. Whatever mother may have thought of the one-roomed cabin, whose +chinks let in the sun by day and the moon and stars by night, and whose +carpet was nature's greenest velvet, life in it was a perennial picnic +for the children. Meantime father was at work on our permanent home, +and before the summer fled we were domiciled in a large double-log +house--rough and primitive, but solid and comfort-breeding. + +This same autumn held an episode so deeply graven in my memory that time +has not blurred a dine of it. Jane, our faithful maid of all work, who +went with us to our Western home, had little time to play the governess. +Household duties claimed her every waking hour, as mother was delicate, +and the family a large one; so Turk officiated as both guardian and +playmate of the children. + +One golden September day Eliza and I set out after wild flowers, +accompanied by Turk and mother's caution not to stray too far, as wild +beasts, 'twas said, lurked in the neighboring forest; but the prettiest +flowers were always just beyond, and we wandered afield until we reached +a fringe of timber half a mile from the house, where we tarried under +the trees. Meantime mother grew alarmed, and Will was dispatched after +the absent tots. + +Turk, as we recalled, had sought to put a check upon our wanderings, and +when we entered the woods his restlessness increased. Suddenly he began +to paw up the carpet of dry leaves, and a few moments later the shrill +scream of a panther echoed through the forest aisles. + +Eliza was barely six years old, and I was not yet four. We clung to +each other in voiceless terror. Then from afar came a familiar +whistle--Will's call to his dog. That heartened us, babes as we were, +for was not our brother our reliance in every emergency? Rescue was +at hand; but Turk continued tearing up the leaves, after signaling his +master with a loud bark. Then, pulling at our dresses, he indicated the +refuge he had dug for us. Here we lay down, and the dog covered us with +the leaves, dragging to the heap, as a further screen, a large dead +branch. Then, with the heart of a lion, he put himself on guard. + +From our leafy covert we could see the panther's tawny form come gliding +through the brush. He saw Turk, and crouched for a spring. This came as +an arrow, but Turk dodged it; and then, with a scream such as I never +heard from dog before or since, our defender hurled himself upon the +foe. + +Turk was powerful, and his courage was flawless, but he was no match for +the panther. In a few moments the faithful dog lay stunned and bleeding +from one stroke of the forest-rover's steel-shod paw. The cruel beast +had scented other prey, and dismissing Turk, he paced to and fro, +seeking to locate us. We scarcely dared to breathe, and every throb of +our frightened little hearts was a prayer that Will would come to us in +time. + +At last the panther's roving eyes rested upon our inadequate +hiding-place, and as he crouched for the deadly leap we hid our faces. + +But Turk had arisen. Wounded as he was, he yet made one last heroic +effort to save us by again directing the panther's attention to himself. + +The helpless, hopeless ordeal of agony was broken by a rifle's sharp +report. The panther fell, shot through the heart, and out from the +screen of leaves rushed two hysterical little girls, with pallid faces +drowned in tears, who clung about a brother's neck and were shielded in +his arms. + +Will, himself but a child, caressed and soothed us in a most paternal +fashion; and when the stone of sobs was passed we turned to Turk. +Happily his injuries were not fatal, and he whined feebly when his +master reached him. + +"Bravo! Good dog!" cried Will. "You saved them, Turk! You saved them!" +And kneeling beside our faithful friend, he put his arms about the +shaggy neck. + +Dear old Turk! If there be a land beyond the sky for such as thou, may +the snuggest corner and best of bones be thy reward! + + + +CHAPTER III. -- THE SHADOW OF PARTISAN STRIFE. + +OWING to the conditions, already spoken of, under which Kansas was +settled, all classes were represented in its population. Honest, +thrifty farmers and well-to-do traders leavened a lump of shiftless +ne'er-do-wells, lawless adventurers, and vagabonds of all sorts and +conditions. If father at times questioned the wisdom of coming to this +new and untried land, he kept his own counsel, and set a brave face +against the future. + +He had been prominent in political circles in Iowa, and had filled +positions of public trust; but he had no wish to become involved in the +partisan strife that raged in Kansas. He was a Free Soil man, and there +were but two others in that section who did not believe in slavery. For +a year he kept his political views to himself; but it became rumored +about that he was an able public speaker, and the pro-slavery men +naturally ascribed to him the same opinions as those held by his brother +Elijah, a pronounced pro-slavery man; so they regarded father as a +promising leader in their cause. He had avoided the issue, and had +skillfully contrived to escape declaring for one side or the other, but +on the scroll of his destiny it was written that he should be one of the +first victims offered on the sacrificial altar of the struggle for human +liberty. + +The post-trader's was a popular rendezvous for all the settlers round. +It was a day in the summer of '55 that father visited the store, +accompanied, as usual, by Will and Turk. Among the crowd, which was +noisy and excited, he noted a number of desperadoes in the pro-slavery +faction, and noted, too, that Uncle Elijah and our two Free Soil +neighbors, Mr. Hathaway and Mr. Lawrence, were present. + +Father's appearance was greeted by a clamor for a speech. To speak +before that audience was to take his life in his hands; yet in spite of +his excuses he was forced to the chair. + +It was written! There was no escape! Father walked steadily to the +dry-goods box which served as a rostrum. As he passed Mr. Hathaway, +the good old man plucked him by the sleeve and begged him to serve out +platitudes to the crowd, and to screen his real sentiments. + +But father was not a man that dealt in platitudes. + +"Friends," said he, quietly, as he faced his audience and drew himself +to his full height,--"friends, you are mistaken in your man. I am sorry +to disappoint you. I have no wish to quarrel with you. But you +have forced me to speak, and I can do no less than declare my real +convictions. I am, and always have been, opposed to slavery. It is +an institution that not only degrades the slave, but brutalizes +the slave-holder, and I pledge you my word that I shall use my best +endeavors--yes, that I shall lay down my life, if need be--to keep this +curse from finding lodgment upon Kansas soil. It is enough that the +fairest portions of our land are already infected with this blight. +May it spread no farther. All my energy and my ability shall swell the +effort to bring in Kansas as a Free Soil state." + +Up to this point the crowd had been so dumfounded by his temerity that +they kept an astonished silence. Now the storm broke. The rumble of +angry voices swelled into a roar of fury. An angry mob surrounded the +speaker. Several desperadoes leaped forward with deadly intent, and one, +Charles Dunn by name, drove his knife to the hilt into the body of the +brave man who dared thus openly to avow his principles. + +As father fell, Will sprang to him, and turning to the murderous +assailant, cried out in boyhood's fury: + +"You have killed my father! When I'm a man I'll kill you!" + +The crowd slunk away, believing father dead. The deed appalled them; +they were not yet hardened to the lawlessness that was so soon to put +the state to blush. + +Mr. Hathaway and Will then carried father to a hiding-place in the long +grass by the wayside. The crowd dispersed so slowly that dusk came on +before the coast was clear. At length, supported by Will, father dragged +his way homeward, marking his tortured progress with a trail of blood. + +This path was afterward referred to in the early history of Kansas as +"The Cody Bloody Trail." + +It was such wild scenes as these that left their impress on the youth +and fashioned the Cody of later years--cool in emergency, fertile in +resource, swift in decision, dashing and intrepid when the time for +action came. + +Our troubles were but begun. Father's convalescence was long and +tedious; he never recovered fully. His enemies believed him dead, and +for a while we kept the secret guarded; but as soon as he was able to be +about persecution began. + +About a month after the tragedy at Rively's, Will ran in one evening +with the warning that a band of horsemen were approaching. Suspecting +trouble, mother put some of her own clothes about father, gave him a +pail, and bade him hide in the cornfield. He walked boldly from the +house, and sheltered by the gathering dusk, succeeded in passing the +horsemen unchallenged. The latter rode up to the house and dismounted. + +"Where's Cody?" asked the leader. He was informed that father was not at +home. + +"Lucky for him!" was the frankly brutal rejoinder. "We'll make sure work +of the killing next time." + +Disappointed in their main intention, the marauders revenged themselves +in their own peculiar way by looting the house of every article that +took their fancy; then they sat down with the announced purpose of +waiting the return of their prospective victim. + +Fearing the effect of the night air upon father, though it was yet +summer, mother made a sign to Will, who slipped from the room, and +guided by Turk, carried blankets to the cornfield, returning before his +absence had been remarked. The ruffians soon tired of waiting, and rode +away, after warning mother of the brave deed they purposed to perform. +Father came in for the night, returning to his covert with the dawn. + +In expectation of some such raid, we had secreted a good stock of +provisions; but as soon as the day was up Will was dispatched to +Rively's store to reconnoiter, under pretext of buying groceries. +Keeping eyes and ears open, he learned that father's enemies were on the +watch for him; so the cornfield must remain his screen. After several +days, the exposure and anxiety told on his strength. He decided to leave +home and go to Fort Leavenworth, four miles distant. When night fell +he returned to the house, packed a few needed articles, and bade us +farewell. Will urged that he ride Prince, but he regarded his journey +as safer afoot. It was a sad parting. None of us knew whether we should +ever again see our father. + +"I hope," he said to mother, "that these clouds will soon pass away, +and that we may have a happy home once more." Then, placing his hands on +Will's head, "You will have to be the man of the house until my return," +he said. "But I know I can trust my boy to watch over his mother and +sisters." + +With such responsibilities placed upon his shoulders, such confidence +reposed in him, small wonder that Will should grow a man in thought and +feeling before he grew to be one in years. + +Father reached Fort Leavenworth in safety, but the quarrel between the +pro-slavery party and the Free Soilers waxed more bitter, and he decided +that security lay farther on; so he took passage on an up-river boat to +Doniphan, twenty miles distant. This was then a mere landing-place, but +he found a small band of men in camp cooking supper. They were part of +Colonel Jim Lane's command, some three hundred strong, on their way West +from Indiana. + +Colonel Lane was an interesting character. He had been a friend to +Elijah Lovejoy, who was killed, in 1836, for maintaining an anti-slavery +newspaper in Illinois. The Kansas contest speedily developed the +fact that the actual settlers sent from the North by the emigrant-aid +societies would enable the Free State party to outnumber the ruffians +sent in by the Southerners; and when the pro-slavery men were driven to +substituting bullets for ballots, Colonel Lane recruited a band of hardy +men to protect the anti-slavery settlers, and incidentally to avenge the +murder of Lovejoy. + +The meeting of father and Lane's men was a meeting of friends, and he +chose to cast his lot with theirs. Shortly afterward he took part +in "The Battle of Hickory Point," in which the pro-slavery men were +defeated with heavy loss; and thenceforward the name of Jim Lane was a +terror to the lawless and a wall of protection to our family. + +The storm and stress of battle had drawn heavily on what little strength +was left to father, and relying for safety upon the proximity of Colonel +Lane and his men, he returned to us secretly by night, and was at once +prostrated on a bed of sickness. + +This proved a serious strain upon our delicate mother, for during +father's absence a little brother had been added to our home, and not +only had she, in addition to the care of Baby Charlie, the nursing of +a sick man, but she was constantly harassed by apprehensions for his +safety as well. + + + +CHAPTER IV. -- PERSECUTION CONTINUES. + +MOTHER'S fears were well grounded. A few days after father had returned +home, a man named Sharpe, who disgraced the small office of justice of +the peace, rode up to our house, very much the worse for liquor, and +informed mother that his errand was to "search the house for that +abolition husband of yours." The intoxicated ruffian then demanded +something to eat. While mother, with a show of hospitality, was +preparing supper for him, the amiable Mr. Sharpe killed time in +sharpening his bowie-knife on the sole of his shoe. + +"That," said he to Will, who stood watching him, "that's to cut the +heart out of that Free State father of yours!" And he tested the edge +with brutally suggestive care. + +Will's comment was to take down his rifle and place himself on the +staircase leading up to father's room. There was trouble in that quarter +for Mr. Sharpe, if he attempted to ascend those stairs. + +But the justice, as mother surmised, had no notion that father was at +home, else he would not have come alone. He ate heartily of the supper, +which Will hoped would choke him, and passing from drowsiness to drunken +slumber, soon tumbled from his chair. This so confused him that he +forgot his pretended errand, and shambled out of the house. He was +not so drunk that he could not tell a good bit of horseflesh, and he +straightway took a fancy to Prince, the pet pony of the family. An +unwritten plank in the platform of the pro-slavery men was that the Free +Soil party had no rights they were bound to respect, and Sharpe remarked +to Will, with a malicious grin: + +"That's a nice pony of yours, sonny. Guess I'll take him along with me." +And he proceeded to exchange the saddle from the back of his own horse +to that of Prince. + +"You old coward!" muttered Will, bursting with wrath. "I'll get even +with you some day." + +The justice was a tall, burly fellow, and he cut so ridiculous a figure +as he rode away on Prince's back, his heels almost touching the ground, +that Will laughed outright as he thought of a plan to save his pony. + +A shrill whistle brought Turk to the scene, and receiving his cue, the +dog proceeded to give Sharpe a very bad five minutes. He would nip at +one of the dangling legs, spring back out of reach of the whip with a +triumphant bark, then repeat the performance with the other leg. This +little comedy had a delighted spectator in Will, who had followed at a +safe distance. Just as Sharpe made one extra effort to reach Turk, the +boy whistled a signal to Prince, who responded with a bound that dumped +his rider in the dust. Here Turk stood over him and showed his teeth. + +"Call off your dog, bub!" the justice shouted to Will, "and you may keep +your little sheep, for he's no good, anyway." + +"That's a bargain!" cried Will, restored to good humor; and helping the +vanquished foe upon his own steed, he assured him that he need not fear +Turk so long as he kept his word. Sharpe departed, but we were far from +being rid of him. + +About a fortnight later we were enjoying an evening with father, who was +now able to come downstairs. He was seated in a big arm-chair before the +open fire, with his family gathered round him, by his side our frail, +beautiful mother, with Baby Charlie on her knee, Martha and Julia, with +their sewing, and Will, back of mother's chair, tenderly smoothing the +hair from her brow, while he related spiritedly some new escapade of +Turk. Suddenly he checked his narrative, listened for a space, and +announced: + +"There are some men riding on the road toward the house. We'd better be +ready for trouble." + +Mother, equal to every emergency, hurriedly disposed her slender forces +for defense. Martha and Julia were directed to help father to bed; that +done, to repair to the unfurnished front room above stairs; Will was +instructed to call the hired man and Jane, who was almost as large and +quite as strong as the average man; and the three were armed and given +their cue. They were all handy with their weapons, but mother sought to +win by strategy, if possible. She bade the older girls don heavy boots, +and gave them further instructions. By this time the horsemen had +reached the gate. Their leader was the redoubtable Justice Sharpe. He +rode up to the door, and rapped with the but of his riding-whip. Mother +threw up the window overhead. + +"Who's there? and what do you want?" she demanded. + +"We want that old abolition husband of yours, and, dead or alive, we +mean to have him!" + +"All right, Mr. Sharpe," was the steady answer. "I'll ask Colonel Lane +and his men to wait on you." + +The hired man, who had served in the Mexican War, here gave a sharp word +of command, which was responded to by trampling of heavy boots upon the +bare floor. Then, calling a halt, the pretended Colonel Lane advanced to +the window, and shouted to the horsemen: + +"Set foot inside that gate and my men will fire on you!" + +Sharpe, an arrant coward, had retreated at the first sound of a man's +voice, and after a short parley with his nonplused companions, he led +them away--outwitted by a woman. + +As a sort of consolation prize, Sharpe again made off with Prince; but +Will's sorrow in the morning was short-lived, for the sagacious little +creature slipped his halter and came flying home before the forenoon was +half spent. + +After this experience, father decided that, for our sakes as well as for +his own, he must again leave home, and as soon as he recovered a measure +of his strength he went to Grasshopper Falls, thirty-five miles west +of Leavenworth. Here he erected a sawmill, and hoped that he had put +so many miles between him and his enemies that he might be allowed to +pursue a peaceful occupation. He made us occasional visits, so timing +his journey that he reached home after nightfall, and left again before +the sun was up. + +One day when we were looking forward to one of these visits, our good +friend Mr. Hathaway made his appearance about eleven o'clock. + +"It is too bad to be the bearer of ill tidings," said he, "but the news +of your husband's expected visit has been noised about in some way, and +another plot to kill him is afoot. Some of his enemies are camped at Big +Stranger's Creek, and intend to shoot him as he passes there." + +Then followed a long and anxious consultation, which ended without any +plan of rescue. + +All of which had been overheard by Will, who was confined to his bed +with an attack of ague. In him, he decided, lay the only hope for +father's safety; so, dressing, he presented his fever-flushed face to +mother. As he held out a handkerchief, "Tie it tight around my head, +mother," said he; "then it won't ache so hard." + +A remonstrance against his getting out of bed brought out the fact that +he contemplated riding to Grasshopper Falls! + +He was almost too weak to stand, a storm threatened, and thirty miles +lay between him and father; yet he was not to be dissuaded from +his undertaking. So Julia and Martha saddled Prince and helped the +ague-racked courier to his saddle. + +The plunge into the open air and the excitement of the start encouraged +Will to believe that he could hold out. As he settled down to his long, +hard ride he reflected that it was not yet noon, and that father +would not set out until late in the day. Prince seemed to discern that +something extraordinary was afoot, and swung along at a swift, steady +gait. + +Big Stranger's Creek cut the road half-way to the Falls, and Will +approached it before the afternoon was half gone. The lowering sky +darkened the highway, and he hoped to pass the ambush unrecognized; but +as he came up to the stream he made out a camp and campers, one of whom +called out carelessly to him as he passed: + +"Are you all right on the goose?"--the cant phrase of the pro-slavery +men. + +"Never rode a goose in my life, gentlemen," was the reply. + +"That's Cody's boy!" shouted another voice; and the word "Halt!" rang +out just as Will had galloped safely past the camp. + +Will's answer was to drive the spurs into Prince and dart ahead, +followed by a rain of bullets. He was now well out of range, and the +pony still strong and fleet. + +The chase was on, and in the thrill of it Will forgot his weakness. A +new strength came with the rush of air and the ring of hoofs, and "I'll +reach the Falls in time!" was his heartening thought, as pursurer and +pursued sped through the forests, clattered over bridges, and galloped +up hill and down. + +Then broke the long-impending storm, and the hard road became the bed +of a muddy stream. The pursuit was abandoned, and this stimulus removed, +Will felt the chills and weakness coming on again. He was drenched to +the skin, and it was an effort to keep his saddle, but he set his teeth +firmly in his resolve to accomplish his heroic purpose. + +At last! A welcome light gleamed between the crystal bars of the rain. +His mission was accomplished. + +His ride had been longer by ten miles than that famous gallop of the +friend of his after years--Phil Sheridan. Like Sheridan, he reached the +goal in time, for father was just mounting his horse. + +But the ride proved too much for his strength, and Will collapsed. +Father started with him, a few days later, for Topeka, which was +headquarters for the Free State party. + +Father acquainted mother of their safety, and explained that he had gone +to Topeka because he feared his life was no longer safe at Grasshopper +Falls. + +Party strife in Kansas was now at its height. Thousands came into the +territory from adjacent slave states simply to vote, and the pro-slavery +party elected a legislature, whose first meeting was held at Le Compton. +This election the Free Soilers declared illegal, because of fraudulent +voting, and assembling at Topeka in the winter of 1855-56, they framed +a constitution excluding slavery, and organized a rival government. Of +this first Free-Soil Legislature father was a member. + +Thenceforth war was the order of the day, and in the fall of 1856 a +military governor was appointed, with full authority to maintain law and +order in Kansas. + +Recognizing the good work effected by the emigrant-aid societies, and +realizing that in a still larger Northern emigration to Kansas lay the +only hope of its admission as a free state, father went to Ohio in the +following spring, to labor for the salvation of the territory he had +chosen for his home. Here his natural gift of oratory had free play, and +as the result of his work on the stump he brought back to Kansas sixty +families, the most of whom settled in the vicinity of Grasshopper Falls, +now Valley Falls. + +This meant busy times for us, for with that magnificent disregard for +practical matters that characterizes many men of otherwise great gifts, +father had invited each separate family to make headquarters at his +home until other arrangements could be perfected. As a result, our house +overflowed, while the land about us was dotted with tents; but these +melted away, as one by one the families selected claims and put up +cabins. + +Among the other settlers was Judge Delahay, who, with his family, +located at Leavenworth, and began the publishing of the first abolition +newspaper in Kansas. The appointing of the military governor was the +means of restoring comparative tranquillity; but hundreds of outrages +were committed, and the judge and his newspaper came in for a share of +suffering. The printing-office was broken into, and the type and press +thrown into the Missouri River. Undaunted, the judge procured a new +press, and the paper continued. + +A semi-quiet now reigned in the territory; father resumed work at the +sawmill, and we looked forward to a peaceful home and the joy of being +once more permanently united. But it was not to be. The knife wound had +injured father's lung. With care and nursing it might have healed, but +constant suffering attended on the life that persecution had led him, +and in the spring of '57 he again came home, and took to his bed for the +last time. + +All that could be was done, but nothing availed. After a very short +illness he passed away--one of the first martyrs in the cause of freedom +in Kansas. + +The land of his adoption became his last, long resting-place. His +remains now lie on Pilot Knob, which overlooks the beautiful city of +Leavenworth. His death was regretted even by his enemies, who could not +help but grant a tribute of respect to a man who had been upright, just, +and generous to friend and foe. + + + +CHAPTER V. -- THE "BOY EXTRA." + +AT this sorrowful period mother was herself almost at death's door with +consumption, but far from sinking under the blow, she faced the new +conditions with a steadfast calm, realizing that should she, too, be +taken, her children would be left without a protector, and at the mercy +of the enemies whose malignity had brought their father to an untimely +end. Her indomitable will opposed her bodily weakness. "I will not die," +she told herself, "until the welfare of my children is assured." She was +needed, for our persecution continued. + +Hardly was the funeral over when a trumped-up claim for a thousand +dollars, for lumber and supplies, was entered against our estate. Mother +knew the claim was fictitious, as all the bills had been settled, but +the business had been transacted through the agency of Uncle Elijah, and +father had neglected to secure the receipts. In those bitter, troublous +days it too often happened that brother turned against brother, and +Elijah retained his fealty to his party at the expense of his dead +brother's family. + +This fresh affliction but added fuel to the flame of mother's energy. +Our home was paid for, but father's business had been made so broken +and irregular that our financial resources were of the slenderest, and +should this unjust claim for a thousand dollars be allowed, we would be +homeless. + +The result of mother's study of the situation was, "If I had the ready +money, I should fight the claim." + +"You fight the claim, and I'll get the money," Will replied. + +Mother smiled, but Will continued: + +"Russell, Majors & Waddell will give me work. Jim Willis says I am +capable of filling the position of 'extra.' If you'll go with me and ask +Mr. Majors for a job, I'm sure he'll give me one." + +Russell, Majors & Waddell were overland freighters and contractors, +with headquarters at Leavenworth. To Will's suggestion mother entered +a demurrer, but finally yielded before his insistence. Mr. Majors had +known father, and was more than willing to aid us, but Will's youth was +an objection not lightly overridden. + +"What can a boy of your age do?" he asked, kindly. + +"I can ride, shoot, and herd cattle," said Will; "but I'd rather be an +'extra' on one of your trains.' + +"But that is a man's work, and is dangerous besides." Mr. Majors +hesitated. "But I'll let you try it one trip, and if you do a man's +work, I'll give you a man's pay." + +So Will's name was put on the company roll, and he signed a pledge that +illustrates better than a description the character and disposition of +Mr. Majors. + +"I, William F. Cody," it read, "do hereby solemnly swear, before the +great and living God, that during my engagement with, and while I am +in the employ of, Russell, Majors & Waddell, I will, under no +circumstances, use profane language, that I will not quarrel or fight +with any other employee of the firm, and that in every respect I will +conduct myself honestly, be faithful to my duties, and so direct all my +acts as to win the confidence of my employers. So help me God!" + +Mr Majors employed many wild and reckless men, but the language of the +pledge penetrated to the better nature of them all. They endeavored, +with varying success, to live up to its conditions, although most of +them held that driving a bull-team constituted extenuating circumstances +for an occasional expletive. + +The pledge lightened mother's heart; she knew that Will would keep +his word; she felt, too, that a man that required such a pledge of his +employees was worthy of their confidence and esteem. + +The train was to start in a day, and all of us were busy with the +preparations for Will's two months' trip. The moment of parting came, +and it was a trying ordeal for mother, so recently bereaved of husband. +Will sought to soothe her, but the younger sisters had better success, +for with tears in our eyes we crowded about him, imploring him to "run +if he saw any Indians." + +'Tis but a step from tears to smiles; the situation was relieved, and +Will launched his life bark amid adieus of hope and confidence and love. +His fortitude lasted only till he was out of sight of the house; but +youth is elastic, the plains lay before him, and mother and sisters were +to be helped; so he presented a cheerful face to his employers. + +That night the bed of the "boy extra" was a blanket under a wagon; but +he slept soundly, and was ready when the train started with the dawn. + +The "bull-train" took its name from the fact that each of the +thirty-five wagons making up a full train was hauled by several yoke of +oxen, driven by one man, known as a bullwhacker. This functionary's +whip cracked like a rifle, and could be heard about as far. The wagons +resembled the ordinary prairie-schooner, but were larger and more +strongly built; they were protected from the weather by a double +covering of heavy canvas, and had a freight capacity of seven thousand +pounds. + +Besides the bullwhackers there were cavallard drivers (who cared for +the loose cattle), night herders, and sundry extra hands, all under the +charge of a chief wagon-master, termed the wagon-boss, his lieutenants +being the boss of the cattle train and the assistant wagon-master. The +men were disposed in messes, each providing its own wood and water, +doing its own cooking, and washing up its own tin dinner service, while +one man in each division stood guard. Special duties were assigned to +the "extras," and Will's was to ride up and down the train delivering +orders. This suited his fancy to a dot, for the oxen were snail-gaited, +and to plod at their heels was dull work. Kipling tells us it is quite +impossible to "hustle the East"; it were as easy, as Will discovered, to +hustle a bull-train. + +From the outset the "boy extra" was a favorite with the men. They liked +his pluck in undertaking such work, and when it was seen that he took +pride in executing orders promptly, he became a favorite with the bosses +as well. In part his work was play to him; he welcomed an order as a +break in the monotony of the daily march, and hailed the opportunity of +a gallop on a good horse. + +The world of Will's fancy was bounded by the hazy rim where plain and +sky converge, and when the first day's journey was done, and he had +staked out and cared for his horse, he watched with fascinated eyes +the strange and striking picture limned against the black hills and the +sweeping stretch of darkening prairie. Everything was animation; the +bullwhackers unhitching and disposing of their teams, the herders +staking out the cattle, and--not the least interesting--the mess cooks +preparing the evening meal at the crackling camp-fires, with the huge, +canvas-covered wagons encircling them like ghostly sentinels; the ponies +and oxen blinking stupidly as the flames stampeded the shadows in +which they were enveloped; and more weird than all, the buckskin-clad +bullwhackers, squatted around the fire, their beards glowing red in its +light, their faces drawn in strange black and yellow lines, while the +spiked grasses shot tall and sword-like over them. + +It was wonderful--that first night of the "boy extra." + +But Will discovered that life on the plains is not all a supper +under the stars when the sparks fly upward; it has its hardships and +privations. There were days, as the wagons dragged their slow lengths +along, when the clouds obscured the sky and the wind whistled dismally; +days when torrents fell and swelled the streams that must be crossed, +and when the mud lay ankle-deep; days when the cattle stampeded, and the +round-up meant long, extra hours of heavy work; and, hardest but most +needed work of all, the eternal vigil 'gainst an Indian attack. + +Will did not share the anxiety of his companions. To him a brush with +Indians would prove that boyhood's dreams sometimes come true, and +in imagination he anticipated the glory of a first encounter with the +"noble red man," after the fashion of the heroes in the hair-lifting +Western tales he had read. He was soon to learn, as many another has +learned, that the Indian of real Life is vastly different from the +Indian of fiction. He refuses to "bite the dust" at sight of a paleface, +and a dozen of them have been known to hold their own against as many +white men. + +Some twenty miles west of Fort Kearny a halt was made for dinner at the +bank of a creek that emptied into the Platte River. No signs of +Indians had been observed, and there was no thought of special danger. +Nevertheless, three men were constantly on guard. Many of the trainmen +were asleep under the wagons while waiting dinner, and Will was watching +the maneuvers of the cook in his mess. Suddenly a score of shots rang +out from the direction of a neighboring thicket, succeeded by a chorus +of savage yells. + +Will saw the three men on the lookout drop in their tracks, and saw the +Indians divide, one wing stampeding the cattle, the other charging down +upon the camp. + +The trainmen were old frontiersmen, and although taken wholly by +surprise, they lined up swiftly in battle array behind the wagons, with +the bosses, Bill and Frank McCarthy, at their head, and the "boy extra" +under the direction of the wagon-master. + +A well-placed volley of rifle-balls checked the Indians, and they +wheeled and rode away, after sending in a scattering cloud of arrows, +which wounded several of the trainmen. The decision of a hasty council +of war was, that a defensive stand would be useless, as the Indians +outnumbered the whites ten to one, and red reinforcements were +constantly coming up, until it seemed to Will as if the prairie were +alive with them. The only hope of safety lay in the shelter of the +creek's high bank, so a run was made for it. The Indians charged again, +with the usual accompaniment of whoops, yells, and flying arrows; +but the trainmen had reached the creek, and from behind its natural +breastwork maintained a rifle fire that drove the foe back out of range. + +To follow the creek and river to Fort Kearny was not accounted much of a +chance for escape, but it was the only avenue that lay open; so, with a +parting volley to deceive the besiegers into thinking that the fort was +still held, the perilous and difficult journey was begun. + +The Indians quickly penetrated the ruse, and another charge had to be +repulsed. Besides the tiresome work of wading, there were wounded men +to help along, and a ceaseless watch to keep against another rush of the +reds. It was a trying ordeal for a man, doubly so for a boy like Will; +but he was encouraged to coolness and endurance by a few words from +Frank McCarthy, who remarked, admiringly, "Well, Billy, you didn't scare +worth a cent." + +After a few miles of wading the little party issued out upon the Platte +River. By this time the wounded men were so exhausted that a halt was +called to improvise a raft. On this the sufferers were placed, and three +or four men detailed to shove it before them. In consideration of his +youth, Will was urged to get upon the raft, but he declined, saying that +he was not wounded, and that if the stream got too deep for him to wade, +he could swim. This was more than some of the men could do, and they, +too, had to be assisted over the deep places. + +Thus wore the long and weary hours away, and though the men, who knew +how hard a trip it was, often asked, "How goes it, Billy?" he uttered no +word of complaint. + +But half a day's wading, without rest or food, gradually weighted his +heels, and little by little he lagged behind his companions. The moon +came out and silvered tree and river, but the silent, plodding band had +no eyes for the glory of the landscape. + +Will had fallen behind some twenty rods, but in a moment fatigue was +forgotten, the blood jumped in his veins, for just ahead of him the +moonlight fell upon the feathered head-dress of an Indian chief, who was +peering over the bank. Motionless, he watched the head, shoulders, and +body of the brave come into view. The Indian supposed the entire party +ahead, and Will made no move until the savage bent his bow. + +Then he realized, with a thumping heart, that death must come to one of +his comrades or the Indian. + +Even in direst necessity it is a fearful thing to deliberately take a +human life, but Will had no time for hesitation. There was a shot, and +the Indian rolled down the bank into the river. + +His expiring yell was answered by others. The reds were not far away. +Frank McCarthy, missing Will, stationed guards, and ran back to look for +him. He found the lad hauling the dead warrior ashore, and seizing his +hand, cried out: "Well done, my boy; you've killed your first Indian, +and done it like a man!" + +Will wanted to stop and bury the body, but being assured that it was +not only an uncustomary courtesy, but in this case quite impossible, he +hastened on. As they came up with the waiting group McCarthy called out: + +"Pards, little Billy has killed his first redskin!" + +The announcement was greeted with cheers, which grated on Will's ears, +for his heart was sick, and the cheers seemed strangely out of place. + +Little time, however, was afforded for sentiment of any sort. Enraged +at the death of their scout, the Indians made a final charge, which was +repulsed, like the others, and after this Bill McCarthy took the lead, +with Frank at the rear, to prevent further straggling of the forces. + +It was a haggard-faced band that came up to Fort Kearny with the dawn. +The wounded men were left at the post, while the others returned to the +wrecked bull-train under escort of a body of troops. They hoped to make +some salvage, but the cattle had either been driven away or had joined +one of the numerous herds of buffalo; the wagons and their freight had +been burned, and there was nothing to do but bury the three pickets, +whose scalped and mutilated bodies were stretched where they had fallen. + +Then the troops and trainmen parted company, the former to undertake +a bootless quest for the red marauders, the latter to return to +Leavenworth, their occupation gone. The government held itself +responsible for the depredations of its wards, and the loss of the +wagons and cattle was assumed at Washington. + + + +CHAPTER VI. -- FAMILY DEFENDER AND HOUSEHOLD TEASE. + +THE fame to which Byron woke one historic morning was no more unexpected +to him than that which now greeted Will. The trainmen had not been +over-modest in their accounts of his pluck; and when a newspaper +reporter lent the magic of his imagination to the plain narrative, it +became quite a story, headed in display type, "The Boy Indian Slayer." + +But Will was speedily concerned with other than his own affairs, for as +soon as his position with the freighters was assured, mother engaged a +lawyer to fight the claim against our estate. This legal light was +John C. Douglass, then unknown, unhonored, and unsung, but talented and +enterprising notwithstanding. He had just settled in Leavenworth, and he +could scarcely have found a better case with which to storm the heights +of fame--the dead father, the sick mother, the helpless children, and +relentless persecution, in one scale; in the other, an eleven-year-old +boy doing a man's work to earn the money needed to combat the family's +enemies. Douglass put his whole strength into the case. + +He knew as well as we that our cause was weak; it hung by a single +thread--a missing witness, Mr. Barnhart. This man had acted as +bookkeeper when the bills were paid, but he had been sent away, and +the prosecution--or persecution--had thus far succeeded in keeping his +where-abouts a secret. To every place where he was likely to be Lawyer +Douglass had written; but we were as much in the dark as ever when the +morning for the trial of the suit arrived. + +The case had excited much interest, and the court-room was crowded, many +persons having been drawn thither by a curiosity to look upon "The Boy +Indian Slayer." There was a cheerful unanimity of opinion upon the utter +hopelessness of the Cody side of the case. Not only were prominent and +wealthy men arrayed against us, but our young and inexperienced lawyer +faced the heaviest legal guns of the Leavenworth bar. Our only witnesses +were a frail woman and a girl of eighteen, though by their side, with +his head held high, was the family protector, our brave young brother. +Against us were might and malignity; upon our side, right and the high +courage with which Christianity steels the soul of a believer. Mother +had faith that the invisible forces of the universe were fighting for +our cause. + +She and Martha swore to the fact that all the bills had been settled; +and after the opposition had rested its case, Lawyer Douglass arose for +the defense. His was a magnificent plea for the rights of the widow and +the orphan, and was conceded to be one of the finest speeches ever +heard in a Kansas court-room; but though all were moved by our counsel's +eloquence--some unto tears by the pathos of it--though the justice +of our cause was freely admitted throughout the court-room, our best +friends feared the verdict. + +But the climax was as stunning to our enemies as it was unexpected. As +Lawyer Douglass finished his last ringing period, the missing +witness, Mr. Barnhart, hurried into the court-room. He had started +for Leavenworth upon the first intimation that his presence there was +needed, and had reached it just in time. He took the stand, swore to +his certain knowledge that the bills in question had been paid, and the +jury, without leaving their seats, returned a verdict for the defense. + +Then rose cheer upon cheer, as our friends crowded about us and offered +their congratulations. Our home was saved, and Lawyer Douglass had won a +reputation for eloquence and sterling worth that stood undimmed through +all his long and prosperous career. + +The next ripple on the current of our lives was sister Martha's wedding +day. Possessed of remarkable beauty, she had become a belle, and as +young ladies were scarce in Kansas at that time, she was the toast of +all our country round. But her choice had fallen on a man unworthy of +her. Of his antecedents we knew nothing; of his present life little +more, save that he was fair in appearance and seemingly prosperous. In +the sanction of the union Will stood aloof. Joined to a native intuition +were the sharpened faculties of a lad that lived beyond his years. +Almost unerring in his insight, he disliked the object of our sister's +choice so thoroughly that he refused to be a witness of the nuptials. +This dislike we attributed to jealousy, as brother and sister worshiped +each other, but the sequel proved a sad corroboration of his views. + +Nature seemed to join her protest to Will's silent antagonism. A +terrific thunder-storm came up with the noon hour of the wedding. +So deep and sullen were the clouds that we were obliged to light the +candles. When the wedding pair took their places before Hymen's altar, a +crash of thunder rocked the house and set the casements rattling. + +The couple had their home awaiting them in Leavenworth, and departed +almost immediately after the ceremony. + +The cares and responsibilities laid upon our brother's shoulders did not +quench his boyish spirits and love of fun. Not Buffalo Bill's! He gave +us a jack-o'-lantern scare once upon a time, which I don't believe any +of us will ever forget. We had never seen that weird species of pumpkin, +and Will embroidered a blood-and-thunder narrative. + +"The pumpkins all rise up out of the ground," said he, "on fire, with +the devil's eyes, and their mouths open, like blood-red lions, and grab +you, and go under the earth. You better look out!" + +"That ain't so!" all of us little girls cried; "you know it's a fib. +Ain't it, mother?" and we ran as usual to mother. + +"Will, you mustn't tell the children such tales. Of course they're just +fibs," said mother. + +"So there!" we cried, in triumph. But Will had a "so there" answer for +us a few nights later. We were coming home late one evening, and found +the gate guarded by mad-looking yellow things, all afire, and grinning +hideously like real live men in the moon dropped down from the sky. + +"Jack-o'-lanterns!" screamed Eliza, grabbing May by the hand, and +starting to run. I began to say my prayers, of course, and cry for +mother. All at once the heads moved! Even Turk's tail shot between his +legs, and he howled in fright. We saw the devil's eyes, the blood-red +lion's mouths, and all the rest, and set up such a chorus of wild yells +that the whole household rushed to our rescue. While we were panting out +our story, we heard Will snickering behind the door. + +"So there, smarties! You'll believe what I tell you next time. You +bet--ter--had!" + +But he liked best to invade our play-room and "work magic" on our +dolls. Mother had set aside one apartment in our large log house for +a play-room, and here each one of our doll families dwelt in peace and +harmony, when Will wasn't around. But there was tragedy whenever he +came near. He would scalp the mother dolls, and tie their babies to the +bedposts, and would storm into their pasteboard-box houses at night, +after we had fixed them all in order, and put the families to standing +on their heads. He was a dreadful tease. It was in this play-room that +the germ of his Wild West took life. He formed us into a regular little +company--Turk and the baby, too--and would start us in marching order +for the woods. He made us stick horses and wooden tomahawks, spears, and +horsehair strings, so that we could be cowboys, Indians, bullwhackers, +and cavalrymen. All the scenes of his first freighting trip were +acted out in the woods of Salt Creek Valley. We had stages, robbers, +"hold-ups," and most ferocious Indian battles. + +Will was always the "principal scalper," however, and we had few of our +feathers left after he was on the warpath. We were so little we couldn't +reach his feathers. He always wore two long shiny ones, which had been +the special pride of our black rooster, and when he threw a piece of an +old blanket gotten from the Leavenworth barracks around his shoulders, +we considered him a very fine general indeed. + +All of us were obedient to the letter on "show days," and scarcely ever +said "Now, stop," or "I'll tell mother on you!" But during one of these +exciting performances Will came to a short stop. + +"I believe I'll run a show when I get to be a man," said he. + +"That fortune lady said you'd got to be President of the United States," +said Eliza. + +"How could ze presiman won a show?" asked May. + +"How could that old fortune-teller know what I'm going to be?" Will +would answer, disdainfully. "I rather guess I can have a show, in spite +of all the fortune-tellers in the country. I'll tell you right now, +girls, I don't propose to be President, but I do mean to have a show!" + +Such temerity in disputing one's destiny was appalling; and though our +ideas of destiny were rather vague, we could grasp one dreadful fact: +Will had refused to be President of the United States! So we ran crying +to mother, and burying our faces in her lap, sobbed out: "Oh, mother! +Will says he ain't going to be President. Don't he have to be?" + +Still, in spite of Will's fine scorn of fortune-tellers, the prophecy +concerning his future must have been sometimes in his mind. This was +shown in an episode that the writer is in duty bound, as a veracious +chronicler, to set down. + +Our neighbor, Mr. Hathaway, had a son, Eugene, of about Will's age, and +the two were fast friends. One day, when Will was visiting at Eugene's +house, the boys introduced themselves to a barrel of hard cider. +Temperance sentiment had not progressed far enough to bring hard cider +under the ban, and Mr. Hathaway had lately pressed out a quantity of the +old-fashioned beverage. The boys, supposing it a harmless drink, took +all they desired--much more than they could carry. They were in a +deplorable condition when Mr. Hathaway found them; and much distressed, +the good old man put Eugene to bed and brought Will home. + +The family hero returned to us with a flourish of trumpets. He stood up +in the wagon and sang and shouted; and when Mr. Hathaway reproved him, +"Don't talk to me," was his lofty rejoinder. "You forget that I am to be +President of the United States." + +There is compensation for everything. Will never touched cider again; +and never again could he lord it over his still admiring but no longer +docile sisters. If he undertook to boss or tease us more than to our +fancy, we would subdue him with an imitation of his grandiloquent, +"You forget that I am to be President of the United States." Indeed, so +severe was this retaliation that we seldom saw him the rest of the day. + +But he got even with us when "preacher day" came around. + +Like "Little Breeches" father, Will never did go in much on religion, +and when the ministers assembled for "quarterly meeting" at our house, +we never knew what to expect from him. Mother was a Methodist, and as +our log house was larger than the others in the valley, it fell to our +lot to entertain the preachers often. We kept our preparations on the +quiet when Will was home, but he always managed to find out what was +up, and then trouble began. His first move was to "sick" Turk on the +yellow-legged chickens. They were our best ones, and the only thing we +had for the ministers to eat. Then Will would come stalking in: + +"Say, mother, just saw all the yellow-legged chickens a-scooting up +the road. Methodist preachers must be in the wind, for the old hens are +flying like sixty!" + +"Now, Will, you call Turk off, and round up those chickens right away." + +"Catch meself!" And Will would dance around and tease so he nearly drove +us all distracted. It was with the greatest difficulty that mother could +finally prevail upon him to round up the chickens. That done, he would +tie up the pump-handle, milk the cows dry, strew the path to the gate +with burrs and thistles, and stick up a sign, "Thorney is the path and +stickery the way that leedith unto the kingdom of heaven. Amen!" + +Then when mother had put a nice clean valance, freshly starched and +ruffled, around the big four-poster bed in the sitting-room, Will would +daub it up with smearcase, and just before the preachers arrived, sneak +in under it, and wait for prayers. + +Mother always desired us to file in quietly, but we couldn't pass the +bed without our legs being pinched; so we "hollered," but were afraid to +tell mother the reason before the ministers. We had to bear it, but we +snickered ourselves when the man Will called "Elder Green Persimmon," +because when he prayed his mouth went inside out, came mincing into +the room, and as he passed the valance and got a pinch, jerked out a +sour-grape sneeze: + +"Mercy on us! I thought I was bitten by that fierce dog of yours, Mrs. +Cody; but it must have been a burr." + +Then the "experiences" would begin. Will always listened quietly, +until the folks began telling how wicked they had been before they got +religion; then he would burst in with a vigorous "Amen!" + +The elders did not know Will's voice; so they would get warmed up by +degree as the amens came thicker and faster. When he had worked them +all up to a red-hot pitch, Will would start that awful snort of his +that always made us double up with giggles, and with a loud +cockle-doodle-doo! would bolt from the bed like a lightning flash and +make for the window. + +So "preacher day," as Will always called it, became the torment of our +lives. + +To tell the truth, Will always was teasing us, but if he crooked his +finger at us we would bawl. We bawled and squalled from morning till +night. Yet we fairly worshiped him, and cried harder when he went away +than when he was home. + + + +CHAPTER VII. -- INDIAN ENCOUNTER AND SCHOOL-DAY INCIDENTS. + +WILL was not long at home. The Mormons, who were settled in Utah, +rebelled when the government, objecting to the quality of justice meted +out by Brigham Young, sent a federal judge to the territory. Troops, +under the command of General Albert Sidney Johnston, were dispatched +to quell the insurrection, and Russell, Majors & Waddell contracted to +transport stores and beef cattle to the army massing against the Mormons +in the fall of 1857. The train was a large one, better prepared against +such an attack as routed the McCarthy brothers earlier in the summer; +yet its fate was the same. + +Will was assigned to duty as "extra" under Lew Simpson, an experienced +wagon-master, and was subject to his orders only. There was the double +danger of Mormons and Indians, so the pay was good. Forty dollars a +month in gold looked like a large sum to an eleven-year-old. + +Will's second departure was quite as tragic as the first. We girls, +as before, were loud in our wailings, and offered to forgive him the +depredations in the doll-house and all his teasings, if only he would +not go away and be scalped by the Indians. Mother said little, but +her anxious look, as she recalled the perils of the former trip, spoke +volumes. He carried with him the memory of the open-mouthed admiration +of little Charlie, to whom "Brother Will" was the greatest hero in the +world. Turk's grief at the parting was not a whit less than ours, and +the faithful old fellow seemed to realize that in Will's absence the +duty of the family protector devolved on him; so he made no attempt to +follow Will beyond the gate. + +The train made good progress, and more than half the journey to Fort +Bridger was accomplished without a setback. When the Rockies were +reached, a noon halt was made near Green River, and here the men were +surrounded and overcome by a large force of Danites, the "Avenging +Angels" of the Mormon Church, who had "stolen the livery of the court of +heaven to serve the devil in." These were responsible for the atrocious +Mountain Meadow Massacre, in June of this same year, though the wily +"Saints" had planned to place the odium of an unprovoked murder of +innocent women and children upon the Indians, who had enough to answer +for, and in this instance were but the tools of the Mormon Church. +Brigham Young repudiated his accomplice, and allowed John D. Lee to +become the scapegoat. The dying statement of this man is as pathetic as +Cardinal Wolsey's arraignment of Henry VIII. + +"A victim must be had," said he, "and I am that victim. For thirty years +I studied to make Brigham Young's will my law. See now what I have come +to this day. I have been sacrificed in a cowardly, dastardly manner. I +do not fear death. I cannot go to a worse place than I am now in." + +John D. Lee deserved his fate, but Brigham Young was none the less a +coward. + +The Danites spared the lives of the trainmen, but they made sad havoc +of the supplies. These they knew to be intended for the use of the army +opposed to Brigham Young. They carried off all the stores they could +handle, drove with them or stampeded the cattle, and burned the wagons. +The trainmen were permitted to retain one wagon and team, with just +enough supplies to last them to army headquarters. + +It was a disheartened, discomfited band that reached Fort Bridger. The +information that two other trains had been destroyed added to their +discouragement, for that meant that they, in common with the other +trainmen and the soldiers at the fort, must subsist on short rations for +the winter. There were nearly four hundred of these trainmen, and it was +so late in the season that they had no choice but to remain where they +were until spring opened. + +It was an irksome winter. The men at the fort hauled their firewood two +miles; as the provisions dwindled, one by one the oxen were slaughtered, +and when this food supply was exhausted, starvation reared its gaunt +form. Happily the freighters got word of the situation, and a relief +team reached the fort before the spring was fairly opened. + +As soon as practicable the return journey was undertaken. At Fort +Laramie two large trains were put in charge of Lew Simpson, as brigade +wagon-master, and Will was installed as courier between the two +caravans, which traveled twenty miles apart--plenty of elbow room for +camping and foraging. + +One morning, Simpson, George Woods, and Will, who were in the rear +train, set out for the forward one, mounted upon mules, and armed, as +the trainmen always were, with rifle, knife, and a brace of revolvers. +About half of the twenty miles had been told off when the trio saw a +band of Indians emerge from a clump of trees half a mile away and sweep +toward them. Flight with the mules was useless; resistance promised +hardly more success, as the Indians numbered a full half-hundred: but +surrender was death and mutilation. + +"Shoot the mules, boys!" ordered Simpson, and five minutes later two men +and a boy looked grimly over a still palpitating barricade. + +The defense was simple; rifles at range, revolvers for close quarters, +knives at the last. The chief, easily distinguished by his feathered +head-dress, was assigned to Will. Already his close shooting was the +pride of the frontiersmen. Simpson's coolness steadied the lad, who +realized that the situation was desperate. + +The Indians came on with the rush and scream of the March wind. "Fire!" +said Simpson, and three ponies galloped riderless as the smoke curled +from three rifle barrels. + +Dismayed by the fall of their chief, the redskins wheeled and rode out +of range. Will gave a sigh of relief. + +"Load up again, Billy!" smiled Simpson. "They'll soon be back." + +"They've only three or four rifles," said Woods. There had been little +lead in the cloud of arrows. + +"Here they come!" warned Simpson, and the trio ran their rifles out over +the dead mules. + +Three more riderless ponies; but the Indians kept on, supposing they +had drawn the total fire of the whites. A revolver fusillade undeceived +them, and the charging column wavered and broke for cover. + +Simpson patted Will on the shoulder as they reloaded. "You're a game +one, Billy!" said he. + +"You bet he is," echoed Woods, coolly drawing an arrow from his +shoulder. "How is that, Lew--poisoned?" + +Will waited breathless for the decision, and his relief was as great as +Woods's when Simpson, after a critical scrutiny, answered "No." + +The wound was hastily dressed, and the little company gave an undivided +attention to the foe, who were circling around their quarry, hanging to +the off sides of their ponies and firing under them. With a touch of +the grim humor that plain life breeds, Will declared that the mules were +veritable pincushions, so full of arrows were they stuck. + +The besieged maintained a return fire, dropping pony after pony, and +occasionally a rider. This proved expensive sport to the Indians, and +the whole party finally withdrew from range. + +There was a long breathing spell, which the trio improved by +strengthening their defense, digging up the dirt with their knives +and piling it upon the mules. It was tedious work, but preferable to +inactivity and cramped quarters. + +Two hours went by, and the plan of the enemy was disclosed. A light +breeze arose, and the Indians fired the prairie. Luckily the grass +near the trail was short, and though the heat was intense and the smoke +stifling, the barricade held off the flame. Simpson had kept a close +watch, and presently gave the order to fire. A volley went through +the smoke and blaze, and the yell that followed proved that it was +not wasted. This last ruse failing, the Indians settled down to their +favorite game--waiting. + +A thin line of them circled out of range; ponies were picketed and tents +pitched; night fell, and the stars shot out. + +As Woods was wounded, he was excused from guard duty, Will and Simpson +keeping watch in turn. Will took the first vigil, and, tired though he +was, experienced no difficulty in keeping awake, but he went soundly to +sleep the moment he was relieved. He was wakened by a dream that Turk +was barking to him, and vaguely alarmed, he sat up to find Simpson +sleeping across his rifle. + +The midnight hush was unbroken, and the darkness lay thick upon the +plain, but shapes blacker than night hovered near, and Will laid his +hand on Simpson's shoulder. + +The latter was instantly alive, and Woods was wakened. A faint click +went away on the night breeze, and a moment later three jets of flame +carried warning to the up-creeping foe that the whites were both alive +and on the alert. + +There was no more sleep within the barricade. The dawn grew into day, +and anxious eyes scanned the trail for reinforcements--coming surely, +but on what heavy and slow-turning wheels! + +Noon came and passed. The anxious eyes questioned one another. Had the +rear train been overcome by a larger band of savages? But suddenly +half a dozen of the Indians were seen to spring up with gestures of +excitement, and spread the alarm around the circle. + +"They hear the cracking of the bull-whips," said Simpson. + +The Indians who had seen the first team pass, and had assumed that +Simpson and his companions were straggling members of it, did not +expect another train so soon. There was "mounting in hot haste," and the +Indians rode away in one bunch for the distant foothills, just as the +first ox-team broke into view. + +And never was there fairer picture to more appreciative eyes than those +same lumbering, clumsy animals, and never sweeter music than the harsh +staccato of the bullwhips. + +When hunger was appeased, and Woods's wound properly dressed, Will, for +the second time, found himself a hero among the plainsmen. His nerve and +coolness were dwelt upon by Simpson, and to the dream that waked him in +season was ascribed the continued life on earth of the little company. +Will, however, was disposed to allow Turk the full credit for the +service. + +The remainder of the trip was devoid of special incident, and as Will +neared home he hurried on in advance of the train. His heart beat high +as he thought of the dear faces awaiting him, unconscious that he was so +near. + +But the home toward which he was hastening with beating heart and winged +heels was shadowed by a great grief. Sister Martha's married life, +though brief, had amply justified her brother's estimate of the man into +whose hands she had given her life. She was taken suddenly ill, and it +was not until several months later that Will learned that the cause of +her sickness was the knowledge that had come to her of the faithless +nature of her husband. The revelation was made through the visit of one +of Mr. C----'s creditors, who, angered at a refusal to liquidate a debt, +accused Mr. C----of being a bigamist, and threatened to set the law upon +him. The blow was fatal to one of Martha's pure and affectionate +nature, already crushed by neglect and cruelty. All that night she +was delirious, and her one thought was "Willie," and the danger he was +in--not alone the physical danger, but the moral and spiritual peril +that she feared lay in association with rough and reckless men. She +moaned and tossed, and uttered incoherent cries; but as the morning +broke the storm went down, and the anxious watchers fancied that she +slept. Suddenly she sat up, the light of reason again shining in her +eyes, and with a joyous cry, "Tell mother Willie's saved! Willie's +saved!" she fell back on her pillow, and her spirit passed away. On her +face was the peace that the world can neither give nor take away. The +veil of the Unknown had been drawn aside for a space. She had "sent her +soul through the Invisible," and it had found the light that lit the +last weary steps through the Valley of the Shadow. + +Mr. C---- had moved from Leavenworth to Johnson County, twenty-five +miles away, and as there were neither telegraph nor mail facilities, +he had the body sent home, himself accompanying it. Thus our first +knowledge of Martha's sickness came when her lifeless clay was borne +across our threshold, the threshold that, less than a year before, she +had crossed a bright and bonny bride. Dazed by the shock, we longed +for Will's return before we must lay his idolized sister forever in her +narrow cell. + +All of the family, Mr. C---- included, were gathered in the +sitting-room, sad and silent, when Turk suddenly raised his head, +listened a second, and bounded out of doors. + +"Will is coming!" cried mother, and we all ran to the door. Turk was +racing up the long hill, at the top of which was a moving speck that the +dog knew to be his master. His keen ears had caught the familiar whistle +half a mile away. + +When Turk had manifested his joy at the meeting, he prepared Will for +the bereavement that awaited him; he put his head down and emitted a +long and repeated wail. Will's first thought was for mother, and he +fairly ran down the hill. The girls met him some distance from the +house, and sobbed out the sad news. + +And when he had listened, the lad that had passed unflinching through +two Indian fights, broke down, and sobbed with the rest of us. + +"Did that rascal, C----, have anything to do with her death?" he asked, +when the first passion of grief was over. + +Julia, who knew no better at the time, replied that Mr. C----was the +kindest of husbands, and was crushed with sorrow at his loss; but spite +of the assurance, Will, when he reached the house, had neither look nor +word for him. He just put his arms about mother's neck, and mingled his +grief with her words of sympathy and love. + +Martha was shortly after laid by father's side, and as we stood weeping +in that awful moment when the last spadeful of earth completes the +sepulture, Will, no longer master of himself, stepped up before Mr. +C----: + +"Murderer," he said, "one day you shall answer to me for the death of +her who lies there!" + +When Will next presented himself at Mr. Majors's office, he was told +that his services had been wholly satisfactory, and that he could have +work at any time he desired. This was gratifying, but a sweeter pleasure +was to lay his winter's wages in mother's lap. Through his help, and her +business ability, our pecuniary affairs were in good condition. We +were comfortably situated, and as Salt Creek Valley now boasted of a +schoolhouse, mother wished Will to enter school. He was so young when +he came West that his school-days had been few; nor was the prospect +of adding to their number alluring. After the excitement of life on the +plains, going to school was dull work; but Will realized that there was +a world beyond the prairie's horizon, and he entered school, determined +to do honest work. + +Our first teacher was of the good, old-fashioned sort. He taught +because he had to live. He had no love for his work, and knew nothing of +children. The one motto he lived up to was, "Spare the rod and spoil the +child." As Will was a regular Tartar in the schoolroom, he, more than +all the other scholars, made him put his smarting theory into practice. +Almost every afternoon was attended with the dramatic attempt to switch +Will. The schoolroom was separated into two grand divisions, "the boys +on teacher's side," and those "on the Cody side." The teacher would send +his pets out to get switches, and part of our division--we girls, of +course--would begin to weep; while those who had spunk would spit on +their hands, clench their fists, and "dare 'em to bring them switches +in!" Those were hot times in old Salt Creek Valley! + +One morning Turk, too, was seized with educational ambition, and +accompanied Will to school. We tried to drive him home, but he followed +at a distance, and as we entered the schoolhouse, he emerged from the +shrubbery by the roadside and crept under the building. + +Alas for the scholars, and alas for the school! Another ambitious dog +reposed beneath the temple of learning. + +Will, about that time, was having a bad quarter of an hour. An +examination into his knowledge, or lack of it, was under way, and he was +hard pressed. Had he been asked how to strike a trail, locate water, +or pitch a tent, his replies would have been full and accurate, but +the teacher's queries seemed as foolish as the "Reeling and Writhing, +Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision" of the Mock Turtle in +"Alice in Wonderland." + +Turk effected an unexpected rescue. Snarls were heard beneath the +schoolhouse; then savage growls and yelps, while the floor resounded +with the whacks of the canine combatants. With a whoop that would not +have disgraced an Indian, Will was out of doors, shouting, "Eat him up, +Turk! Eat him up!" + +The owner of the opposing dog was one Steve Gobel. 'Twixt him and Will +a good-sized feud existed. Steve was also on the scene, with a defiant, +"Sic 'em, Nigger!" and the rest of the school followed in his wake. + +Of the twisting, yelping bundle of dog-flesh that rolled from under the +schoolhouse it was difficult to say which was Turk and which Nigger. +Eliza and I called to Turk, and wept because he would not hear. The +teacher ordered the children back to their studies, but they were +as deaf as Turk; whereat the enraged pedagogue hopped wildly about, +flourishing a stick and whacking every boy that strayed within reach of +it. + +Nigger soon had enough of the fight, and striking his tail-colors, fled +yelping from the battle-ground. His master, Steve Gobel, a large youth +of nineteen or twenty years, pulled off his coat to avenge upon Will +the dog's defeat, but the teacher effected a Solomon-like compromise by +whipping both boys for bringing their dogs to school, after which the +interrupted session was resumed. + +But Gobel nursed his wrath, and displayed his enmity in a thousand small +ways. Will paid no attention to him, but buckled down to his school +work. Will was a born "lady's man," and when Miss Mary Hyatt complicated +the feud 'twixt him and Steve, it hurried to its climax. Mary was older +than Will, but she plainly showed her preference for him over Master +Gobel. Steve had never distinguished himself in an Indian fight; he was +not a hero, but just a plain boy. + +Now, indeed, was Will's life unendurable; "patience had had its perfect +work." He knew that a boy of twelve, however strong and sinewy, was +not a match for an almost full-grown man; so, to balance matters, he +secreted on his person an old bowie-knife. When next he met Steve, +the latter climaxed his bullying tactics by striking the object of his +resentment; but he was unprepared for the sudden leap that bore him +backward to the earth. Size and strength told swiftly in the struggle +that succeeded, but Will, with a dextrous thrust, put the point of the +bowie into the fleshy part of Steve's lower leg, a spot where he knew +the cut would not be serious. + +The stricken bully shrieked that he was killed; the children gathered +round, and screamed loudly at the sight of blood. "Will Cody has killed +Steve Gobel!" was the wailing cry, and Will, though he knew Steve was +but pinked, began to realize that frontier styles of combat were not +esteemed in communities given up to the soberer pursuits of spelling, +arithmetic, and history. Steve, he knew, was more frightened than hurt; +but the picture of the prostrate, ensanguined youth, and the group of +awestricken children, bore in upon his mind the truth that his act was +an infraction of the civil code; that even in self-defense, he had no +right to use a knife unless his life was threatened. + +The irate pedagogue was hastening to the scene, and after one glance at +him, Will incontinently fled. At the road he came upon a wagon train, +and with a shout of joy recognized in the "boss" John Willis, a +wagon-master employed by Russell, Majors & Waddell, and a great friend +of the "boy extra." Will climbed up behind Willis on his horse, and +related his escapade to a close and sympathetic listener. + +"If you say so, Billy," was his comment, "I'll go over and lick the +whole outfit, and stampede the school." + +"No, let the school alone," replied Will; "but I guess I'll graduate, if +you'll let me go along with you this trip." + +Willis readily agreed, but insisted upon returning to the schoolhouse. +"I m not going," said he, "to let you be beaten by a bully of a boy, and +a Yankee school-teacher, with a little learning, but not a bit of sand." +His idea of equalizing forces was that he and "Little Billy" should +fight against the pedagogue and Steve. + +Will consented, and they rode back to the schoolhouse, on the door +of which Willis pounded with his revolver butt, and when the door was +opened he invited Gobel and the "grammar man" to come forth and do +battle. But Steve had gone home, and the teacher, on seeing the two +gladiators, fled, while the scholars, dismissing themselves, ran home in +a fright. + +That night mother received a note from the teacher. + +He was not hired, he wrote, to teach desperadoes; therefore Will was +dismissed. But Will had already dismissed himself, and had rejoined the +larger school whose walls are the blue bowl called the sky. And long +after was his name used by the pedagogue to conjure up obedience in his +pupils; unless they kissed the rod, they, too, might go to the bad, and +follow in Will Cody's erring footsteps. + +Willis and Will had gone but a piece on the road when horsemen were seen +approaching. + +"Mr. Gobel and the officers are after me," said Will. + +"Being after you and gittin' you are two different things," said the +wagon-master. "Lie low, and I'll settle the men." + +Mr. Gobel and his party rode up with the information that they had come +to arrest Will; but they got no satisfaction from Willis. He would not +allow them to search the wagons, and they finally rode away. That +night, when the camp was pitched, the wagon-master gave Will a mule, and +accompanied him home. We were rejoiced to see him, especially mother, +who was much concerned over his escapade. + +"Oh, Will, how could you do such a thing?" she said, sorrowfully. "It is +a dreadful act to use a knife on any one." + +Will disavowed any homicidal intentions; but his explanations made +little headway against mother's disapproval and her disappointment over +the interruption of his school career. As it seemed the best thing to +do, she consented to his going with the wagon train under the care of +John Willis, and the remainder of the night was passed in preparations +for the journey. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. -- DEATH AND BURIAL OF TURK. + +THIS trip of Will's covered only two months, and was succeeded by +another expedition, to the new post at Fort Wallace, at Cheyenne Pass. + +Meanwhile mother had decided to improve the opportunity afforded by +her geographical position, and under her supervision "The Valley Grove +House" was going up. + +The hotel commanded a magnificent prospect. Below lay the beautiful +Salt Creek Valley. It derived its name from the saline properties of the +little stream that rushed along its pebbly bed to empty its clear waters +into the muddy Missouri. From the vantage-ground of our location Salt +Creek looked like a silver thread, winding its way through the rich +verdure of the valley. The region was dotted with fertile farms; from +east to west ran the government road, known as the Old Salt Lake Trail, +and back of us was Cody Hill, named for my father. Our house stood on +the side hill, just above the military road, and between us and the +hilltop lay the grove that gave the hotel its name. Government hill, +which broke the eastern sky-line, hid Leavenworth and the Missouri +River, culminating to the south in Pilot Knob, the eminence on which my +father was buried, also beyond our view. + +Mother's business sagacity was justified in the hotel venture. The trail +began its half-mile ascent of Cody Hill just below our house, and at +this point the expedient known as "doubling" was employed. Two teams +hauled a wagon up the steep incline, the double team returning for the +wagon left behind. Thus the progress of a wagon train, always slow, +became a very snail's pace, and the hotel was insured a full quota of +hungry trainmen. + +Will found that his wages were of considerable aid to mother in the +large expense incurred by the building of the hotel; and the winter +drawing on, forbidding further freighting trips, he planned an +expedition with a party of trappers. More money was to be made at this +business during the winter than at any other time. + +The trip was successful, and contained only one adventure spiced +with danger, which, as was so often the case, Will twisted to his own +advantage by coolness and presence of mind. + +One morning, as he was making the round of his traps, three Indians +appeared on the trail, each leading a pony laden with pelts. One had a +gun; the others carried bows and arrows. The odds were three to one, and +the brave with the gun was the most to be feared. + +This Indian dropped his bridle-rein and threw up his rifle; but before +it was at his shoulder Will had fired, and he fell forward on his face. +His companions bent their bows, one arrow passing through Will's hat and +another piercing his arm--the first wound he ever received. Will swung +his cap about his head. + +"This way! Here they are!" he shouted to an imaginary party of friends +at his back. Then with his revolver he wounded another of the Indians, +who, believing reinforcements were at hand, left their ponies and fled. + +Will took the ponies on the double-quick back to camp, and the trappers +decided to pull up stakes at once. It had been a profitable season, and +the few more pelts to be had were not worth the risk of an attack by +avenging Indians; so they packed their outfit, and proceeded to Fort +Laramie. Will realized a handsome sum from the sale of his captured +furs, besides those of the animals he had himself trapped. + +At the fort were two men bound east, and impatient to set out, and Will, +in his haste to reach home, joined forces with them. Rather than wait +for an uncertain wagon train, they decided to chance the dangers of the +road. They bought three ponies and a pack-mule for the camp outfit, and +sallied forth in high spirits. + +Although the youngest of the party, Will was the most experienced +plainsman, and was constantly on the alert. They reached the Little Blue +River without sign of Indians, but across the stream Will espied a band +of them. The redskins were as keen of eye, and straightway exchanged the +pleasures of the chase for the more exciting pursuit of human game. But +they had the river to cross; and this gave the white men a good start. +The pursuit was hot, and grew hotter, but the kindly darkness fell, and +under cover of it the trio got safely away. That night they camped in a +little ravine that afforded shelter from both Indians and weather. + +A look over the ravine disclosed a cave that promised a snug harbor, and +therein Will and one of his companions spread their blankets and fell +asleep. The third man, whose duty it was to prepare the supper, kindled +a fire just inside the cave, and returned outside for a supply of fuel. +When he again entered the cave the whole interior was revealed by the +bright firelight, and after one look he gave a yell of terror, dropped +his firewood, and fled. + +Will and the other chap were on their knees instantly, groping for their +rifles, in the belief that the Indians were upon them; but the sight +that met their eyes was more terror-breeding than a thousand Indians. A +dozen bleached and ghastly skeletons were gathered with them around the +camp-fire, and seemed to nod and sway, and thrust their long-chilled +bones toward the cheery blaze. + +Ghastly as it was within the cave, Will found it more unpleasant in the +open. The night was cold, and a storm threatened. + +"Well," said he to his companions, "we know the worst that's in there +now. Those old dead bones won't hurt us. Let's go back." + +"Not if I know myself, sonny," returned one of the men decidedly, and +the other heartily agreed with him, swearing that as it was, he should +not be able to close his eyes for a week. So, after a hurried lunch upon +the cold provisions, the party mounted their ponies and pushed on. The +promised snowstorm materialized, and shortly became a young blizzard, +and obliged to dismount and camp in the open prairie, they made a +miserable night of it. + +But it had an end, as all things have, and with the morning they resumed +the trail, reaching Marysville, on the Big Blue, after many trials and +privations. + +From here the trail was easier, as the country was pretty well settled, +and Will reached home without further adventure or misadventure. Here +there was compensation for hardship in the joy of handing over to mother +all his money, realizing that it would lighten her burdens--burdens +borne that she might leave her children provided for when she could +no longer repel the dread messenger, that in all those years seemed to +hover so near that even our childish hearts felt its presence ere it +actually crossed the threshold. + +It was early in March when Will returned from his trapping expedition. +Mother's business was flourishing, though she herself grew frailer with +the passing of each day. The summer that came on was a sad one for us +all, for it marked Turk's last days on earth. One evening he was lying +in the yard, when a strange dog came up the road, bounded in, gave Turk +a vicious bite, and went on. We dressed the wound, and thought little of +it, until some horsemen rode up, with the inquiry, "Have you seen a dog +pass here?" + +We answered indignantly that a strange dog had passed, and had bitten +our dog. + +"Better look out for him, then," warned the men as they rode away. "The +dog is mad." + +Consternation seized us. It was dreadful to think of Turk going mad--he +who had been our playmate from infancy, and who, through childhood's +years, had grown more dear to us than many human beings could; but +mother knew the matter was serious, and issued her commands. Turk must +be shut up, and we must not even visit him for a certain space. And so +we shut him up, hoping for the best; but it speedily became plain that +the poison was working in his veins, and that the greatest kindness we +could do him was to kill him. + +That was a frightful alternative. Will utterly refused to shoot him, and +the execution was delegated to the hired man, Will stipulating that +none of his weapons should be used, and that he be allowed to get out of +ear-shot. + +Late that afternoon, just before sunset, we assembled in melancholy +silence for the funeral. A grave had been dug on the highest point of +the eastern extremity of Cody Hill, and decorated in black ribbons, we +slowly filed up the steep path, carrying Turk's body on a pine board +softened with moss. Will led the procession with his hat in his hand, +and every now and then his fist went savagely at his eyes. When we +reached the grave, we formed around it in a tearful circle, and Will, +who always called me "the little preacher," told me to say the Lord's +Prayer. The sun was setting, and the brilliant western clouds were +shining round about us. There was a sighing in the treetops far below +us, and the sounds in the valley were muffled and indistinct. + +"Our Father which art in heaven," I whispered softly, as all the +children bent their heads, "Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, +Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven." I paused, and the other +children said the rest in chorus. The next day Will procured a large +block of red bloodstone, which abounds in that country, squared it off, +carved the name of Turk upon it in large letters, and we placed it at +the head of the grave. + +To us there had been no incongruity in the funeral ceremonials and +burial. Turk had given us all that dog could give; we, for our part, +gave him Christian sepulture. Our sorrow was sincere. We had lost an +honest, loyal friend. For many succeeding days his grave was garlanded +with fresh flowers, placed there by loving hands. Vale Turk! Would that +our friends of the higher evolution were all as stanch as thou! + +THE BURIAL OF TURK. + + Only a dog! but the tears fall fast. + As we lay him to rest underneath the green sod, + Where bountiful nature, the sweet summer through, + Will deck him with daisies and bright goldenrod. + + The loving thought of a boyish heart + Marks the old dog's grave with a bloodstone red; + The name, carved in letters rough and rude, + Keeps his memory green, though his life be sped. + For the daring young hero of wood and plain, + + Like all who are generous, strong, and brave, + Has a heart that is loyal and kind and true, + And shames not to weep o'er his old friend's grave. + + Only a dog, do you say? but I deem + A dog who with faithfulness fills his trust, + More worthy than many a man to be given + A tribute of love, when but ashes and dust. + +An unusually good teacher now presided at the schoolhouse in our +neighborhood, and Will was again persuaded into educational paths. +He put in a hard winter's work; but with the coming of spring and its +unrest, the swelling of buds and the springing of grass, the return +of the birds and the twittering from myriad nests, the Spirits of the +Plains beckoned to him, and he joined a party of gold-hunters on the +long trail to Pike's Peak. + +The gold excitement was at its apogee in 1860. By our house had passed +the historic wagon bearing on its side the classic motto, "Pike's Peak +or Bust!" Afterward, stranded by the wayside, a whole history of failure +and disappointment, borne with grim humor, was told by the addition of +the eloquent word, "Busted!" + +For all his adventures, Will was only fourteen, and although tall for +his age, he had not the physical strength that might have been expected +from his hardy life. It was not strange that he should take the gold +fever; less so that mother should dread to see him again leave home to +face unknown perils; and it is not at all remarkable that upon reaching +Auraria, now Denver, he should find that fortunes were not lying around +much more promiscuously in a gold country than in any other. + +Recent events have confirmed a belief that under the excitement of a +gold craze men exercise less judgment than at any other time. Except in +placer mining, which almost any one can learn, gold mining is a science. +Now and again a nugget worth a fortune is picked up, but the average +mortal can get a better livelihood, with half the work, in almost any +other field of effort. To become rich a knowledge of ores and mining +methods is indispensable. + +But Will never reached the gold-fields. Almost the first person he met +on the streets of Julesberg was George Chrisman, who had been chief +wagon-master for Russell, Majors & Waddell. Will had become well +acquainted with Chrisman on the various expeditions he had made for the +firm. + +This man was located at Julesberg as agent for the Pony Express line, +which was in process of formation. This line was an enterprise of +Russell, Majors & Waddell. Mr. Russell met in Washington the Senator +from California. This gentleman knew that the Western firm of +contractors was running a daily stagecoach from the Missouri River to +Sacramento, and he urged upon Mr. Russell the desirability of operating +a pony express line along the same route. There was already a line known +as the "Butterfield Route," but this was circuitous; the fastest time +ever made on it was twenty-one days. + +Mr. Russell laid the matter before his partners. They were opposed +to it, as they were sure it would be a losing venture; but the senior +member urged the matter so strongly that they consented to try it, for +the good of the country, with no expectation of profit. They utilized +the stagecoach stations already established, and only about two months +were required to put the Pony Express line in running order. + +Riders received from a hundred and twenty to a hundred and twenty-five +dollars a month, but they earned it. In order to stand the life great +physical strength and endurance were necessary; in addition, riders must +be cool, brave, and resourceful. Their lives were in constant peril, +and they were obliged to do double duty in case the comrade that was to +relieve them had been disabled by outlaws or Indians. + +Two hundred and fifty miles was the daily distance that must be made; +this constituted an average of a little over ten miles an hour. In the +exceedingly rough country this average could not be kept up; to balance +it, there were a few places in the route where the rider was expected to +cover twenty-five miles an hour. + +In making such a run, it is hardly necessary to say that no extra weight +was carried. Letters were written on the finest tissue paper; the charge +was at the rate of five dollars for half an ounce. A hundred of +these letters would make a bulk not much larger than an ordinary +writing-tablet. + + +The mail-pouches were never to carry more than twenty pounds. They +were leather bags, impervious to moisture; the letters, as a further +protection, were wrapped in oiled silk. The pouches were locked, sealed, +and strapped to the rider's side. They were not unlocked during the +journey from St. Joseph to Sacramento. + +The first trip was made in ten days; this was a saving of eleven days +over the best time ever made by the "Butterfield Route." Sometimes the +time was shortened to eight days; but an average trip was made in nine. +The distance covered in this time was nineteen hundred and sixty-six +miles. + +President Buchanan's last presidential message was carried in December, +1860, in a few hours over eight days. President Lincoln's inaugural, the +following March, was transmitted in seven days and seventeen hours. This +was the quickest trip ever made. + +The Pony Express line made its worth at once felt. It would have become +a financial success but that a telegraph line was put into operation +over the same stretch of territory, under the direction of Mr. Edward +Creighton. The first message was sent over the wires the 24th of +October, 1861. The Pony Express line had outlived its usefulness, and +was at once discontinued. But it had accomplished its main purpose, +which was to determine whether the route by which it went could be made +a permanent track for travel the year through. The cars of the Union +Pacific road now travel nearly the same old trails as those followed by +the daring riders of frontier days. + +Mr. Chrisman gave Will a cordial greeting. He explained the business of +the express line to his young friend, and stated that the company had +nearly perfected its arrangements. It was now buying ponies and putting +them into good condition, preparatory to beginning operations. He added, +jokingly: + +"It's a pity you're not a few years older, Billy. I would give you a job +as Pony Express rider. There's good pay in it." + +Will was at once greatly taken with the idea, and begged so hard to be +given a trial that Mr. Chrisman consented to give him work for a month. +If the life proved too hard for him, he was to be laid off at the end +of that time. He had a short run of forty-five miles; there were three +relay stations, and he was expected to make fifteen miles an hour. + +The 3d of April, 1860, Mr. Russell stood ready to receive the mail from +a fast New York train at St. Joseph. He adjusted the letter-pouch on the +pony in the presence of an excited crowd. Besides the letters, several +large New York papers printed special editions on tissue paper for +this inaugural trip. The crowd plucked hairs from the tail of the first +animal to start on the novel journey, and preserved these hairs as +talismans. The rider mounted, the moment for starting came, the signal +was given, and off he dashed. + +At the same moment Sacramento witnessed a similar scene; the rider of +that region started on the two thousand mile ride eastward as the other +started westward. All the way along the road the several other riders +were ready for their initial gallop. + +Will looked forward eagerly to the day when the express line should +be set in motion, and when the hour came it found him ready, standing +beside his horse, and waiting for the rider whom he was to relieve. +There was a clatter of hoofs, and a horseman dashed up and flung him +the saddlebags. Will threw them upon the waiting pony, vaulted into the +saddle, and was off like the wind. + +The first relay station was reached on time, and Will changed with +hardly a second's loss of time, while the panting, reeking animal he had +ridden was left to the care of the stock-tender. This was repeated at +the end of the second fifteen miles, and the last station was reached a +few minutes ahead of time. The return trip was made in good order, and +then Will wrote to us of his new position, and told us that he was in +love with the life. + + + +CHAPTER IX. -- WILL AS PONY EXPRESS RIDER. + +AFTER being pounded against a saddle three dashes daily for three +months, to the tune of fifteen miles an hour, Will began to feel a +little loose in his joints, and weary withal, but he was determined +to "stick it out." Besides the daily pounding, the track of the Pony +Express rider was strewn with perils. A wayfarer through that wild +land was more likely to run across outlaws and Indians than to pass +unmolested, and as it was known that packages of value were frequently +dispatched by the Pony Express line, the route was punctuated by +ambuscades. + +Will had an eye out every trip for a hold-up, but three months went by +before he added that novelty to his other experiences. One day, as he +flew around a bend in a narrow pass, he confronted a huge revolver in +the grasp of a man who manifestly meant business, and whose salutation +was: + +"Halt! Throw up your hands!" + +Most people do, and Will's hands were raised reluctantly. The highwayman +advanced, saying, not unkindly: + +"I don't want to hurt you, boy, but I do want them bags." + +Money packages were in the saddlebags, and Will was minded to save them +if he could, so, as the outlaw reached for the booty, Will touched the +pony with his foot, and the upshot was satisfactory to an unexpected +degree. The plunge upset the robber, and as the pony swept over him he +got a vicious blow from one hoof. Will wheeled for a revolver duel, but +the foe was prostrate, stunned, and bleeding at the head. Will disarmed +the fellow, and pinioned his arms behind him, and then tied up his +broken head. Will surmised that the prisoner must have a horse hidden +hard by, and a bit of a search disclosed it. When he returned with the +animal, its owner had opened his eyes and was beginning to remember a +few things. Will helped him to mount, and out of pure kindness tied him +on; then he straddled his own pony, and towed the dismal outfit along +with him. + +It was the first time that he had been behind on his run, but by way of +excuse he offered to Mr. Chrisman a broken-headed and dejected gentleman +tied to a horse's back; and Chrisman, with a grin, locked the excuse up +for future reference. + +A few days after this episode Will received a letter from Julia, telling +him that mother was ill, and asking him to come home. He at once sought +out Mr. Chrisman, and giving his reason, asked to be relieved. + +"I'm sorry your mother is sick," was the answer, "but I'm glad something +has occurred to make you quit this life. It's wearing you out, Billy, +and you're too gritty to give it up without a good reason." + +Will reached home to find mother slightly improved. For three weeks was +he content to remain idly at home; then (it was November of 1860) his +unquiet spirit bore him away on another trapping expedition, this time +with a young friend named David Phillips. + +They bought an ox-team and wagon to transport the traps, camp outfit, +and provisions, and took along a large supply of ammunition, besides +extra rifles. Their destination was the Republican River. It coursed +more than a hundred miles from Leavenworth, but the country about it was +reputed rich in beaver. Will acted as scout on the journey, going ahead +to pick out trails, locate camping grounds, and look out for breakers. +The information concerning the beaver proved correct; the game was +indeed so plentiful that they concluded to pitch a permanent camp and +see the winter out. + +They chose a hollow in a sidehill, and enlarged it to the dimensions of +a decent-sized room. A floor of logs was put in, and a chimney fashioned +of stones, the open lower part doing double duty as cook-stove and +heater; the bed was spread in the rear, and the wagon sheltered the +entrance. A corral of poles was built for the oxen, and one corner of +it protected by boughs. Altogether, they accounted their winter quarters +thoroughly satisfactory and agreeable. + +The boys had seen no Indians on their trip out, and were not concerned +in that quarter, though they were too good plainsmen to relax their +vigilance. There were other foes, as they discovered the first night in +their new quarters. They were aroused by a commotion in the corral where +the oxen were confined, and hurrying out with their rifles, they found +a huge bear intent upon a feast of beef. The oxen were bellowing in +terror, one of them dashing crazily about the inclosure, and the other +so badly hurt that it could not get up. + +Phillips, who was in the lead, fired first, but succeeded only in +wounding the bear. Pain was now added to the savagery of hunger, and the +infuriated monster rushed upon Phillips. Dave leaped back, but his foot +slipped on a bit of ice, and he went down with a thud, his rifle flying +from his hand as he struck. + +But there was a cool young head and a steady hand behind him. A ball +from Will's rifle entered the distended mouth of the onrushing bear and +pierced the brain, and the huge mass fell lifeless almost across Dave's +body. + +Phillips's nerves loosened with a snap, and he laughed for very relief +as he seized Will's hands. + +"That's the time you saved my life, old fellow!" said he. "Perhaps I can +do as much for you sometime." + +"That's the first bear I ever killed," said Will, more interested in +that topic than in the one Dave held forth on. + +One of the oxen was found to be mortally hurt, and a bullet ended its +misery. Will then took his first lesson in the gentle art of skinning a +bear. + +Dave's chance to square his account with Will came a fortnight later. +They were chasing a bunch of elk, when Will fell, and discovered that he +could not rise. + +"I'm afraid I've broken my leg," said he, as Dave ran to him. + +Phillips had once been a medical student, and he examined the leg with a +professional eye. "You're right, Billy; the leg's broken," he reported. + +Then he went to work to improvise splints and bind up the leg; and this +done, he took Will on his back and bore him to the dugout. Here the leg +was stripped, and set in carefully prepared splints, and the whole bound +up securely. + +The outlook was unpleasant, cheerfully as one might regard it. Living +in the scoop of a sidehill when one is strong and able to get about and +keep the blood coursing is one thing; living there pent up through a +tedious winter is quite another. Dave meditated as he worked away at the +pair of crutches. + +"Tell you what I think I'd better do," said he. "The nearest settlement +is some hundred miles away, and I can get there and back in twenty days. +Suppose I make the trip, get a team for our wagon, and come back for +you?" + +The idea of being left alone and well-nigh helpless struck dismay to +Will's heart, but there was no help for it, and he assented. Dave put +matters into shipshape, piled wood in the dugout, cooked a quantity of +food and put it where Will could reach it without rising, and fetched +several days' supply of water. Mother, ever mindful of Will's education, +had put some school-books in the wagon, and Dave placed these beside the +food and water. When Phillips finally set out, driving the surviving ox +before him, he left behind a very lonely and homesick boy. + +During the first day of his confinement Will felt too desolate to eat, +much less to read; but as he grew accustomed to solitude he derived real +pleasure from the companionship of books. Perhaps in all his life he +never extracted so much benefit from study as during that brief period +of enforced idleness, when it was his sole means of making the dragging +hours endurable. Dave, he knew, could not return in less than twenty +days, and one daily task, never neglected, was to cut a notch in the +stick that marked the humdrum passage of the days. Within the week he +could hobble about on his crutches for a short distance; after that he +felt more secure. + +A fortnight passed. And one day, weary with his studies, he fell asleep +over his books. Some one touched his shoulder, and looking up, he saw an +Indian in war paint and feathers. + +"How?" said Will, with a show of friendliness, though he knew the brave +was on the war-path. + +Half a score of bucks followed at the heels of the first, squeezing into +the little dugout until there was barely room for them to sit down. + +With a sinking heart Will watched them enter, but he plucked up +spirit again when the last, a chief, pushed in, for in this warrior he +recognized an Indian that he had once done a good turn. + +Whatever Lo's faults, he never forgets a kindness any more than he +forgets an injury. The chief, who went by the name of Rain-in-the-Face, +at once recognized Will, and asked him what he was doing in that place. +Will displayed his bandages, and related the mishap that had made them +necessary, and refreshed the chief's memory of a certain occasion when +a blanket and provisions had drifted his way. Rain-in-the-Face replied, +with proper gravity, that he and his chums were out after scalps, and +confessed to designs upon Will's, but in consideration of Auld Lang Syne +he would spare the paleface boy. + +Auld Lang Syne, however, did not save the blankets and provisions, and +the bedizened crew stripped the dugout almost bare of supplies; but Will +was thankful enough to see the back of the last of them. + +Two days later a blizzard set in. Will took an inventory, and found +that, economy considered, he had food for a week; but as the storm would +surely delay Dave, he put himself on half rations. + +Three weeks were now gone, and he looked for Dave momentarily; but as +night followed day, and day grew into night again, he was given over +to keen anxiety. Had Phillips lost his way? Had he failed to locate the +snow-covered dugout? Had he perished in the storm? Had he fallen victim +to Indians? These and like questions haunted the poor lad continually. +Study became impossible, and he lost his appetite for what food there +was left; but the tally on the stick was kept. + +The twenty-ninth day dawned. Starvation stalked into the dugout. The +wood, too, was nigh gone. But great as was Will's physical suffering, +his mental distress was greater. He sat before a handful of fire, +shivering and hungry, wretched and despondent. + +Hark! Was that his name? Choking with emotion, unable to articulate, he +listened intently. Yes; it was his name, and Dave's familiar voice, and +with all his remaining energy he made an answering call. + +His voice enabled Phillips to locate the dugout, and a passage was +cleared through the snow. And when Will saw the door open, the tension +on his nerves let go, and he wept--"like a girl," as he afterward told +us. + +"God bless you, Dave!" he cried, as he clasped his friend around the +neck. + + + +CHAPTER X. -- ECHOES FROM SUMTER. + +THE guns that opened on Fort Sumter set the country all ablaze. In +Kansas, where blood had already been shed, the excitement reached an +extraordinary pitch. Will desired to enlist, but mother would not listen +to the idea. + +My brother had never forgotten the vow made in the post-trader's, and +now with the coming of war his opportunity seemed ripe and lawful; he +could at least take up arms against father's old-time enemies, and at +the same time serve his country. This aspect of the case was presented +to mother in glowing colors, backed by most eloquent pleading; but she +remained obdurate. + +"You are too young to enlist, Willie," she said. "They would not accept +you, and if they did, I could not endure it. I have only a little time +to live; for my sake, then, wait till I am no more before you enter the +army." + +This request was not to be disregarded, and Will promised that he would +not enlist while mother lived. + +Kansas had long been the scene of bitter strife between the two parties, +and though there was a preponderance of the Free-Soil element when it +was admitted to the Union in 1861, we were fated to see some of the +horrors of slavery. Suffering makes one wondrous kind; mother had +suffered so much herself that the misery of others ever vibrated a +chord of sympathy in her breast, and our house became a station on "the +underground railway." Many a fugitive slave did we shelter, many here +received food and clothing, and, aided by mother, a great number reached +safe harbors. + +One old man, named Uncle Tom, became so much attached to us that he +refused to go on. We kept him as help about the hotel. He was with us +several months, and we children grew very fond of him. Every evening +when supper was over, he sat before the kitchen fire and told a +breathless audience strange stories of the days of slavery. And one +evening, never to be forgotten, Uncle Tom was sitting in his accustomed +place, surrounded by his juvenile listeners, when he suddenly sprang +to his feet with a cry of terror. Some men had entered the hotel +sitting-room, and the sound of their voices drove Uncle Tom to his own +little room, and under the bed. + +"Mrs. Cody," said the unwelcome visitors, "we understand that you are +harboring our runaway slaves. We propose to search the premises; and if +we find our property, you cannot object to our removing it." + +Mother was sorely distressed for the unhappy Uncle Tom, but she knew +objection would be futile. She could only hope that the old colored man +had made good his escape. + +But no! Uncle Tom lay quaking under his bed, and there his brutal master +found him. It is not impossible that there were slaveholders kind and +humane, but the bitter curse of slavery was the open door it left +for brutality and inhumanity; and never shall I forget the barbarity +displayed by the owner of Uncle Tom before our horrified eyes. The poor +slave was so old that his hair was wholly white; yet a rope was tied to +it, and, despite our pleadings, he was dragged from the house, every cry +he uttered evoking only a savage kick from a heavy riding-boot. When he +was out of sight, and his screams out of hearing, we wept bitterly on +mother's loving breast. + +Uncle Tom again escaped, and made his way to our house, but he reached +it only to die. We sorrowed for the poor old slave, but thanked God that +he had passed beyond the inhumanity of man. + +Debarred from serving his country as a soldier, Will decided to do so in +some other capacity, and accordingly took service with a United States +freight caravan, transporting supplies to Fort Laramie. On this trip +his frontier training and skill as a marksman were the means of saving a +life. + +In Western travel the perils from outlaws and Indians were so real that +emigrants usually sought the protection of a large wagon-train. Several +families of emigrants journeyed under the wing of the caravan to which +Will was attached. + +When in camp one day upon the bank of the Platte River, and the members +of the company were busied with preparations for the night's rest and +the next day's journey, Mamie Perkins, a little girl from one of the +emigrant families, was sent to the river for a pail of water. A moment +later a monster buffalo was seen rushing upon the camp. A chorus of +yells and a fusillade from rifles and revolvers neither checked nor +swerved him. Straight through the camp he swept, like a cyclone, leaping +ropes and boxes, overturning wagons, and smashing things generally. + +Mamie, the little water-bearer, had filled her pail and was returning in +the track selected by the buffalo. Too terrified to move, she watched, +with white face and parted lips, the maddened animal sweep toward her, +head down and tail up, its hoofs beating a thunderous tattoo on the +plain. + +Will had been asleep, but the commotion brought him to his feet, and +snatching up his rifle, he ran toward the little girl, aimed and fired +at the buffalo. The huge animal lurched, staggered a few yards farther, +then dropped within a dozen feet of the terrified child. + +A shout of relief went up, and while a crowd of praising men gathered +about the embryo buffalo-hunter, Mamie was taken to her mother. Will +never relished hearing his praises sung, and as the camp was determined +to pedestal him as a hero, he ran away and hid in his tent. + +Upon reaching Fort Laramie, Will's first business was to look up Alf +Slade, agent of the Pony Express line, whose headquarters were at +Horseshoe Station, twenty miles from the fort. He carried a letter of +recommendation from Mr. Russell, but Slade demurred. + +"You're too young for a Pony Express rider," said he. + +"I rode three months a year ago, sir, and I'm much stronger now," said +Will. + +"Oh, are you the boy rider that was on Chrisman's division?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"All right; I'll try you. If you can't stand it, I 'll give you +something easier." + +Will's run was from Red Buttes, on the North Platte, to Three Crossings, +on the Sweetwater--seventy-six miles. + +The wilderness was of the kind that is supposed to howl, and no person +fond of excitement had reason to complain of lack of it. One day Will +arrived at his last station to find that the rider on the next run had +been mortally hurt by Indians. There being no one else to do it, he +volunteered to ride the eighty-five miles for the wounded man. He +accomplished it, and made his own return trip on time--a continuous ride +of three hundred and twenty-two miles. There was no rest for the rider, +but twenty-one horses were used on the run--the longest ever made by a +Pony Express rider. + +Shortly afterward Will fell in with California Joe, a remarkable +frontier character. He was standing beside a group of bowlders that +edged the trail when Will first clapped eyes on him, and the Pony +Express man instantly reached for his revolver. The stranger as quickly +dropped his rifle, and held up his hands in token of friendliness. +Will drew rein, and ran an interested eye over the man, who was clad in +buckskin. + +California Joe, who was made famous in General Custer's book, entitled +"Life on the Plains," was a man of wonderful physique, straight and +stout as a pine. His red-brown hair hung in curls below his shoulders; +he wore a full beard, and his keen, sparkling eyes were of the brightest +hue. He came from an Eastern family, and possessed a good education, +somewhat rusty from disuse. + +"Hain't you the boy rider I has heard of--the youngest rider on the +trail?" he queried, in the border dialect. Will made an affirmative +answer, and gave his name. + +"Waal," said Joe, "I guess you've got some money on this trip. I was +strikin' fer the Big Horn, and I found them two stiffs up yonder layin' +fer ye. We had a little misunderstandin', and now I has 'em to plant." + +Will thanked him warmly, and begged him not to risk the perils of the +Big Horn; but California Joe only laughed, and told him to push ahead. + +When Will reached his station he related his adventure, and the +stock-tender said it was "good by, California Joe" But Will had +conceived a better opinion of his new friend, and he predicted his safe +return. + +This confidence was justified by the appearance of California Joe, three +months later, in the camp of the Pony Riders on the Overland trail. He +received a cordial greeting, and was assured by the men that they had +not expected to see him alive again. In return he told them his story, +and a very interesting story it was. + +"Some time ago," said he (I shall not attempt to reproduce his dialect), +"a big gang of gold-hunters went into the Big Horn country. They never +returned, and the general sent me to see if I could get any trace of +them. The country is full of Indians, and I kept my eye skinned for +them, but I wasn't looking for trouble from white men. I happened to +leave my revolver where I ate dinner one day, and soon after discovering +the loss I went back after the gun. Just as I picked it up I saw a white +man on my trail. I smelled trouble, but turned and jogged along as if +I hadn't seen anything. That night I doubled back over my trail until I +came to the camp where the stranger belonged. As I expected, he was +one of a party of three, but they had five horses. I'll bet odds, Pard +Billy"--this to Will--"that the two pilgrims laying for you belonged to +this outfit. + +"They thought I'd found gold, and were going to follow me until I struck +the mine, then do me up and take possession. + +"The gold is there, too, lots of it. There's silver, iron, copper, and +coal, too, but no one will look at them so long as gold is to be had; +but those that go for gold will, many of them, leave their scalps +behind. + +"We kept the trail day after day; the men stuck right to me, the chap +ahead keeping me in sight and marking out the trail for his pard. When +we got into the heart of the Indian country I had to use every caution; +I steered clear of every smoke that showed a village or camp, and didn't +use my rifle on game, depending on the rations I had with me. + +"At last I came to a spot that showed signs of a battle. Skulls and +bones were strewn around, and after a look about I was satisfied beyond +doubt that white men had been of the company. The purpose of my trip was +accomplished; I could safely report that the party of whites had been +exterminated by Indians. + +"The question now was, could I return without running into Indians? The +first thing was to give my white pursuers the slip. + +"That night I crept down the bed of a small stream, passed their camp, +and struck the trail a half mile or so below. + +"It was the luckiest move I ever made. I had ridden but a short distance +when I heard the familiar war-whoop, and knew that the Indians had +surprised my unpleasant acquaintances and taken their scalps. I should +have shared the same fate if I hadn't moved. + +"But, boys, it is a grand and beautiful country, full of towering +mountains, lovely valleys, and mighty trees." + +About the middle of September the Indians became very troublesome +along the Sweetwater. Will was ambushed one day, but fortunately he was +mounted on one of the fleetest of the company's horses, and lying flat +on the animal's back, he distanced the redskins. At the relay station he +found the stock-tender dead, and as the horses had been driven off, he +was unable to get a fresh mount; so he rode the same horse to Plontz +Station, twelve miles farther. + +A few days later the station boss of the line hailed Will with the +information: + +"There's Injun signs about; so keep your eyes open." + +"I'm on the watch, boss," was Will's answer, as he exchanged ponies and +dashed away. + +The trail ran through a grim wild. It was darkened by mountains, +overhung with cliffs, and fringed with monster pines. The young rider's +every sense had been sharpened by frontier dangers. Each dusky rock +and tree was scanned for signs of lurking foes as he clattered down the +twilight track. + +One large bowlder lay in plain view far down the valley, and for a +second he saw a dark object appear above it. + +He kept his course until within rifle-shot, and then suddenly swerved +away in an oblique line. The ambush had failed, and a puff of smoke +issued from behind the bowlder. Two braves, in gorgeous war paint, +sprang up, and at the same time a score of whooping Indians rode out of +timber on the other side of the valley. + +Before Will the mountains sloped to a narrow pass; could he reach +that he would be comparatively safe. The Indians at the bowlder were +unmounted, and though they were fleet of foot, he easily left them +behind. The mounted reds were those to be feared, and the chief rode +a very fleet pony. As they neared the pass Will saw that it was life +against life. He drew his revolver, and the chief, for his part, fitted +an arrow to his bow. + +Will was a shade the quicker. His revolver cracked, and the warrior +pitched dead from his saddle. His fall was the signal for a shower of +arrows, one of which wounded the pony slightly; but the station was +reached on time. + +The Indians were now in evidence all the time. Between Split Rock +and Three Crossings they robbed a stage, killed the driver and two +passengers, and wounded Lieutenant Flowers, the assistant division +agent. They drove the stock from the stations, and continually harassed +the Pony Express riders and stage-drivers. So bold did the reds become +that the Pony riders were laid off for six weeks, though stages were to +make occasional runs if the business were urgent. A force was +organized to search for missing stock. There were forty men in the +party--stage-drivers, express-riders, stock-tenders, and ranchmen; +and they were captained by a plainsman named Wild Bill, who was a good +friend of Will for many years. + +He had not earned the sobriquet through lawlessness. It merely denoted +his dashing and daring. Physically he was well-nigh faultless--tall, +straight, and symmetrical, with broad shoulders and splendid chest. He +was handsome of face, with a clear blue eye, firm and well-shaped mouth, +aquiline nose, and brown, curling hair, worn long upon his shoulders. +Born of a refined and cultured family, he, like Will, seemingly +inherited from some remote ancestor his passion for the wild, free life +of the plains. + +At this time Wild Bill was a well-known scout, and in this capacity +served the United States to good purpose during the war. + + + +CHAPTER XI. -- A SHORT BUT DASHING INDIAN CAMPAIGN. + +AS Will was one of the laid-off riders, he was allowed to join the +expedition against the Indian depredators, though he was the youngest +member of the company. + +The campaign was short and sharp. The Indian trail was followed to +Powder River, and thence along the banks of the stream the party +traveled to within forty miles of the spot where old Fort Reno now +stands; from here the trail ran westerly, at the foot of the mountains, +and was crossed by Crazy Woman's Fork, a tributary of the Powder. + +Originally this branch stream went by the name of the Big Beard, because +of a peculiar grass that fringed it. On its bank had stood a village of +the Crow Indians, and here a half-breed trader had settled. He bought +the red man's furs, and gave him in return bright-colored beads and +pieces of calico, paints, and blankets. In a short time he had all the +furs in the village; he packed them on ponies, and said good by to his +Indian friends. They were sorry to see him go, but he told them he would +soon return from the land of the paleface, bringing many gifts. Months +passed; one day the Indian sentinels reported the approach of a strange +object. The village was alarmed, for the Crows had never seen ox, horse, +or wagon; but the excitement was allayed when it was found that the +strange outfit was the property of the half-breed trader. + +He had brought with him his wife, a white woman; she, too, was an object +of much curiosity to the Indians. + +The trader built a lodge of wood and stones, and exposed all his goods +for sale. He had brought beads, ribbons, and brass rings as gifts for +all the tribe. + +One day the big chief visited the store; the trader led him into a back +room, swore him to secrecy, and gave him a drink of black water. The +chief felt strangely happy. Usually he was very dignified and stately; +but under the influence of the strange liquid he sang and danced on the +streets, and finally fell into a deep sleep, from which he could not be +wakened. This performance was repeated day after day, until the Indians +called a council of war. They said the trader had bewitched their chief, +and it must be stopped, or they would kill the intruder. A warrior was +sent to convey this intelligence to the trader; he laughed, took the +warrior into the back room, swore him to secrecy, and gave him a drink +of the black water. The young Indian, in his turn, went upon the street, +and laughed and sang and danced, just as the chief had done. Surprised, +his companions gathered around him and asked him what was the matter. +"Oh, go to the trader and get some of the black water!" said he. + +They asked for the strange beverage. The trader denied having any, and +gave them a drink of ordinary water, which had no effect. When the young +warrior awoke, they again questioned him. He said he must have been +sick, and have spoken loosely. + +After this the chief and warrior were both drunk every day, and all +the tribe were sorely perplexed. Another council of war was held, and +a young chief arose, saying that he had made a hole in the wall of the +trader's house, and had watched; and it was true the trader gave their +friends black water. The half-breed and the two unhappy Indians were +brought before the council, and the young chief repeated his accusation, +saying that if it were not true, they might fight him. The second victim +of the black water yet denied the story, and said the young chief lied; +but the trader had maneuvered into the position he desired, and he +confessed. They bade him bring the water, that they might taste it; but +before he departed the young chief challenged to combat the warrior that +had said he lied. This warrior was the best spearsman of the tribe, +and all expected the death of the young chief; but the black water had +palsied the warrior's arm, his trembling hand could not fling true, he +was pierced to the heart at the first thrust. The tribe then repaired +to the trader's lodge, and he gave them all a drink of the black water. +They danced and sang, and then lay upon the ground and slept. + +After two or three days the half-breed declined to provide black water +free; if the warriors wanted it, they must pay for it. At first he gave +them a "sleep," as they called it, for one robe or skin, but as the +stock of black water diminished, two, then three, then many robes +were demanded. At last he said he had none left except what he himself +desired. The Indians offered their ponies, until the trader had all the +robes and all the ponies of the tribe. + +Now, he said, he would go back to the land of the paleface and procure +more of the black water. Some of the warriors were willing he should do +this; others asserted that he had plenty of black water left, and was +going to trade with their enemy, the Sioux. The devil had awakened in +the tribe. The trader's stores and packs were searched, but no black +water was found. 'Twas hidden, then, said the Indians. The trader must +produce it, or they would kill him. Of course he could not do this. He +had sowed the wind; he reaped the whirlwind. He was scalped before the +eyes of his horrified wife, and his body mutilated and mangled. The poor +woman attempted to escape; a warrior struck her with his tomahawk, and +she fell as if dead. The Indians fired the lodge. As they did so, a +Crow squaw saw that the white woman was not dead. She took the wounded +creature to her own lodge, bound up her wounds, and nursed her back to +strength. But the unfortunate woman's brain was crazed, and could not +bear the sight of a warrior. + +As soon as she could get around she ran away. The squaws went out to +look for her, and found her crooning on the banks of the Big Beard. She +would talk with the squaws, but if a warrior appeared, she hid herself +till he was gone. The squaws took her food, and she lived in a covert on +the bank of the stream for many months. One day a warrior, out hunting, +chanced upon her. Thinking she was lost, he sought to catch her, to take +her back to the village, as all Indian tribes have a veneration for the +insane; but she fled into the hills, and was never seen afterward. The +stream became known as the "Place of the Crazy Woman," or Crazy Woman's +Fork, and has retained the name to this day. + +At this point, to return to my narrative, the signs indicated that +reinforcements had reached the original body of Indians. The plainsmen +were now in the heart of the Indian country, the utmost caution was +required, and a sharp lookout was maintained. When Clear Creek, another +tributary of the Powder, was come up with, an Indian camp, some three +miles distant, was discovered on the farther bank. + +A council of war was held. Never before had the white man followed +the red so far into his domain, and 'twas plain the Indian was off his +guard; not a scout was posted. + +At Wild Bill's suggestion, the attack waited upon nightfall. Veiled by +darkness, the company was to surprise the Indian camp and stampede the +horses. + +The plan was carried out without a hitch. The Indians outnumbered the +white men three to one, but when the latter rushed cyclonically through +the camp, no effort was made to repel them, and by the time the Indians +had recovered from their surprise the plainsmen had driven off all +the horses--those belonging to the reds as well as those that had been +stolen. A few shots were fired, but the whites rode scathless away, and +unpursued. + +The line of march was now taken up for Sweetwater Bridge, and here, four +days later, the plainsmen brought up, with their own horses and about a +hundred Indian ponies. + +This successful sadly repressed the hostilities for a space. The +recovered horses were put back on the road, and the stage-drivers and +express-riders resumed their interrupted activity. + +"Billy," said Mr. Slade, who had taken a great fancy to Will--"Billy, +this is a hard life, and you're too young to stand it. You've done +good service, and in consideration of it I'll make you a supernumerary. +You'll have to ride only when it's absolutely necessary." + +There followed for Will a period of _dolce far niente_; days when he +might lie on his back and watch the clouds drift across the sky; when +he might have an eye to the beauty of the woodland and the sweep of the +plain, without the nervous strain of studying every tree and knoll that +might conceal a lurking redskin. Winter closed in, and with it came the +memories of the trapping season of 1860-61, when he had laid low his +first and last bear. But there were other bears to be killed--the +mountains were full of them; and one bracing morning he turned his +horse's head toward the hills that lay down the Horseshoe Valley. +Antelope and deer fed in the valley, the sage-hen and the jack-rabbit +started up under his horse's hoofs, but such small game went by +unnoticed. + +Two o'clock passed without a sign of bear, save some tracks in the snow. +The wintry air had put a keen edge on Will's appetite, and hitching his +tired horse, he shot one of the lately scorned sage-hens, and broiled it +over a fire that invited a longer stay than an industrious bear-hunter +could afford. But nightfall found him and his quarry still many miles +asunder, and as he did not relish the prospect of a chaffing from the +men at the station, he cast about for a camping-place, finding one in an +open spot on the bank of a little stream. Two more sage-hens were added +to the larder, and he was preparing to kindle a fire when the whinnying +of a horse caught his ear. He ran to his own horse to check the certain +response, resaddled him, and disposed everything for flight, should it +be necessary. Then, taking his rifle, he put forth on a reconnoissance. + +He shortly came upon a bunch of horses, a dozen or more, around a crook +of the stream. Above them, on the farther bank, shone a light. Drawing +nearer, he saw that it came from a dugout, and he heard his own language +spoken. Reassured, he walked boldly up to the door and rapped. + +Silence--followed by a hurried whispering, and the demand: + +"Who's there?" + +"Friend and white man," answered Will. + +The door opened reluctantly, and an ugly-looking customer bade him +enter. The invitation was not responded to with alacrity, for eight such +villainous-looking faces as the dugout held it would have been hard to +match. Too late to retreat, there was nothing for it but a determined +front, and let wit point the way of escape. Two of the men Will +recognized as discharged teamsters from Lew Simpson's train, and from +his knowledge of their longstanding weakness he assumed, correctly, that +he had thrust his head into a den of horsethieves. + +"Who's with you?" was the first query; and this answered, with sundry +other information esteemed essential, "Where's your horse?" demanded the +most striking portrait in the rogues' gallery. + +"Down by the creek," said Will. + +"All right, sonny; we'll go down and get him," was the obliging +rejoinder. + +"Oh, don't trouble yourself," said Will. "I'll fetch him and put up +here over night, with your permission. I'll leave my gun here till I get +back." + +"That's right; leave your gun, you won't need it," said the leader of +the gang, with a grin that was as near amiability as his rough, stern +calling permitted him. "Jim and I will go down with you after the +horse." + +This offer compelled an acquiescence, Will consoling himself with the +reflection that it is easier to escape from two men than from eight. + +When the horse was reached, one of the outlaws obligingly volunteered to +lead it. + +"All right," said Will, carelessly. "I shot a couple of sage-hens here; +I'll take them along. Lead away!" + +He followed with the birds, the second horsethief bringing up the rear. +As the dugout was neared he let fall one of the hens, and asked the chap +following to pick it up, and as the obliging rear guard stopped, Will +knocked him senseless with the butt of his revolver. The man ahead heard +the blow, and turned, with his hand on his gun, but Will dropped him +with a shot, leaped on his horse, and dashed off. + +The sextet in the dugout sprang to arms, and came running down the bank, +and likely getting the particulars of the escape from the ruffian by +the sage-hen, who was probably only stunned for the moment, they buckled +warmly to the chase. The mountain-side was steep and rough, and men on +foot were better than on horseback; accordingly Will dismounted, and +clapping his pony soundly on the flank, sent him clattering on down the +declivity, and himself stepped aside behind a large pine. The pursuing +party rushed past him, and when they were safely gone, he climbed back +over the mountain, and made his way as best he could to the Horseshoe. +It was a twenty-five mile plod, and he reached the station early in the +morning, weary and footsore. + +He woke the plainsmen, and related his adventure, and Mr. Slade at +once organized a party to hunt out the bandits of the dugout. Twenty +well-armed stock-tenders, stage-drivers, and ranchmen rode away at +sunrise, and, notwithstanding his fatigue, Will accompanied them as +guide. + +But the ill-favored birds had flown; the dugout was deserted. + +Will soon tired of this nondescript service, and gladly accepted a +position as assistant wagon-master under Wild Bill, who had taken a +contract to fetch a load of government freight from Rolla, Missouri. + +He returned with a wagon-train to Springfield, in that state, and thence +came home on a visit. It was a brief one, however, for the air was too +full of war for him to endure inaction. Contented only when at work, +he continued to help on government freight contracts, until he received +word that mother was dangerously ill. Then he resigned his position and +hastened home. + + + +CHAPTER XII. -- THE MOTHER'S LAST ILLNESS. + +IT was now the autumn of 1863, and Will was a well-grown young man, +tall, strong, and athletic, though not yet quite eighteen years old. Our +oldest sister, Julia, had been married, the spring preceding, to Mr. J. +A. Goodman. + +Mother had been growing weaker from day to day; being with her +constantly, we had not remarked the change for the worse; but Will was +much shocked by the transformation which a few months had wrought. Only +an indomitable will power had enabled her to overcome the infirmities of +the body, and now it seemed to us as if her flesh had been refined away, +leaving only the sweet and beautiful spirit. + +Will reached home none too soon, for only three weeks after his return +the doctor told mother that only a few hours were left to her, and if +she had any last messages, it were best that she communicate them at +once. That evening the children were called in, one by one, to receive +her blessing and farewell. Mother was an earnest Christian character, +but at that time I alone of all the children appeared religiously +disposed. Young as I was, the solemnity of the hour when she charged me +with the spiritual welfare of the family has remained with me through +all the years that have gone. Calling me to her side, she sought to +impress upon my childish mind, not the sorrow of death, but the glory +of the resurrection. Then, as if she were setting forth upon a pleasant +journey, she bade me good by, and I kissed her for the last time in +life. When next I saw her face it was cold and quiet. The beautiful +soul had forsaken its dwelling-place of clay, and passed on through the +Invisible, to wait, a glorified spirit, on the farther shore for the +coming of the loved ones whose life-story was as yet unfinished. + +Julia and Will remained with her throughout the night. Just before +death there came to her a brief season of long-lost animation, the +last flicker of the torch before darkness. She talked to them almost +continuously until the dawn. Into their hands was given the task of +educating the others of the family, and on their hearts and consciences +the charge was graven. Charlie, who was born during the early Kansas +troubles, had ever been a delicate child, and he lay an especial burden +on her mind. + +"If," she said, "it be possible for the dead to call the living, I shall +call Charlie to me." + +Within the space of a year, Charlie, too, was gone; and who shall say +that the yearning of a mother's heart for her child was not stronger +than the influences of the material world? + +Upon Will mother sought to impress the responsibilities of his destiny. +She reminded him of the prediction of the fortune-teller, that "his name +would be known the world over." + +"But," said she, "only the names of them that are upright, brave, +temperate, and true can be honorably known. Remember always that 'he +that overcometh his own soul is greater than he who taketh a city.' +Already you have shown great abilities, but remember that they carry +with them grave responsibilities. You have been a good son to me. In +the hour of need you have always aided me so that I can die now feeling +that my children are not unprovided for. I have not wished you to enlist +in the war, partly because I knew you were too young, partly because my +life was drawing near its close. But now you are nearly eighteen, and +if when I am gone your country needs you in the strife of which we in +Kansas know the bitterness, I bid you go as soldier in behalf of the +cause for which your father gave his life." + +She talked until sleep followed exhaustion. When she awoke she tried to +raise herself in bed. Will sprang to aid her, and with the upward look +of one that sees ineffable things, she passed away, resting in his arms. + + Oh, the glory and the gladness + Of a life without a fear; + Of a death like nature fading + In the autumn of the year; + Of a sweet and dreamless slumber, + In a faith triumphant borne, + Till the bells of Easter wake her + On the resurrection morn! + + Ah, for such a blessed falling + Into quiet sleep at last, + When the ripening grain is garnered, + And the toil and trial past; + When the red and gold of sunset + Slowly changes into gray; + Ah, for such a quiet passing, + Through the night into the day! + +The morning of the 22d day of November, 1863, began the saddest day of +our lives. We rode in a rough lumber wagon to Pilot Knob Cemetery, a +long, cold, hard ride; but we wished our parents to be united in death +as they had been in life, so buried mother in a grave next to father's. + +The road leading from the cemetery forked a short distance outside of +Leavenworth, one branch running to that city, the other winding homeward +along Government Hill. When we were returning, and reached this fork, +Will jumped out of the wagon. + +"I can't go home when I know mother is no longer there," said he. "I +am going to Leavenworth to see Eugene Hathaway. I shall stay with him +to-night." + +We, pitied Will--he and mother had been so much to each other--and +raised no objection, as we should have done had we known the real +purpose of his visit. + +The next morning, therefore, we were much surprised to see him and +Eugene ride into the yard, both clothed in, the blue uniforms of United +States soldiers. Overwhelmed with grief over mother's death, it seemed +more than we could bear to see our big brother ride off to war. We +threatened to inform the recruiting officers that he was not yet +eighteen; but he was too thoroughly in earnest to be moved by our +objections. The regiment in which he had enlisted was already ordered to +the front, and he had come home to say good by. He then rode away to +the hardships, dangers, and privations of a soldier's life. The joy of +action balanced the account for him, while we were obliged to accept the +usual lot of girlhood and womanhood--the weary, anxious waiting, when +the heart is torn with uncertainty and suspense over the fate of the +loved ones who bear the brunt and burden of the day. + +The order sending Will's regiment to the front was countermanded, and +he remained for a time in Fort Leavenworth. His Western experiences were +well known there, and probably for this reason he was selected as +a bearer of military dispatches to Fort Larned. Some of our old +pro-slavery enemies, who were upon the point of joining the Confederate +army, learned of Will's mission, which they thought afforded them an +excellent chance to gratify their ancient grudge against the father by +murdering the son. The killing could be justified on the plea of service +rendered to their cause. Accordingly a plan was made to waylay Will and +capture his dispatches at a creek he was obliged to ford. + +He received warning of this plot. On such a mission the utmost vigilance +was demanded at all times, and with an ambuscade ahead of him, he was +alertness itself. His knowledge of Indian warfare stood him in good +stead now. Not a tree, rock, or hillock escaped his keen glance. When he +neared the creek at which the attack was expected, he left the road, and +attempted to ford the stream four or five hundred yards above the common +crossing, but found it so swollen by recent rains that he was unable to +cross; so he cautiously picked his way back to the trail. + +The assassins' camp was two or three hundred feet away from the creek. +Darkness was coming on, and he took advantage of the shelter afforded +by the bank, screening himself behind every clump of bushes. His enemies +would look for his approach from the other direction, and he hoped to +give them the slip and pass by unseen. + +When he reached the point where he could see the little cabin where +the men were probably hiding, he ran upon a thicket in which five +saddle-horses were concealed. + +"Five to one! I don't stand much show if they see me," he decided as he +rode quietly and slowly along, his carbine in his hand ready for use. + +"There he goes, boys! he's at the ford!" came a sudden shout from the +camp, followed by the crack of a rifle. Two or three more shots rang +out, and from the bound his horse gave Will knew one bullet had reached +a mark. He rode into the water, then turned in his saddle and aimed like +a flash at a man within range. The fellow staggered and fell, and Will +put spurs to his horse, turning again only when the stream was crossed. +The men were running toward the ford, firing as they came, and getting +a warm return fire. As Will was already two or three hundred yards in +advance, pursuers on foot were not to be feared, and he knew that before +they could reach and mount their horses he would be beyond danger. Much +depended on his horse. Would the gallant beast, wounded as he was, be +able to long maintain the fierce pace he had set? Mile upon mile was put +behind before the stricken creature fell. Will shouldered the saddle +and bridle and continued on foot. He soon reached a ranch where a fresh +mount might be procured, and was shortly at Fort Larned. + +After a few hours' breathing-spell, he left for Fort Leavenworth with +return dispatches. As he drew near the ford, he resumed his sharp +lookout, though scarcely expecting trouble. The planners of the +ambuscade had been so certain that five men could easily make away +with one boy that there had been no effort at disguise, and Will had +recognized several of them. He, for his part, felt certain that they +would get out of that part of the country with all dispatch; but he +employed none the less caution in crossing the creek, and his carbine +was ready for business as he approached the camp. + +The fall of his horse's hoofs evoked a faint call from one of the +buildings. It was not repeated; instead there issued hollow moans. + +It might be a trap; again, a fellow-creature might be at death's door. +Will rode a bit nearer the cabin entrance. + +"Who's there?" he called. + +"Come in, for the love of God! I am dying here alone!" was the reply. + +"Who are you?" + +"Ed Norcross." + +Will jumped from his horse. This was the man at whom he had fired. He +entered the cabin. + +"What is the matter?" he asked. + +"I was wounded by a bullet," moaned Norcross, "and my comrades deserted +me." + +Will was now within range of the poor fellow lying on the floor. + +"Will Cody!" he cried. + +Will dropped on his knee beside the dying man, choking with the emotion +that the memory of long years of friendship had raised. + +"My poor Ed!" he murmured. "And it was my bullet that struck you." + +"It was in defense of your own life, Will," said Norcross. "God knows, I +don't blame you. Don't think too hard of me. I did everything I could +to save you. It was I who sent you warning. I hoped you might find some +other trail." + +"I didn't shoot with the others," continued Norcross, after a short +silence. "They deserted me. They said they would send help back, but +they haven't." + +Will filled the empty canteen lying on the floor, and rearranged the +blanket that served as a pillow; then he offered to dress the neglected +wound. But the gray of death was already upon the face of Norcross. + +"Never mind, Will," he whispered; "it's not worth while. Just stay with +me till I die." + +It was not a long vigil. Will sat beside his old friend, moistening his +pallid lips with water. In a very short time the end came. Will disposed +the stiffening limbs, crossing the hands over the heart, and with a last +backward look went out of the cabin. + +It was his first experience in the bitterness and savagery of war, and +he set a grave and downcast face against the remainder of his journey. + +As he neared Leavenworth he met the friend who had conveyed the dead +man's warning message, and to him he committed the task of bringing +home the body. His heaviness of spirit was scarcely mitigated by the +congratulations of the commander of Fort Leavenworth upon his pluck and +resources, which had saved both his life and the dispatches. + +There followed another period of inaction, always irritating to a lad +of Will's restless temperament. Meantime, we at home were having our own +experiences. + +We were rejoiced in great measure when sister Julia decided that we had +learned as much as might be hoped for in the country school, and +must thereafter attend the winter and spring terms of the school at +Leavenworth. The dresses she cut for us, however, still followed the +country fashion, which has regard rather to wear than to appearance, and +we had not been a day in the city school before we discovered that our +apparel had stamped "provincial" upon us in plain, large characters. In +addition to this, our brother-in-law, in his endeavor to administer the +estate economically, bought each of us a pair of coarse calfskin +shoes. To these we were quite unused, mother having accustomed us to +serviceable but pretty ones. The author of our "extreme" mortification, +totally ignorant of the shy and sensitive nature of girls, only laughed +at our protests, and in justice to him it may be said that he really had +no conception of the torture he inflicted upon us. + +We turned to Will. In every emergency he was our first thought, and here +was an emergency that taxed his powers to an extent we did not dream of. +He made answer to our letter that he was no longer an opulent trainman, +but drew only the slender income of a soldier, and even that pittance +was in arrears. Disappointment was swallowed up in remorse. Had we +reflected how keenly he must feel his inability to help us, we would +not have sent him the letter, which, at worst, contained only a sly +suggestion of a fine opportunity to relieve sisterly distress. All his +life he had responded to our every demand; now allegiance was due his +country first. But, as was always the way with him, he made the best of +a bad matter, and we were much comforted by the receipt of the following +letter: + +"MY DEAR SISTERS: + +"I am sorry that I cannot help you and furnish you with such clothes +as you wish. At this writing I am so short of funds myself that if an +entire Mississippi steamer could be bought for ten cents I couldn't +purchase the smokestack. I will soon draw my pay, and I will send it, +every cent, to you. So brave it out, girls, a little longer. In the mean +time I will write to Al. + +"Lovingly, + +"WILL." + + +We were comforted, yes; but my last hope was gone, and I grew desperate. +I had never worn the obnoxious shoes purchased by my guardian, and I +proceeded to dispose of them forever. I struck what I regarded as a +famous bargain with an accommodating Hebrew, and came into possession +of a pair of shiny morocco shoes, worth perhaps a third of what mine +had cost. One would say they were designed for shoes, and they certainly +looked like shoes, but as certainly they were not wearable. Still they +were of service, for the transaction convinced my guardian that the +truest economy did not lie in the pur-chasing of calfskin shoes for at +least one of his charges. A little later he received a letter from Will, +presenting our grievances and advocating our cause. Will also sent us +the whole of his next month's pay as soon as he drew it. + +In February, 1864, Sherman began his march through Mississippi. +The Seventh Kansas regiment, known as "Jennison's Jayhawkers," was +reorganized at Fort Leavenworth as veterans, and sent to Memphis, Tenn., +to join General A. J. Smith's command, which was to operate against +General Forrest and cover the retreat of General Sturgis, who had +been so badly whipped by Forrest at Cross-Roads. Will was exceedingly +desirous of engaging in a great battle, and through some officers with +whom he was acquainted preferred a petition to be transferred to this +regiment. The request was granted, and his delight knew no bounds. He +wrote to us that his great desire was about to be gratified, that he +should soon know what a real battle was like. + +He was well versed in Indian warfare; now he was ambitious to learn, +from experience, the superiority of civilized strife--rather, I should +say, of strife between civilized people. + +General Smith had acquainted himself with the record made by the young +scout of the plains, and shortly after reaching Memphis he ordered Will +to report to headquarters for special service. + +"I am anxious," said the general, "to gain reliable information +concerning the enemy's movements and position. This can only be done by +entering the Confederate camp. You possess the needed qualities--nerve, +coolness, resource--and I believe you could do it." + +"You mean," answered Will, quietly, "that you wish me to go as a spy +into the rebel camp." + +"Exactly. But you must understand the risk you run. If you are captured, +you will be hanged." + +"I am ready to take the chances, sir," said Will; "ready to go at once, +if you wish." + +General Smith's stern face softened into a smile at the prompt response. + +"I am sure, Cody," said he, kindly, "that if any one can go through +safely, you will. Dodging Indians on the plains was good training +for the work in hand, which demands quick intelligence and ceaseless +vigilance. I never require such service of any one, but since you +volunteer to go, take these maps of the country to your quarters and +study them carefully. Return this evening for full instructions." + +During the few days his regiment had been in camp, Will had been on +one or two scouting expeditions, and was somewhat familiar with the +immediate environments of the Union forces. The maps were unusually +accurate, showing every lake, river, creek, and highway, and even the +by-paths from plantation to plantation. + +Only the day before, while on a reconnoissance, Will had captured a +Confederate soldier, who proved to be an old acquaintance named Nat +Golden. Will had served with Nat on one of Russell, Majors & Waddell's +freight trains, and at one time had saved the young man's life, and +thereby earned his enduring friendship. Nat was born in the East, became +infected with Western fever, and ran away from home in order to become a +plainsman. + +"Well, this is too bad," said Will, when he recognized his old friend. +"I would rather have captured a whole regiment than you. I don't like +to take you in as a prisoner. What did you enlist on the wrong side for, +anyway?" + +"The fortunes of war, Billy, my boy," laughed Nat. "Friend shall be +turned against friend, and brother against brother, you know. You +wouldn't have had me for a prisoner, either, if my rifle hadn't snapped; +but I'm glad it did, for I shouldn't want to be the one that shot you." + +"Well, I don't want to see you strung up," said Will; "so hand me over +those papers you have, and I will turn you in as an ordinary prisoner." + +Nat's face paled as he asked, "Do you think I'm a spy, Billy?" + +"I know it." + +"Well," was the reply, "I've risked my life to obtain these papers, but +I suppose they will be taken from me anyway; so I might as well give +them up now, and save my neck." + +Examination showed them to be accurate maps of the location and position +of the Union army; and besides the maps, there were papers containing +much valuable information concerning the number of soldiers and officers +and their intended movements. Will had not destroyed these papers, and +he now saw a way to use them to his own advantage. When he reported for +final instructions, therefore, at General Smith's tent, in the evening, +Will said to him: + +"I gathered from a statement dropped by the prisoner captured yesterday, +that a Confederate spy has succeeded in making out and carrying to the +enemy a complete map of the position of our regiment, together with some +idea of the projected plan of campaign." + +"Ah," said the general; "I am glad that you have put me on my guard. I +will at once change my position, so that the information will be of no +value to them." + +Then followed full instructions as to the duty required of the +volunteer. + +"When will you set out?" asked the general. + +"To-night, sir. I have procured my uniform, and have everything prepared +for an early start." + +"Going to change your colors, eh?" + +"Yes, for the time being, but not my principles." + +The general looked at Will approvingly. "You will need all the wit, +pluck, nerve, and caution of which you are possessed to come through +this ordeal safely," said he. "I believe you can accomplish it, and I +rely upon you fully. Good by, and success go with you!" + +After a warm hand-clasp, Will returned to his tent, and lay down for a +few hours' rest. By four o'clock he was in the saddle, riding toward the +Confederate lines. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. -- IN THE SECRET-SERVICE. + +IN common walks of life to play the spy is an ignoble role; yet the work +has to be done, and there must be men to do it. There always are such +men--nervy fellows who swing themselves into the saddle when their +commander lifts his hand, and ride a mad race, with Death at the horse's +flank every mile of the way. They are the unknown heroes of every war. + +It was with a full realization of the dangers confronting him that Will +cantered away from the Union lines, his borrowed uniform under his +arm. As soon as he had put the outposts behind him, he dismounted and +exchanged the blue clothes for the gray. Life on the plains had bronzed +his face. For aught his complexion could tell, the ardent Southern sun +might have kissed it to its present hue. Then, if ever, his face was +his fortune in good part; but there was, too, a stout heart under his +jacket, and the light of confidence in his eyes. + +The dawn had come up when he sighted the Confederate outposts. What lay +beyond only time could reveal; but with a last reassuring touch of +the papers in his pocket, he spurred his horse up to the first of the +outlying sentinels. Promptly the customary challenge greeted him: + +"Halt! Who goes there?" + +"Friend." + +"Dismount, friend! Advance and give the countersign!" + +"Haven't the countersign," said Will, dropping from his horse, "but I +have important information for General Forrest. Take me to him at once." + +"Are you a Confederate soldier?" + +"Not exactly. But I have some valuable news about the Yanks, I reckon. +Better let me see the general." + +"Thus far," he added to himself, "I have played the part. The +combination of 'Yank' and 'I reckon' ought to establish me as a +promising candidate for Confederate honors." + +His story was not only plausible, but plainly and fairly told; but +caution is a child of war, and the sentinel knew his business. The +pseudo-Confederate was disarmed as a necessary preliminary, and marched +between two guards to headquarters, many curious eyes (the camp being +now astir) following the trio. + +When Forrest heard the report, he ordered the prisoner brought before +him. One glance at the general's handsome but harsh face, and the young +man steeled his nerves for the encounter. There was no mercy in those +cold, piercing eyes. This first duel of wits was the one to be most +dreaded. Unless confidence were established, his after work must be done +at a disadvantage. + +The general's penetrating gaze searched the young face before him for +several seconds. + +"Well, sir," said he, "what do you want with me?" + +Yankee-like, the reply was another question: + +"You sent a man named Nat Golden into the Union lines, did you not, +sir?" + +"And if I did, what then?" + +"He is an old friend of mine. He tried for the Union camp to verify +information that he had received, but before he started he left certain +papers with me in case he should be captured." + +"Ah!" said Forrest, coldly. "And he was captured?" + +"Yes, sir; but, as I happen to know, he wasn't hanged, for these weren't +on him." + +As he spoke, Will took from his pocket the papers he had obtained from +Golden, and passed them over with the remark, "Golden asked me to take +them to you." + +General Forrest was familiar with the hapless Golden's handwriting, and +the documents were manifestly genuine. His suspicion was not aroused. + +"These are important papers," said he, when he had run his eye over +them. "They contain valuable information, but we may not be able to +use it, as we are about to change our location. Do you know what these +papers contain?" + +"Every word," was the truthful reply. "I studied them, so that in case +they were destroyed you would still have the information from me." + +"A wise thing to do," said Forrest, approvingly. "Are you a soldier?" + +"I have not as yet joined the army, but I am pretty well acquainted with +this section, and perhaps could serve you as a scout." + +"Um!" said the general, looking the now easy-minded young man over. "You +wear our uniform." + +"It's Golden's," was the second truthful answer. "He left it with me +when he put on the blue." + +"And what is your name?" + +"Frederick Williams." + +Pretty near the truth. Only a final "s" and a rearrangement of his given +names. + +"Very well," said the general, ending the audience; "you may remain in +camp. If I need you, I'll send for you." + +He summoned an orderly, and bade him make the volunteer scout +comfortable at the couriers' camp. Will breathed a sigh of relief as he +followed at the orderly's heels. The ordeal was successfully passed. The +rest was action. + +Two days went by. In them Will picked up valuable information here and +there, drew maps, and was prepared to depart at the first favorable +opportunity. It was about time, he figured, that General Forrest found +some scouting work for him. That was a passport beyond the lines, and he +promised himself the outposts should see the cleanest pair of heels that +ever left unwelcome society in the rear. But evidently scouting was a +drug in the general's market, for the close of another day found Will +impatiently awaiting orders in the couriers' quarters. This sort of +inactivity was harder on the nerves than more tangible perils, and +he about made up his mind that when he left camp it would be without +orders, but with a hatful of bullets singing after him. And he was quite +sure that his exit lay that way when, strolling past headquarters, +he clapped eyes on the very last person that he expected or wished to +see--Nat Golden. + +And Nat was talking to an adjutant-general! + +There were just two things to do, knock Golden on the head, or cut and +run. Nat would not betray him knowingly, but unwittingly was certain +to do so the moment General Forrest questioned him. There could be +no choice between the two courses open; it was cut and run, and as +a preliminary Will cut for his tent. First concealing his papers, +he saddled his horse and rode toward the outposts with a serene +countenance. + +{illust. caption = "NOW RIDE FOR YOUR LIVES!"} + +The same sergeant that greeted him when he entered the lines chanced to +be on duty, and of him Will asked an unimportant question concerning the +outer-flung lines. Yet as he rode along he could not forbear throwing +an apprehensive glance behind. No pursuit was making, and the farthest +picket-line was passed by a good fifty yards. Ahead was a stretch of +timber. Suddenly a dull tattoo of horses' hoofs caught his ear, and he +turned to see a small cavalcade bearing down upon him at a gallop. He +sank the spurs into his horse's side and plunged into the timber. It +was out of the frying-pan into the fire. He ran plump into a half-dozen +Confederate cavalrymen, guarding two Union prisoners. "Men, a Union spy +is escaping!" shouted Will. "Scatter at once, and head him off. I'll +look after your prisoners." There was a ring of authority in the +command; it came at least from a petty officer; and without thought of +challenging it, the cavalrymen hurried right and left in search of the +fugitive. "Come," said Will, in a hurried but smiling whisper to the +dejected pair of Union men. "I'm the spy! There!" cutting the ropes that +bound their wrists. "Now ride for your lives!" Off dashed the trio, and +not a minute too soon. Will's halt had been brief, but it had been of +advantage to his pursuers, who, with Nat Golden at their head, came on +in full cry, not a hundred yards behind. Here was a race with Death at +the horse's flanks. The timber stopped a share of the singing bullets, +but there were plenty that got by the trees, one of them finding +lodgment in the arm of one of the fleeing Union soldiers. Capture meant +certain death for Will; for his companions it meant Andersonville or +Libby, at the worst, which was perhaps as bad as death; but Will would +not leave them, though his horse was fresh, and he could easily have +distanced them. Of course, if it became necessary, he was prepared +to cut their acquaintance, but for the present he made one of the +triplicate targets on which the galloping marksmen were endeavoring +to score a bull's-eye. The edge of the wood was shortly reached, and +beyond--inspiring sight!--lay the outposts of the Union army. The +pickets, at sight of the fugitives, sounded the alarm, and a body of +blue-coats responded. Will would have gladly tarried for the skirmish +that ensued, but he esteemed it his first duty to deliver the papers he +had risked his life to obtain; so, leaving friend and foe to settle the +dispute as best they might, he put for the clump of trees where he had +hidden his uniform, and exchanged it for the gray, that had served its +purpose and was no longer endurable. Under his true colors he rode +into camp. General Forrest almost immediately withdrew from that +neighborhood, and after the atrocious massacre at Fort Pillow, on the +12th of April, left the state. General Smith was recalled, and Will was +transferred, with the commission of guide and scout for the Ninth Kansas +Regiment. The Indians were giving so much trouble along the line of the +old Santa Fe trail that troops were needed to protect the stagecoaches, +emigrants, and caravans traveling that great highway. Like nearly all +our Indian wars, this trouble was precipitated by the injustice of the +white man's government of certain of the native tribes. In 1860 Colonel +A. G. Boone, a worthy grandson of the immortal Daniel, made a treaty with +the Comanches, Kiowas, Cheyennes, and Arapahoes, and at their request he +was made agent. During his wise, just, and humane administration all of +these savage nations were quiet, and held the kindliest feelings toward +the whites. Any one could cross the plains without fear of molestation. +In 1861 a charge of disloyalty was made against Colonel Boone by Judge +Wright, of Indiana, and he succeeded in having the right man removed +from the right place. Russell, Majors & Waddell, recognizing his +influence over the Indians, gave him fourteen hundred acres of land near +Pueblo, Colorado. Colonel Boone moved there, and the place was named +Booneville. Fifty chieftains from the tribes referred to visited Colonel +Boone in the fall of 1862, and implored him to return to them. He told +them that the President had sent him away. They offered to raise money, +by selling their horses, to send him to Washington, to tell the Great +Father what their agent was doing--that he stole their goods and sold +them back again; and they bade the colonel say that there would be +trouble unless some one were put in the dishonest man's place. With the +innate logic for which the Indian is noted, they declared that they had +as much right to steal from passing caravans as the agent had to steal +from them. No notice was taken of so trifling a matter as an injustice +to the Indian. The administration had its hands more than full in the +attempt to right the wrongs of the negro. In the fall of 1863 a caravan +passed along the trail. It was a small one, but the Indians had been +quiet for so long a time that travelers were beginning to lose fear +of them. A band of warriors rode up to the wagon-train and asked for +something to eat. The teamsters thought they would be doing humanity a +service if they killed a redskin, on the ancient principle that "the only +good Indian is a dead one." Accordingly, a friendly, inoffensive Indian +was shot. The bullet that reached his heart touched that of every +warrior in these nations. Every man but one in the wagon-train was +slain, the animals driven off, and the wagons burned. The fires of +discontent that had been smoldering for two years in the red man's +breast now burst forth with volcanic fury. Hundreds of atrocious murders +followed, with wholesale destruction of property. The Ninth Kansas +Regiment, under the command of Colonel Clark, was detailed to protect +the old trail between Fort Lyon and Fort Larned, and as guide and scout +Will felt wholly at home. He knew the Indian and his ways, and had no +fear of him. His fine horse and glittering trappings were an innocent +delight to him; and who will not pardon in him the touch of pride--say +vanity--that thrilled him as he led his regiment down the Arkansas +River? During the summer there were sundry skirmishes with the Indians. +The same old vigilance, learned in earlier days on the frontier, was in +constant demand, and there was many a rough and rapid ride to drive the +hostiles from the trail. Whatever Colonel Clark's men may have had to +complain of, there was no lack of excitement, no dull days, in that +summer. In the autumn the Seventh Kansas was again ordered to the front, +and at the request of its officers Will was detailed for duty with +his old regiment. General Smith's orders were that he should go +to Nashville. Rosecrans was then in command of the Union forces in +Missouri. His army was very small, numbering only about 6,500 men, while +the Confederate General Price was on the point of entering the state +with 20,000. This superiority of numbers was so great that General Smith +received an order countermanding the other, and remained in Missouri, +joining forces with Rosecrans to oppose Price. Rosecrans's entire force +still numbered only 11,000, and he deemed it prudent to concentrate his +army around St. Louis. General Ewing's forces and a portion of General +Smith's command occupied Pilot Knob. On Monday, the 24th of September, +1864, Price advanced against this position, but was repulsed with heavy +losses. An adjacent fort in the neighborhood of Ironton was assaulted, +but the Confederate forces again sustained a severe loss. This fort +held a commanding lookout on Shepard Mountain, which the Confederates +occupied, and their wall-directed fire obliged General Ewing to fall +back to Harrison Station, where he made a stand, and some sharp fighting +followed. General Ewing again fell back, and succeeded in reaching +General McNeill, at Rolla, with the main body of his troops. This was +Will's first serious battle, and it so chanced that he found himself +opposed at one point by a body of Missouri troops numbering many of the +men who had been his father's enemies and persecutors nine years before. +In the heat of the conflict he recognized more than one of them, and +with the recognition came the memory of his boyhood's vow to avenge his +father's death. Three of those men fell in that battle; and whether or +not it was he who laid them low, from that day on he accounted himself +freed of his melancholy obligation. After several hard-fought battles, +Price withdrew from Missouri with the remnant of his command--seven +thousand where there had been twenty. During this campaign Will received +honorable mention "for most conspicuous bravery and valuable service +upon the field," and he was shortly brought into favorable notice in many +quarters. The worth of the tried veterans was known, but none of the +older men was in more demand than Will. His was seemingly a charmed +life. Often was he detailed to bear dispatches across the battlefield, +and though horses were shot under him--riddled by bullets or torn by +shells--he himself went scathless. During this campaign, too, he ran +across his old friend of the plains, Wild Bill. Stopping at a farm-house +one day to obtain a meal, he was not a little surprised to hear the +salutation: "Well, Billy, my boy, how are you?" He looked around to see +a hand outstretched from a coat-sleeve of Confederate gray, and as he +knew Wild Bill to be a stanch Unionist, he surmised that he was engaged +upon an enterprise similar to his own. There was an exchange of chaffing +about gray uniforms and blue, but more serious talk followed. "Take +these papers, Billy," said Wild Bill, passing over a package. "Take 'em +to General McNeill, and tell him I'm picking up too much good news to +keep away from the Confederate camp." "Don't take too many chances," +cautioned Will, well knowing that the only chances the other would not +take would be the sort that were not visible. Colonel Hickok, to give +him his real name, replied, with a laugh: "Practice what you preach, my +son. Your neck is of more value than mine. You have a future, but mine +is mostly past. I'm getting old." At this point the good woman of +the house punctuated the colloquy with a savory meal, which the pair +discussed with good appetite and easy conscience, in spite of their +hostess's refusal to take pay from Confederate soldiers. "As long as I +have a crust in the house," said she, "you boys are welcome to it." But +the pretended Confederates paid her for her kindness in better currency +than she was used to. They withheld information concerning a proposed +visit of her husband and son, of which, during one spell of loquacity, +she acquainted them. The bread she cast upon the waters returned to her +speedily. The two friends parted company, Will returning to the Union +lines, and Colonel Hickok to the opposing camp. A few days later, when +the Confederate forces were closing up around the Union lines, and a +battle was at hand, two horsemen were seen to dart out of the hostile +camp and ride at full speed for the Northern lines. For a space +the audacity of the escape seemed to paralyze the Confederates; but +presently the bullets followed thick and fast, and one of the saddles +was empty before the rescue party--of which Will was one--got fairly +under way. As the survivor drew near, Will shouted: "It's Wild Bill, the +Union scout." A cheer greeted the intrepid Colonel Hickok, and he rode +into camp surrounded by a party of admirers. The information he brought +proved of great value in the battle of Pilot Knob (already referred +to), which almost immediately followed. CHAPTER XIV. A RESCUE AND A +BETROTHAL. AFTER the battle of Pilot Knob Will was assigned, through the +influence of General Polk, to special service at military headquarters +in St. Louis. Mrs. Polk had been one of mother's school friends, and the +two had maintained a correspondence up to the time of mother's death. +As soon as Mrs. Polk learned that the son of her old friend was in the +Union army, she interested herself in obtaining a good position for him. +But desk-work is not a Pony Express rush, and Will found the St. Louis +detail about as much to his taste as clerking in a dry-goods store. +His new duties naturally became intolerable, lacking the excitement and +danger-scent which alone made his life worth while to him. One event, +however, relieved the dead-weight monotony of his existence; he met +Louise Frederici, the girl who became his wife. The courtship has +been written far and wide with blood-and-thunder pen, attended by +lariat-throwing and runaway steeds. In reality it was a romantic affair. +More than once, while out for a morning canter, Will had remarked a +young woman of attractive face and figure, who sat her horse with the +grace of Diana Vernon. Now, few things catch Will's eye more quickly +than fine horsemanship. He desired to establish an acquaintance with the +young lady, but as none of his friends knew her, he found it impossible. +At length a chance came. Her bridle-rein broke one morning; there was a +runaway, a rescue, and then acquaintance was easy. From war to love, or +from love to war, is but a step, and Will lost no time in taking it. +He was somewhat better than an apprentice to Dan Cupid. If the reader +remembers, he went to school with Steve Gobel. True, his opportunities +to enjoy feminine society had not been many, which; perhaps, accounts +for the promptness with which he embraced them when they did arise. +He became the accepted suitor of Miss Louise Frederici before the war +closed and his regiment was mustered out. The spring of 1865 found him +not yet twenty, and he was sensible of the fact that before he could +dance at his own wedding he must place his worldly affairs upon a surer +financial basis than falls to the lot of a soldier; so, much as he would +have enjoyed remaining in St. Louis, fortune pointed to wider fields, +and he set forth in search of remunerative and congenial employment. +First, there was the visit home, where the warmest of welcomes awaited +him. During his absence the second sister, Eliza, had married a Mr. +Myers, but the rest of us were at the old place, and the eagerness with +which we awaited Will's home-coming was stimulated by the hope that +he would remain and take charge of the estate. Before we broached this +subject, however, he informed us of his engagement to Miss Frederici, +which, far from awakening jealousy, aroused our delight, Julia voicing +the sentiment of the family in the comment: "When you're married, Will, +you will have to stay at home." This led to the matter of his remaining +with us to manage the estate--and to the upsetting of our plans. The pay +of a soldier in the war was next to nothing, and as Will had been unable +to put any money by, he took the first chance that offered to better his +fortunes. This happened to be a job of driving horses from Leavenworth +to Fort Kearny, and almost the first man he met after reaching the fort +was an old plains friend, Bill Trotter. "You're just the chap I've been +looking for," said Trotter, when he learned that Will desired regular +work. "I'm division station agent here, but stage-driving is dangerous +work, as the route is infested with Indians and outlaws. Several drivers +have been held up and killed lately, so it's not a very enticing job, +but the pay's good, and you know the country. If any one can take the +stage through, you can. Do you want the job?" When a man is in love and +the wedding-day has been dreamed of, if not set, life takes on an added +sweetness, and to stake it against the marksmanship of Indian or outlaw +is not, perhaps, the best use to which it may be put. Will had come +safely through so many perils that it seemed folly to thrust his head +into another batch of them, and thinking of Louise and the coming +wedding-day, his first thought was no. But it was the old story, and +there was Trotter at his elbow expressing confidence in his ability as a +frontiersman--an opinion Will fully shared, for a man knows what he can +do. The pay was good, and the sooner earned the sooner would the wedding +be, and Trotter received the answer he expected. The stage line was +another of the Western enterprises projected by Russell, Majors & +Waddell. When gold was discovered on Pike's Peak there was no method +of traversing the great Western plain except by plodding ox-team, +mule-pack, or stagecoach. A semi-monthly stage line ran from St. +Joseph to Salt Lake City, but it was poorly equipped and very tedious, +oftentimes twenty-one days being required to make the trip. The senior +member of the firm, in partnership with John S. Jones, of Missouri, +established a new line between the Missouri River and Denver, at that +time a straggling mining hamlet. One thousand Kentucky mules were +bought, with a sufficient number of coaches to insure a daily run each +way. The trip was made in six days, which necessitated travel at the +rate of a hundred miles a day. The first stage reached Denver on May +17, 1859. It was accounted a remarkable achievement, and the line +was pronounced a great success. In one way it was; but the expense of +equipping it had been enormous, and the new line could not meet its +obligations. To save the credit of their senior partner, Russell, Majors +& Waddell were obliged to come to the rescue. They bought up all the +outstanding obligations, and also the rival stage line between St. +Joseph and Salt Lake City. They consolidated the two, and thereby hoped +to put the Overland stage route on a paying basis. St. Joseph now became +the starting-point of the united lines. From there the road went to Fort +Kearny, and followed the old Salt Lake trail, already described in +these pages. After leaving Salt Lake it passed through Camp Floyd, Ruby +Valley, Carson City, Placerville, and Folsom, and ended in Sacramento. +The distance from St. Joseph to Sacramento by this old stage route was +nearly nineteen hundred miles. The time required by mail contracts and +the government schedule was nineteen days. The trip was frequently made +in fifteen, but there were so many causes for detention that the limit +was more often reached. Each two hundred and fifty miles of road was +designated a "division," and was in charge of an agent, who had great +authority in his own jurisdiction. He was commonly a man of more than +ordinary intelligence, and all matters pertaining to his division were +entirely under his control. He hired and discharged employee, purchased +horses, mules, harness, and food, and attended to their distribution at +the different stations. He superintended the erection of all buildings, +had charge of the water supply, and he was the paymaster. There was also +a man known as the conductor, whose route was almost coincident with +that of the agent. He sat with the driver, and often rode the whole +two hundred and fifty miles of his division without any rest or sleep, +except what he could catch sitting on the top of the flying coach. The +coach itself was a roomy, swaying vehicle, swung on thorough-braces +instead of springs. It always had a six-horse or six-mule team to +draw it, and the speed was nerve-breaking. Passengers were allowed +twenty-five pounds of baggage, and that, with the mail, express, and +the passengers themselves, was in charge of the conductor. The Overland +stagecoaches were operated at a loss until 1862. In March of that year +Russell, Majors & Waddell transferred the whole outfit to Ben Holliday. +Here was a typical frontiersman, of great individuality and character. +At the time he took charge of the route the United States mail was given +to it. This put the line on a sound financial basis, as the government +spent $800,000 yearly in transporting the mail to San Francisco. Will +reported for duty the morning after his talk with Trotter, and when +he mounted the stage-box and gathered the reins over the six spirited +horses, the passengers were assured of an expert driver. His run was +from Fort Kearny to Plum Creek. The country was sharply familiar. It was +the scene of his first encounter with Indians. A long and lonely ride +it was, and a dismal one when the weather turned cold; but it meant a +hundred and fifty dollars a month; and each pay day brought him nearer +to St. Louis. + +Indian signs there had been right along, but they were only signs until +one bleak day in November. He pulled out of Plum Creek with a sharp +warning ringing in his ears. Indians were on the war-path, and trouble +was more likely than not ahead. Lieutenant Flowers, assistant division +agent, was on the box with him, and within the coach were six well-armed +passengers. + +Half the run had been covered, when Will's experienced eye detected +the promised red men. Before him lay a stream which must be forded. The +creek was densely fringed with underbrush, and along this the Indians +were skulking, expecting to cut the stage off at the only possible +crossing. + +Perhaps this is a good place to say a word concerning the seemingly +extraordinary fortune that has stood by Will in his adventures. Not +only have his own many escapes been of the hairbreadth sort, but he has +arrived on the scene of danger at just the right moment to rescue others +from extinction. Of course, an element of luck has entered into these +affairs, but for the most part they simply proved the old saying that an +ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. Will had studied +the plains as an astronomer studies the heavens. The slightest +disarrangement of the natural order of things caught his eye. With the +astronomer, it is a comet or an asteroid appearing upon a field whose +every object has long since been placed and studied; with Will, it was +a feathered headdress where there should have been but tree, or rock, or +grass; a moving figure where nature should have been inanimate. + +When seen, those things were calculated as the astronomer calculates the +motion of the objects that he studies. A planet will arrive at a given +place at a certain time; an Indian will reach a ford in a stream in +about so many minutes. If there be time to cross before him, it is a +matter of hard driving; if the odds are with the Indian, that is another +matter. + +A less experienced observer than Will would not have seen the skulking +redskins; a less skilled frontiersman would not have apprehended their +design; a less expert driver would not have taken the running chance for +life; a less accurate marksman would not have picked off an Indian with +a rifle while shooting from the top of a swinging, jerking stagecoach. + +Will did not hesitate. A warning shout to the passengers, and the whip +was laid on, and off went the horses full speed. Seeing that they had +been discovered, the Indians came out into the open, and ran their +ponies for the ford, but the stage was there full five hundred yards +before them. It was characteristic of their driver that the horses were +suffered to pause at the creek long enough to get a swallow of water; +then, refreshed, they were off at full speed again. + +The coach, creaking in every joint, rocked like a captive balloon, +the unhappy passengers were hurled from one side of the vehicle to +the other, flung into one another's laps, and occasionally, when some +uncommon obstacle sought to check the flying coach, their heads collided +with its roof. The Indians menaced them without, cracked skulls seemed +their fate within. + +Will plied the whip relentlessly, and so nobly did the powerful horses +respond that the Indians gained but slowly on them. There were some +fifty redskins in the band, but Will assumed that if he could reach the +relay station, the two stock-tenders there, with himself, Lieutenant +Flowers, and the passengers, would be more than a match for the +marauders. + +When the pursuers drew within fair rifle range, Will handed the reins to +the lieutenant, swung round in his seat, and fired at the chief. + +"There," shouted one of the passengers, "that fellow with the feathers +is shot!" and another fusillade from the coach interior drove holes in +the air. + +The relay station was now hard by, and attracted by the firing, the +stock-tenders came forth to take a hand in the engagement. Disheartened +by the fall of their chief, the Indians weakened at the sign of +reinforcements, and gave up the pursuit. + +Lieutenant Flowers and two of the passengers were wounded, but Will +could not repress a smile at the excited assurance of one of his fares +that they (the passengers) had "killed one Indian and driven the rest +back." The stock-tenders smiled also, but said nothing. It would have +been too bad to spoil such a good story. + +The gravest fears for the safety of the coach had been expressed when +it was known that the reds were on the war-path; it was not thought +possible that it could get through unharmed, and troops were sent out +to scour the country. These, while too late to render service in the +adventure just related, did good work during the remainder of the +winter. The Indians were thoroughly subdued, and Will saw no more of +them. + +There was no other adventure of special note until February. Just before +Will started on his run, Trotter took him to one side and advised +him that a small fortune was going by the coach that day, and extra +vigilance was urged, as the existence of the treasure might have become +known. + +"I'll do the best I can," said Will; and he had scarcely driven away +when he suspected the two ill-favored passengers he carried. The +sudden calling away of the conductor, whereby he was left alone, was a +suspicious circumstance. He properly decided that it would be wiser +for him to hold up his passengers than to let them hold up him, and he +proceeded to take time by the forelock. He stopped the coach, jumped +down, and examined the harness as if something was wrong; then he +stepped to the coach door and asked his passengers to hand him a rope +that was inside. As they complied, they looked into the barrels of two +cocked revolvers. + +"Hands up!" said Will. + +"What's the matter with you?" demanded one of the pair, as their arms +were raised. + +"Thought I'd come in first--that's all," was the answer. + +The other was not without appreciation of humor. + +"You're a cute one, youngster," said he, "but you'll find more'n your +match down the road, or I miss my guess." + +"I'll look after that when I get to it," said Will. "Will you oblige me +by tying your friend's hands? Thank you. Now throw out your guns. That +all? All right. Let me see your hands." + +When both outlaws had been securely trussed up and proven to be +disarmed, the journey was resumed. The remark dropped by one of the pair +was evidence that they were part of the gang. He must reach the relay +station before the attack. If he could do that, he had a plan for +farther on. + +The relay station was not far away, and was safely reached. The +prisoners were turned over to the stock-tenders, and then Will disposed +of the treasure against future molestation. He cut open one of the +cushions of the coach, taking out part of the filling, and in the +cavity thus made stored everything of value, including his own watch +and pocketbook; then the filling was replaced and the hole smoothed to a +natural appearance. + +If there were more in the gang, he looked for them at the ford where the +Indians had sought to cut him off, and he was not disappointed. As he +drew near the growth of willows that bordered the road, half a dozen men +with menacing rifles stepped out. + +"Halt, or you're a dead man!" was the conventional salutation, in this +case graciously received. + +"Well, what do you want?" asked Will. + +"The boodle you carry. Fork it over!" + +"Gentlemen," said Will, smiling, "this is a case where it takes a thief +to catch a thief." + +"What's that?" cried one of the outlaws, his feelings outraged by the +frank description. + +"Not that I'm the thief," continued Will, "but your pals were one too +many for you this time." + +"Did they rob you?" howled the gang in chorus, shocked by such depravity +on the part of their comrades. + +"If there's anything left in the coach worth having, don't hesitate to +take it," offered Will, pleasantly. + +"Where's your strong-box?" demanded the outlaws, loath to believe there +was no honor among thieves. + +Will drew it forth and exposed its melancholy emptiness. The profanity +that ensued was positively shocking. + +"Where did they hold you up?" demanded the leader of the gang. + +"Eight or nine miles back. You'll find some straw in the road. You can +have that, too." + +"Were there horses to meet them?" + +"On foot the last I saw them." + +"Then we can catch 'em, boys," shouted the leader, hope upspringing in +his breast. "Come, let's be off!" + +They started for the willows on the jump, and presently returned, +spurring their horses. + +"Give them my regards!" shouted Will. But only the thud! thud! of +horsehoofs answered him. Retribution was sweeping like a hawk upon its +prey. + +Will pushed along to the end of his run, and handed over his trust +undisturbed. Fearing that his ruse might have been discovered, he put +the "extra vigilance" urged by Trotter into the return trip, but the +trail was deserted. He picked up the prisoners at the relay station and +carried them to Fort Kearny. If their companions were to discover the +sorry trick played upon them, they would have demanded his life as a +sacrifice. + +At the end of this exciting trip he found a letter from Miss Frederici +awaiting him. She urged him to give up the wild life he was leading, +return East, and find another calling. This was precisely what Will +himself had in mind, and persuasion was not needed. In his reply he +asked that the wedding-day be set, and then he handed Trotter his +resignation from the lofty perch of a stage-driver. + +"I don't like to let you go," objected Trotter. + +"But," said Will, "I took the job only in order to save enough money to +get married on." + +"In that case," said Trotter, "I have nothing to do but wish you joy." + + + +CHAPTER XV. -- WILL AS A BENEDICT. + +WHEN Will reached home, he found another letter from Miss Frederici, +who, agreeably to his request, had fixed the wedding-day, March 6, 1866. + +The wedding ceremony was quietly performed at the home of the bride, and +the large number of friends that witnessed it united in declaring that +no handsomer couple ever bowed for Hymen's benediction. + +The bridal journey was a trip to Leavenworth on a Missouri steamer. At +that time there was much travel by these boats, and their equipment was +first-class. They were sumptuously fitted out, the table was excellent, +and except when sectional animosities disturbed the serenity of their +decks, a trip on one of them was a very pleasant excursion. + +The young benedict soon discovered, however, that in war times the +"trail of the serpent" is liable to be over all things; even a wedding +journey is not exempt from the baneful influence of sectional animosity. +A party of excursionists on board the steamer manifested so extreme +an interest in the bridal couple that Louise retired to a stateroom +to escape their rudeness. After her withdrawal, Will entered into +conversation with a gentleman from Indiana, who had been very polite +to him, and asked him if he knew the reason for the insolence of the +excursion party. The gentleman hesitated a moment, and then answered: + +"To tell the truth, Mr. Cody, these men are Missourians, and say they +recognize you as one of Jennison's Jayhawkers; that you were an enemy of +the South, and are, therefore, an enemy of theirs." + +Will answered, steadily: "I was a soldier during the war, and a scout +in the Union army, but I had some experience of Southern chivalry before +that time." And he related to the Indianian some of the incidents of the +early Kansas border warfare, in which he and his father had played so +prominent a part. + +The next day the insolent behavior was continued. Will was much inclined +to resent it, but his wife pleaded so earnestly with him to take no +notice of it that he ignored it. + +In the afternoon, when the boat landed at a lonely spot to wood up, the +Missourians seemed greatly excited, and all gathered on the guards and +anxiously scanned the riverbank. + +The roustabouts were just about to make the boat fast, when a party of +armed horsemen dashed out of the woods and galloped toward the landing. +The captain thought the boat was to be attacked, and hastily gave orders +to back out, calling the crew on board at the same time. These orders +the negroes lost no time in obeying, as they often suffered severely at +the hands of these reckless marauders. The leader of the horsemen rode +rapidly up, firing at random. As he neared the steamer he called out, +"Where is that Kansas Jayhawker? We have come for him." The other men +caught sight of Will, and one of them cried, "We know you, Bill Cody." +But they were too late. Already the steamer was backing away from the +shore, dragging her gang-plank through the water; the negro roustabouts +were too much terrified to pull it in. When the attacking party saw +their plans were frustrated, and that they were balked of their prey, +they gave vent to their disappointment in yells of rage. A random volley +was fired at the retreating steamer, but it soon got out of range, and +continued on its way up the river. + +Will had prepared himself for the worst; he stood, revolver in hand, at +the head of the steps, ready to dispute the way with his foes. + +There was also a party of old soldiers on board, six or eight in number; +they were dressed in civilians' garb, and Will knew nothing of them; but +when they heard of their comrade's predicament, they hastily prepared +to back up the young scout. Happily the danger was averted, and their +services were not called into requisition. The remainder of the trip was +made without unpleasant incident. + +It was afterward learned that as soon as the Missourians became aware of +the presence of the Union scout on board, they telegraphed ahead to the +James and Younger brothers that Will was aboard the boat, and asked to +have a party meet it at this secluded landing, and capture and carry +off the young soldier. Will feared that Louise might be somewhat +disheartened by such an occurrence on the bridal trip, but the welcome +accorded the young couple on their arrival at Leavenworth was flattering +enough to make amends for all unpleasant incidents. The young wife found +that her husband numbered his friends by the score in his own home; and +in the grand reception tendered them he was the lion of the hour. + +Entreated by Louise to abandon the plains and pursue a vocation along +more peaceful paths, Will conceived the idea of taking up the business +in which mother had won financial success--that of landlord. The house +she had built was purchased after her death by Dr. Crook, a surgeon in +the Seventh Kansas Regiment. It was now for rent, which fact no doubt +decided Will in his choice of an occupation. It was good to live again +under the roof that had sheltered his mother in her last days; it was +good to see the young wife amid the old scenes. So Will turned boniface, +and invited May and me to make our home with him. + +There was a baby in Julia's home, and it had so wound itself around +May's heartstrings that she could not be enticed away; but there was +never anybody who could supplant Will in my heart; so I gladly accepted +his invitation. + +Thoreau has somewhere drawn a sympathetic portrait of the Landlord, who +is supposed to radiate hospitality as the sun throws off heat--as its +own reward--and who feeds and lodges men purely from a love of the +creatures. Yet even such a landlord, if he is to continue long in +business, must have an eye to profit, and make up in one corner what +he parts with in another. Now, Will radiated hospitality, and his +reputation as a lover of his fellowman got so widely abroad that +travelers without money and without price would go miles out of +their way to put up at his tavern. Socially, he was an irreproachable +landlord; financially, his shortcomings were deplorable. + +And then the life of an innkeeper, while not without its joys and +opportunities to love one's fellowman, is somewhat prosaic, and our +guests oftentimes remarked an absent, far-away expression in the eyes of +Landlord Cody. He was thinking of the plains. Louise also remarked that +expression, and the sympathy she felt for his yearnings was accentuated +by an examination of the books of the hostelry at the close of the first +six months' business. Half smiling, half tearful, she consented to his +return to his Western life. + +Will disposed of the house and settled his affairs, and when all the +bills were paid, and Sister Lou and I cozily ensconced in a little home +at Leavenworth, we found that Will's generous thought for our comfort +through the winter had left him on the beach financially. He had planned +a freighting trip on his own account, but the acquiring of a team, +wagon, and the rest of the outfit presented a knotty problem when he +counted over the few dollars left on hand. + +For the first time I saw disappointment and discouragement written on +his face, and I was sorely distressed, for he had never denied me a +desire that he could gratify, and it was partly on my account that he +was not in better financial condition. I was not yet sixteen; it would +be two years more before I could have a say as to the disposition of my +own money, yet something must be done at once. + +I decided to lay the matter before Lawyer Douglass. Surely he +could suggest some plan whereby I might assist my brother. I had a +half-matured plan of my own, but I was assured that Will would not +listen to it. + +Mr. Douglass had been the legal adviser of the family since he won our +first lawsuit, years before. We considered the problem from every side, +and the lawyer suggested that Mr. Buckley, an old friend of the family, +had a team and wagon for sale; they were strong and serviceable, and +just the thing that Will would likely want. I was a minor, but if Mr. +Buckley was willing to accept me as security for the property, there +would be no difficulty in making the transfer. + +Mr. Buckley proved entirely agreeable to the proposition. Will could +have the outfit in return for his note with my indorsement. + +That disposed of, the question of freight to put into the wagon arose. I +thought of another old friend of the family, M. E. Albright, a wholesale +grocer in Leavenworth. Would he trust Will for a load of supplies? He +would. + +Thus everything was arranged satisfactorily, and I hastened home to not +the easiest task--to prevail upon Will to accept assistance at the hands +of the little sister who, not so long ago, had employed his aid in the +matter of a pair of shoes. + +But Will could really do nothing save accept, and proud and happy, he +sallied forth one day as an individual freighter, though not a very +formidable rival of Russell, Majors & Waddell. + +Alas for enterprises started on borrowed capital! How many of them end +in disaster, leaving their projectors not only penniless, but in debt. +Our young frontiersman, whose life had been spent in protecting the +property of others, was powerless to save his own. Wagon, horses, and +freight were all captured by Indians, and their owner barely escaped +with his life. From a safe covert he watched the redskins plunge him +into bankruptcy. It took him several years to recover, and he has +often remarked that the responsibility of his first business venture on +borrowed capital aged him prematurely. + +The nearest station to the scene of this disaster was Junction City, and +thither he tramped, in the hope of retrieving his fortunes. There he met +Colonel Hickok, and in the pleasure of the greeting forgot his business +ruin for a space. The story of his marriage and his stirring adventures +as a landlord and lover of his fellowman were first to be related, and +when these were commented upon, and his old friend had learned, too, of +the wreck of the freighting enterprise, there came the usual inquiry: + +"And now, do you know of a job with some money in it?" + +"There isn't exactly a fortune in it," said Wild Bill, "but I'm scouting +for Uncle Sam at Fort Ellsworth. The commandant needs more scouts, and I +can vouch for you as a good one." + +"All right," said Will, always quick in decision; "I'll go along with +you, and apply for a job at once." + +He was pleased to have Colonel Hickok's recommendation, but it turned +out that he did not need it, as his own reputation had preceded him. The +commandant of the fort was glad to add him to the force. The territory +he had to scout over lay between Forts Ellsworth and Fletcher, and he +alternated between those points throughout the winter. + +It was at Fort Fletcher, in the spring of 1867, that he fell in with the +dashing General Custer, and the friendship established between them was +ended only by the death of the general at the head of his gallant three +hundred. + +This spring was an exceedingly wet one, and the fort, which lay upon the +bank of Big Creek, was so damaged by floods that it was abandoned. A new +fort was erected, some distance to the westward, on the south fork of +the creek, and was named Fort Hayes. + +Returning one day from an extended scouting trip, Will discovered signs +indicating that Indians in considerable force were in the neighborhood. +He at once pushed forward at all speed to report the news, when a second +discovery took the wind out of his sails; the hostiles were between him +and the fort. + +At that moment a party of horsemen broke into view, and seeing they +were white men, Will waited their approach. The little band proved to +be General Custer and an escort of ten, en route from Fort Ellsworth to +Fort Hayes. + +Informed by Will that they were cut off by Indians, and that the only +hope of escape lay in a rapid flank movement, Custer's reply was a +terse: + +"Lead on, scout, and we'll follow." + +Will wheeled, clapped spurs to his horse, and dashed away, with the +others close behind. All hands were sufficiently versed in Indian +warfare to appreciate the seriousness of their position. They pursued +a roundabout trail, and reached the fort without seeing a hostile, but +learned from the reports of others that their escape had been a narrow +one. + +Custer was on his way to Larned, sixty miles distant, and he needed a +guide. He requested that Will be assigned to the position, so pleased +was he by the service already rendered. + +"The very man I proposed to send with you, General," said the +commandant, who knew well the keen desire of the Indians to get at +"Yellow Hair," as they called Custer. "Cody knows this part of the +country like a book; he is up to all the Indian games, and he is as full +of resources as a nut is of meat." + +At daybreak the start was made, and it was planned to cover the sixty +miles before nightfall. Will was mounted on a mouse-colored mule, +to which he was much attached, and in which he had every confidence. +Custer, however, was disposed to regard the lowly steed in some disdain. + +"Do you think, Cody, that mule can set the pace to reach Larned in a +day?" he asked. + +"When you get to Larned, General," smiled Will, "the mule and I will be +with you." + +Custer said no more for a while, but the pace he set was eloquent, and +the mouse-colored mule had to run under "forced draught" to keep up with +the procession. It was a killing pace, too, for the horses, which did +not possess the staying power of the mule. Will was half regretting +that he had ridden the animal, and was wondering how he could crowd on +another pound or two of steam, when, suddenly glancing at Custer, he +caught a gleam of mischief in the general's eye. Plainly the latter was +seeking to compel an acknowledgment of error, but Will only patted the +mouse-colored flanks. + +Fifteen miles were told off; Custer's thoroughbred horse was still in +fine fettle, but the mule had got the second of its three or four winds, +and was ready for a century run. + +"Can you push along a little faster, General?" asked Will, slyly. + +"If that mule of yours can stand it, go ahead," was the reply. + +To the general's surprise, the long-eared animal did go ahead, and when +the party got into the hills, and the traveling grew heavy, it set a +pace that seriously annoyed the general's thoroughbred. + +Fifteen miles more were pounded out, and a halt was called for luncheon. +The horses needed the rest, but the mouse-colored mule wore an impatient +expression. Having got its third wind, it wanted to use it. + +"Well, General," said Will, when they swung off on the trail again, +"what do you think of my mount?" + +Custer laughed. "It's not very handsome," said he, "but it seems to know +what it's about, and so does the rider. You're a fine guide, Cody. +Like the Indian, you seem to go by instinct, rather than by trails and +landmarks." + +The praise of Custer was sweeter to the young scout than that of any +other officer on the plains would have been. + +At just four o'clock the mouse-colored mule jogged into Fort Larned and +waved a triumphant pair of ears. A short distance behind rode Custer, on +a thoroughly tired thoroughbred, while the escort was strung along the +trail for a mile back. + +"Cody," laughed the general, "that remarkable quadruped of yours looks +equal to a return trip. Our horses are pretty well fagged out, but we +have made a quick trip and a good one. You brought us 'cross country +straight as the crow flies, and that's the sort of service I appreciate. +Any time you're in need of work, report to me. I'll see that you're kept +busy." + +It was Custer's intention to remain at Fort Larned for some time, and +Will, knowing that he was needed at Hayes, tarried only for supper and a +short rest before starting back. + +When night fell, he proceeded warily. On the way out he had directed +Custer's attention to signs denoting the near-by presence of a small +band of mounted Indians. + +Suddenly a distant light flashed into view, but before he could check +his mule it had vanished. He rode back a few paces, and the light +reappeared. Evidently it was visible through some narrow space, and the +matter called for investigation. Will dismounted, hitched his mule, and +went forward. + +After he had covered half a mile, he found himself between two +sandhills, the pass leading into a little hollow, within which were +a large number of Indians camped around the fire whose light he had +followed. The ponies were in the background. + +Will's position was somewhat ticklish, as, without a doubt, an Indian +sentinel was posted in the pass; yet it was his duty, as he understood +it, to obtain a measurably accurate estimate of the number of warriors +in the band. Himself a very Indian in stealth, he drew nearer the +camp-fire, when suddenly there rang out upon the night air--not a +rifle-shot, but the unearthly braying of his mule. + +Even in the daylight, amid scenes of peace and tranquillity, the voice +of a mule falls short of the not enchanting music of the bagpipe. +At night in the wilderness, when every nerve is keyed up to the +snapping-point, the sound is simply appalling. + +Will was startled, naturally, but the Indians were thrown into dire +confusion. They smothered the campfires and scattered for cover, while a +sentinel sprang up from behind a rock not twenty feet from Will, and was +off like a deer. + +The scout held his ground till he had made a good guess at the number of +Indians in the party; then he ran for his mule, whose voice, raised in +seeming protest, guided him unerringly. + +As he neared the animal he saw that two mounted Indians had laid hold of +it, and were trying to induce it to follow them; but the mule, true to +tradition and its master, stubbornly refused to budge a foot. + +It was a comical tableau, but Will realized that it was but a step from +farce to tragedy. A rifle-shot dropped one of the Indians, and the other +darted off into the darkness. + +Another bray from the mule, this time a paean of triumph, as Will +jumped into the saddle, with an arrow from the bow of the wounded Indian +through his coat-sleeve. He declined to return the fire of the wounded +wretch, and rode away into the timber, while all around the sound of +Indians in pursuit came to his ears. + +"Now, my mouse-colored friend," said Will, "if you win this race your +name is Custer." + +The mule seemed to understand; at all events, it settled down to work +that combined the speed of a racer with the endurance of a buffalo. The +Indians shortly abandoned the pursuit, as they could not see their game. + +Will reached Fort Hayes in the early morning, to report the safe arrival +of Custer at Larned and the discovery of the Indian band, which he +estimated at two hundred braves. The mule received "honorable mention" +in his report, and was brevetted a thoroughbred. + +The colonel prepared to dispatch troops against the Indians, and +requested Will to guide the expedition, if he were sufficiently rested, +adding, with a smile: + +"You may ride your mule if you like." + +"No, thank you," laughed Will. "It isn't safe, sir, to hunt Indians with +an animal that carries a brass-band attachment." + +Captain George A. Armes, of the Tenth Cavalry, was to command the +expedition, which comprised a troop of colored cavalry and a howitzer. +As the command lined up for the start, a courier on a foam-splashed +horse rode up with the news that the workmen on the Kansas Pacific +Railroad had been attacked by Indians, six of them killed, and over a +hundred horses and mules and a quantity of stores stolen. + +The troops rode away, the colored boys panting for a chance at the +redskins, and Captain Armes more than willing to gratify them. + +At nightfall the command made camp near the Saline River, at which point +it was expected to find the Indians. Before dawn they were in the saddle +again, riding straight across country, regardless of trails, until the +river was come up with. + +Will's judgment was again verified by the discovery of a large camp of +hostiles on the opposite bank of the stream. The warriors were as +quick of eye, and as they greatly outnumbered the soldiers, and were +emboldened by the success of their late exploit, they did not wait the +attack, but came charging across the river. + +They were nearly a mile distant, and Captain Armes had time to plant the +howitzer on a little rise of ground. Twenty men were left to handle it. +The rest of the command advanced to the combat. + +They were just at the point of attack when a fierce yelling was heard in +the rear, and the captain discovered that his retreat to the gun was cut +off by another band of reds, and that he was between two fires. His only +course was to repulse the enemy in front. If this were done, and the +colored gunners did not flee before the overwhelming numbers, he might +unite his forces by another charge. + +The warriors came on with their usual impetuosity, whooping and +screaming, but they met such a raking fire from the disciplined troops +that they fell back in disorder. Just then the men at the howitzer +opened fire. The effect of this field-piece on the children of the +plains was magical--almost ludicrous. A veritable stampede followed. + +"Follow me!" shouted Captain Armes, galloping in pursuit; but in their +eagerness to give chase the troops fell into such disorder that a +bugle-blast recalled them before any further damage was done the flying +foe. The Indians kept right along, however; they were pretty badly +frightened. + +Captain Armes was somewhat chagrined that he had no prisoners, but +there was consolation in taking back nearly all the horses that had been +stolen. These were found picketed at the camp across the river, where +likely they had been forgotten by the Indians in their flight. + +Shortly after this, Will tried his hand at land speculation. During +one of his scouting trips to Fort Harker, he visited Ellsworth, a new +settlement, three miles from the fort. There he met a man named Rose, +who had a grading contract for the Kansas Pacific Railroad, near Fort +Hayes. Rose had bought land at a point through which the railroad was to +run, and proposed staking it out as a town, but he needed a partner in +the enterprise. + +The site was a good one. Big Creek was hard by, and it was near enough +to the fort to afford settlers reasonable security against Indian raids. +Will regarded the enterprise favorably. Besides the money sent home +each month, he had put by a small sum, and this he invested in the +partnership with Rose. + +The town site was surveyed and staked off into lots; a cabin was +erected, and stocked with such goods as are needed on the frontier, and +the budding metropolis was weighted with the classic name of Rome. + +As an encouragement to settlers, a lot was offered to any one that would +agree to erect a building. The proprietors, of course, reserved the +choicest lots. + +Rome boomed. Two hundred cabins went up in less than sixty days. +Mr. Rose and Will shook hands and complimented each other on their +penetration and business sagacity. They were coming millionaires, they +said. Alas! they were but babes in the woods. + +One day Dr. W. E. Webb alighted in Rome. He was a gentleman of most +amiable exterior, and when he entered the store of Rose & Cody they +prepared to dispose of a large bill of goods. But Dr. Webb was not +buying groceries. He chatted a while about the weather and Rome, and +then suggested that the firm needed a third partner. But this was the +last thing the prospective millionaires had in mind, and the suggestion +of their visitor was mildly but firmly waived. + +Dr. Webb was not a gentleman to insist upon a suggestion. He was +locating towns for the Kansas Pacific Railroad, he said, and as Rome was +well started, he disliked to interfere with it; but, really, the company +must have a show. + +Neither Mr. Rose nor Will had had experience with the power of a big +corporation, and satisfied that they had the only good site for a town +in that vicinity, they declared that the railroad could not help itself. + +Dr. Webb smiled pleasantly, and not without compassion. "Look out for +yourselves," said he, as he took his leave. + +And within sight of Rome he located a new town. The citizens of Rome +were given to understand that the railroad shops would be built at the +new settlement, and that there was really nothing to prevent it becoming +the metropolis of Kansas. + +Rome became a wilderness. Its citizens stampeded to the new town, +and Mr. Rose and Will revised their estimate of their penetration and +business sagacity. + +Meantime, the home in Leavenworth had been gladdened by the birth of a +little daughter, whom her father named Arta. As it was impossible for +Will to return for some months, it was planned that the mother, the +baby, and I should make a visit to the St. Louis home. This was +accomplished safely; and while the grandparents were enraptured with the +baby, I was enjoying the delight of a first visit to a large city. + +While the new town of Rome was regarded as an assured success by Will, +he had journeyed to St. Louis after his wife and little one. They +proceeded with him to the cozy cabin home he had fitted up, while I went +back to Leavenworth. + +After the fall of Rome the little frontier home was no longer the +desirable residence that Will's dreams had pictured it, and as Rome +passed into oblivion the little family returned to St. Louis. + + + +CHAPTER XVI. -- HOW THE SOBRIQUET OF "BUFFALO BILL" WAS WON. + +IN frontier days a man had but to ask for work to get it. There was +enough and to spare for every one. The work that paid best was the kind +that suited Will, it mattered not how hard or dangerous it might be. + +At the time Rome fell, the work on the Kansas Pacific Railroad was +pushing forward at a rapid rate, and the junior member of the once +prosperous firm of Rose & Cody saw a new field of activity open for +him--that of buffalo-hunting. Twelve hundred men were employed on the +railroad construction, and Goddard Brothers, who had undertaken to board +the vast crew, were hard pressed to obtain fresh meat. To supply this +indispensable, buffalo-hunters were employed, and as Will was known to +be an expert buffalo-slayer, Goddard Brothers were glad to add him to +their "commissary staff." His contract with them called for en average +of twelve buffaloes daily, for which he was to receive five hundred +dollars a month. It was "good pay," the desired feature, but the work +was hard and hazardous. He must first scour the country for his game, +with a good prospect always of finding Indians instead of buffalo; then, +when the game was shot, he must oversee its cutting and dressing, and +look after the wagons that transported it to the camp where the workmen +messed. It was while working under this contract that he acquired the +sobriquet of "Buffalo Bill." It clung to him ever after, and he wore +it with more pride than he would have done the title of prince or grand +duke. Probably there are thousands of people to-day who know him by that +name only. + +At the outset he procured a trained buffalo-hunting horse, which went +by the unconventional name of "Brigham," and from the government he +obtained an improved breech-loading needle-gun, which, in testimony of +its murderous qualities, he named "Lucretia Borgia." + +Buffaloes were usually plentiful enough, but there were times when the +camp supply of meat ran short. During one of these dull spells, when the +company was pressed for horses, Brigham was hitched to a scraper. One +can imagine his indignation. A racer dragging a street-car would have +no more just cause for rebellion than a buffalo-hunter tied to a work +implement in the company of stupid horses that never had a thought above +a plow, a hay-rake, or a scraper. Brigham expostulated, and in such +plain language, that Will, laughing, was on the point of unhitching +him, when a cry went up--the equivalent of a whaler's "There she +blows!"--that a herd of buffaloes was coming over the hill. + +Brigham and the scraper parted company instantly, and Will mounted him +bareback, the saddle being at the camp, a mile away. Shouting an order +to the men to follow him with a wagon to take back the meat, he galloped +toward the game. + +There were other hunters that day. Five officers rode out from the +neighboring fort, and joined Will while waiting for the buffaloes to +come up. They were recent arrivals in that part of the country, and +their shoulder-straps indicated that one was a captain and the others +were lieutenants. They did not know "Buffalo Bill." They saw nothing but +a good-looking young fellow, in the dress of a working man, astride a +not handsome horse, which had a blind bridle and no saddle. It was not a +formidable-looking hunting outfit, and the captain was disposed to be a +trifle patronizing. + +"Hello!" he called out. "I see you're after the same game we are." + +"Yes, sir," returned Will. "Our camp's out of fresh meat." + +The officer ran a critical eye over Brigham. "Do you expect to run down +a buffalo with a horse like that?" said he. + +"Why," said Will, innocently, "are buffaloes pretty speedy?" + +"Speedy? It takes a fast horse to overhaul those animals on the open +prairie." + +"Does it?" said Will; and the officer did not see the twinkle in his +eye. Nothing amuses a man more than to be instructed on a matter that +he knows thoroughly, and concerning which his instructor knows nothing. +Probably every one of the officers had yet to shoot his first buffalo. + +"Come along with us," offered the captain, graciously. "We're going to +kill a few for sport, and all we care for are the tongues and a chunk of +the tenderloin; you can have the rest." + +"Thank you," said Will. "I'll follow along." + +There were eleven buffaloes in the herd, and the officers started after +them as if they had a sure thing on the entire number. Will noticed that +the game was pointed toward a creek, and understanding "the nature of +the beast," started for the water, to head them off. + +As the herd went past him, with the military quintet five hundred yards +in the rear, he gave Brigham's blind bridle a twitch, and in a few jumps +the trained hunter was at the side of the rear buffalo; Lucretia Borgia +spoke, and the buffalo fell dead. Without even a bridle signal, Brigham +was promptly at the side of the next buffalo, not ten feet away, and +this, too, fell at the first shot. The maneuver was repeated until the +last buffalo went down. Twelve shots had been fired; then Brigham, who +never wasted his strength, stopped. The officers had not had even a shot +at the game. Astonishment was written on their faces as they rode up. + +"Gentlemen," said Will, courteously, as he dismounted, "allow me to +present you with eleven tongues and as much of the tenderloin as you +wish." + +"By Jove!" exclaimed the captain, "I never saw anything like that +before. Who are you, anyway?" + +"Bill Cody's my name." + +"Well, Bill Cody, you know how to kill buffalo, and that horse of yours +has some good running points, after all." + +"One or two," smiled Will. + +Captain Graham--as his name proved to be--and his companions were +a trifle sore over missing even the opportunity of a shot, but they +professed to be more than repaid for their disappointment by witnessing +a feat they had not supposed possible in a white man--hunting buffalo +without a saddle, bridle, or reins. Will explained that Brigham knew +more about the business than most two-legged hunters. All the rider +was expected to do was to shoot the buffalo. If the first shot failed, +Brigham allowed another; if this, too, failed, Brigham lost patience, +and was as likely as not to drop the matter then and there. + +It was this episode that fastened the name of "Buffalo Bill" upon Will, +and learning of it, the friends of Billy Comstock, chief of scouts at +Fort Wallace, filed a protest. Comstock, they said, was Cody's superior +as a buffalo hunter. So a match was arranged to determine whether it +should be "Buffalo Bill" Cody or "Buffalo Bill" Comstock. + +The hunting-ground was fixed near Sheridan, Kansas, and quite a crowd of +spectators was attracted by the news of the contest. Officers, soldiers, +plainsmen, and railroadmen took a day off to see the sport, and one +excursion party, including many ladies, among them Louise, came up from +St. Louis. + +Referees were appointed to follow each man and keep a tally of the +buffaloes slain. Comstock was mounted on his favorite horse, and carried +a Henry rifle of large caliber. Brigham and Lucretia went with Will. The +two hunters rode side by side until the first herd was sighted and the +word given, when off they dashed to the attack, separating to the right +and left. In this first trial Will killed thirty-eight and Comstock +twenty-three. They had ridden miles, and the carcasses of the dead +buffaloes were strung all over the prairie. Luncheon was served at noon, +and scarcely was it over when another herd was sighted, composed mainly +of cows with their calves. The damage to this herd was eighteen and +fourteen, in favor of Cody. + +In those days the prairies were alive with buffaloes, and a third herd +put in an appearance before the rifle-barrels were cooled. In order to +give Brigham a share of the glory, Will pulled off saddle and bridle, +and advanced bareback to the slaughter. + +That closed the contest. Score, sixty-nine to forty-eight. Comstock's +friends surrendered, and Cody was dubbed "Champion Buffalo Hunter of the +Plains." + +The heads of the buffaloes that fell in this hunt were mounted by +the Kansas Pacific Company, and distributed about the country, as +advertisements of the region the new road was traversing. Meanwhile, +Will continued hunting for the Kansas Pacific contractors, and during +the year and a half that he supplied them with fresh meat he killed four +thousand two hundred and eighty buffaloes. But when the railroad reached +Sheridan it was decided to build no farther at that time, and Will was +obliged to look for other work. + +The Indians had again become so troublesome that a general war +threatened all along the border, and General P. H. Sheridan came West +to personally direct operations. He took up his quarters at Fort +Leavenworth, but the Indian depredations becoming more widespread, he +transferred his quarters to Fort Hayes, then the terminus of the Kansas +Pacific Railroad. Will was then in the employ of the quartermaster's +department at Fort Larned, but was sent with an important dispatch to +General Sheridan announcing that the Indians near Larned were preparing +to decamp. The distance between Larned and Hayes was sixty-five miles, +through a section infested with Indians, but Will tackled it, and +reached the commanding General without mishap. + +Shortly afterward it became necessary to send dispatches from Fort Hayes +to Fort Dodge. Ninety-five miles of country lay between, and every mile +of it was dangerous ground. Fort Dodge was surrounded by Indians, and +three scouts had lately been killed while trying to get dispatches +through, but Will's confidence in himself or his destiny was unshakable, +and he volunteered to take the dispatches, as far, at least, as the +Indians would let him. + +"It is a dangerous undertaking," said General Sheridan, "but it is most +important that the dispatches should go through; so, if you are willing +to risk it, take the best horse you can find, and the sooner you start +the better." + +Within an hour the scout was in the saddle. At the outset Will permitted +his horse to set his own pace, for in case of pursuit he should want +the animal fresh enough to at least hold his own. But no pursuit +materialized, and when the dawn came up he had covered seventy miles, +and reached a station on Coon Creek, manned by colored troops. Here +he delivered a letter to Major Cox, the officer in command, and after +eating breakfast, took a fresh horse, and resumed his journey before the +sun was above the plain. + +Fort Dodge was reached, the dispatches delivered by nine o'clock, and +Will turned in for a needed sleep. When he awoke, he was assured by John +Austin, chief of the scouts at Dodge, that his coming through unharmed +from Fort Hayes was little short of a miracle. He was also assured +that a journey to his own headquarters, Fort Larned, would be even more +ticklish than his late ride, as the hostiles were especially thick in +that direction. But the officer in command at Dodge desired to send +dispatches to Larned, and as none of the other scouts were willing to +take them, Will volunteered his services. + +"Larned's my headquarters," said he, "and I must go there anyway; so if +you'll give me a good horse, I'll take your dispatches." + +"We haven't a decent horse left," said the officer; "but you can take +your pick of some fine government mules." + +Will made a gesture of despair. Another race on mule-back with Indians +was not an inviting prospect. There were very few mules like unto his +quondam mouse-colored mount. But he succumbed to the inevitable, picked +out the most enterprising looking mule in the bunch, and set forth. And +neither he nor the mule guessed what was in store for each of them. + +At Coon Creek Will dismounted for a drink of water, and the mule +embraced the opportunity to pull away, and start alone on the +wagon-trail to Larned. Will did not suspect that he should have any +trouble in overtaking the capricious beast, but at the end of a mile +he was somewhat concerned. He had threatened and entreated, raged +and cajoled. 'Twas all wasted. The mule was as deaf to prayer as to +objurgation. It browsed contentedly along the even tenor of its way, so +near and yet so far from the young man, who, like "panting time, toil'd +after it in vain." And Larned much more than twenty miles away. + +What the poet calls "the golden exhalations of the dawn" began to warm +the gray of the plain. The sun was in the roots of the grass. Four miles +away the lights of Larned twinkled. The only blot on a fair landscape +was the mule--in the middle distance. But there was a wicked gleam in +the eye of the footsore young man in the foreground. + +Boom! The sunrise gun at the fort. The mule threw back its head, waved +its ears, and poured forth a song of triumph, a loud, exultant bray. + +Crack! Will's rifle. Down went the mule. It had made the fatal mistake +of gloating over its villainy. Never again would it jeopardize the life +of a rider. + +It had been a thirty-five-mile walk, and every bone in Will's body +ached. His shot alarmed the garrison, but he was soon on the ground with +the explanation; and after turning over his dispatches, he sought his +bed. + +During the day General Hazen returned, under escort, from Fort Harker, +with dispatches for Sheridan, and Will offered to be the bearer of them. +An army mule was suggested, but he declined to again put his life in the +keeping of such an animal. A good horse was selected, and the journey +made without incident. + +General Sheridan was roused at daylight to receive the scout's report +and praised Will warmly for having undertaken and safely accomplished +three such long and dangerous rides. + +"In all," says General Sheridan, in his Memoirs, "Cody rode three +hundred and fifty miles in less than sixty hours, and such an exhibition +of endurance and courage was more than enough to convince me that his +services would be extremely valuable in the campaign; so I retained him +at Fort Hayes until the battalion of Fifth Cavalry arrived, and then +made him chief of scouts for that regiment." + + + +CHAPTER XVII. -- SATANTA, CHIEF OF THE KIOWAS. + +WITHIN plain view of Fort Larned lay a large camp of Kiowas and +Comanches. They were not yet bedaubed with war paint, but they were as +restless as panthers in a cage, and it was only a matter of days when +they would whoop and howl with the loudest. + +The principal chief of the Kiowas was Satanta, a powerful and +resourceful warrior, who, because of remarkable talents for +speech-making, was called "The Orator of the Plains." Satanta was short +and bullet-headed. Hatred for the whites swelled every square inch +of his breast, but he had the deep cunning of his people, with some +especially fine points of treachery learned from dealings with dishonest +agents and traders. There probably never was an Indian so depraved that +he could not be corrupted further by association with a rascally white +man. + +When the Kiowas were friendly with the government, Satanta received a +guest with all the magnificence the tribe afforded. A carpet was spread +for the white man to sit upon, and a folding board was set up for a +table. The question of expense never intruded. + +Individually, too, Satanta put on a great deal of style. Had the +opportunity come to him, he would have worn a silk hat with a sack-coat, +or a dress suit in the afternoon. As it was, he produced some startling +effects with blankets and feathers. + +It was part of General Hazen's mission to Fort Larned to patch up a +treaty with the outraged Kiowas and Comanches, if it could be brought +about. On one warm August morning, the general set out for Fort Zarah, +on a tour of inspection. Zarah was on the Arkansas, in what is now +Barton County, Kansas. An early start was made, as it was desired to +cover the thirty miles by noon. The general rode in a four-mule army +ambulance, with an escort of ten foot soldiers, in a four-mule escort +wagon. + +After dinner at Zarah the general went on to Fort Harker, leaving orders +for the scout and soldiers to return to Larned on the following day. But +as there was nothing to do at Fort Zarah, Will determined to return at +once; so he trimmed the sails of his mule-ship, and squared away for +Larned. + +The first half of the journey was without incident, but when Pawnee Rock +was reached, events began to crowd one another. Some forty Indians rode +out from behind the rock and surrounded the scout. + +"How? How?" they cried, as they drew near, and offered their hands for +the white man's salutation. + +The braves were in war paint, and intended mischief; but there was +nothing to be lost by returning their greeting, so Will extended his +hand. + +One warrior seized it and gave it a violent jerk; another caught the +mule's bridle; a third pulled the revolvers from the holsters; a fourth +snatched the rifle from across the saddle; while a fifth, for a climax, +dealt Will a blow on the head with a tomahawk that nearly stunned him. + +Then the band started for the Arkansas River, lashing the mule, singing, +yelling, and whooping. For one supposed to be stolid and taciturn, the +Indian makes a good deal of noise at times. + +Across the river was a vast throng of warriors, who had finally decided +to go on the war-path. Will and his captors forded the shallow stream, +and the prisoner was conducted before the chiefs of the tribe, with some +of whom he was acquainted. + +His head throbbed from the tomahawking, but his wits were still in +working order, and when asked by Satanta where he had been, he replied +that he had been out searching for "whoa-haws." + +He knew that the Indians had been promised a herd of "whoa-haws," as +they termed cattle, and he knew, too, that the herd had not arrived, and +that the Indians had been out of meat for several weeks; hence he hoped +to enlist Satanta's sympathetic interest. + +He succeeded. Satanta was vastly interested. Where were the cattle? Oh, +a few miles back. Will had been sent forward to notify the Indians that +an army of sirloin steaks was advancing upon them. + +Satanta was much pleased, and the other chiefs were likewise interested. +Did General Hazen say the cattle were for them? Was there a chance that +the scout was mistaken? + +Not a chance; and with becoming dignity Will demanded a reason for the +rough treatment he had received. + +Oh, that was all a joke, Satanta explained. The Indians who had captured +the white chief were young and frisky. They wished to see whether he was +brave. They were simply testing him. It was sport--just a joke. + +Will did not offer to argue the matter. No doubt an excellent test of a +man's courage is to hit him over the head with a tomahawk. If he lives +through it, he is brave as Agamemnon. But Will insisted mildly that it +was a rough way to treat friends; whereupon Satanta read the riot act to +his high-spirited young men, and bade them return the captured weapons +to the scout. + +The next question was, were there soldiers with the cattle? Certainly, +replied Will; a large party of soldiers were escorting the succulent +sirloins. This intelligence necessitated another consultation. Evidently +hostilities must be postponed until after the cattle had arrived. Would +Will drive the cattle to them? He would be delighted to. Did he desire +that the chief's young men should accompany him? No, indeed. The +soldiers, also, were high-spirited, and they might test the bravery of +the chief's young men by shooting large holes in them. It would be much +better if the scout returned alone. + +Satanta agreed with him, and Will recrossed the river without +molestation; but, glancing over his shoulder, he noted a party of ten +or fifteen young braves slowly following him. Satanta was an extremely +cautious chieftain. + +Will rode leisurely up the gentle slope of the river's bank, but when +he had put the ridge between him and the Indian camp he pointed his mule +westward, toward Fort Larned, and set it going at its best pace. When +the Indians reached the top of the ridge, from where they could scan the +valley, in which the advancing cattle were supposed to be, there was not +a horn to be seen, and the scout was flying in an opposite direction. + +They gave chase, but the mule had a good start, and when it got its +second wind--always necessary in a mule--the Indian ponies gained but +slowly. When Ash Creek, six miles from Larned, was reached, the race +was about even, but two miles farther on, the Indians were uncomfortably +close behind. The sunset gun at the fort boomed a cynical welcome to the +man four miles away, flying toward it for his life. + +At Pawnee Fork, two miles from the fort, the Indians had crept up to +within five hundred yards. But here, on the farther bank of the stream, +Will came upon a government wagon containing half a dozen soldiers and +Denver Jim, a well-known scout. + +The team was driven among the trees, and the men hid themselves in the +bushes, and when the Indians came along they were warmly received. Two +of the reds were killed; the others wheeled and rode back in safety. + +In 1868 General Sheridan had taken command of all the troops in the +field. He arranged what is known as the winter expeditions against the +Kiowas, Comanches, Southern Cheyennes, and Arapahoes. He personally +commanded the expedition which left Fort Dodge, with General Custer as +chief of cavalry. General Penrose started for Fort Lyon, Colorado, and +General Eugene A. Carr was ordered from the Republican River country, +with the Fifth Cavalry, to Fort Wallace, Kansas. Will at this time had +a company of forty scouts with General Carr's command. He was ordered by +General Sheridan, when leaving Fort Lyon, to follow the trail of General +Penrose's command until it was overtaken. General Carr was to proceed to +Fort Lyon, and follow on the trail of General Penrose, who had started +from there three weeks before, when, as Carr ranked Penrose, he would +then take command of both expeditions. It was the 21st of November when +Carr's expedition left Fort Lyon. The second day out they encountered a +terrible snow-storm and blizzard in a place they christened "Freeze +Out Canon," by which name it is still known. As Penrose had only a +pack-train and no heavy wagons, and the ground was covered with snow, it +was a very difficult matter to follow his trail. But taking his general +course, they finally came up with him on the south fork of the Canadian +River, where they found him and his soldiers in a sorry plight, +subsisting wholly on buffalo-meat. Their animals had all frozen to +death. + +General Carr made what is known as a supply camp, leaving Penrose's +command and some of his own disabled stock therein. Taking with him +the Fifth Cavalry and the best horses and pack-mules, he started south +toward the main fork of the Canadian River, looking for the Indians. He +was gone from the supply camp thirty days, but could not locate the +main band of Indians, as they were farther to the east, where General +Sheridan had located them, and had sent General Custer in to fight them, +which he did, in what is known as the great battle of Wichita. + +They had a very severe winter, and returned in March to Fort Lyon, +Colorado. + +In the spring of 1869, the Fifth Cavalry, ordered to the Department of +the Platte, took up the line of march for Fort McPherson, Nebraska. + +It was a large command, including seventy-six wagons for stores, +ambulance wagons, and pack-mules. Those chief in authority were Colonel +Royal (afterward superseded by General Carr), Major Brown, and Captain +Sweetman. + +The average distance covered daily was only ten miles, and when the +troops reached the Solomon River there was no fresh meat in camp. +Colonel Royal asked Will to look up some game. + +"All right, sir," said Will. "Will you send a couple of wagons along to +fetch in the meat?" + +"We'll send for the game, Cody, when there's some game to send for," +curtly replied the colonel. + +That settled the matter, surely, and Will rode away, a trifle ruffled in +temper. + +He was not long in rounding up a herd of seven buffaloes, and he headed +them straight for camp. As he drew near the lines, he rode alongside +his game, and brought down one after another, until only an old bull +remained. This he killed in almost the center of the camp. + +The charge of the buffaloes had nearly stampeded the picketed horses, +and Colonel Royal, who, with the other officers, had watched the hunt, +demanded, somewhat angrily: + +"What does this mean, Cody?" + +"Why," said Will, "I thought, sir, I'd save you the trouble of sending +after the game." + +The colonel smiled, though perhaps the other officers enjoyed the joke +more than he. + +At the north fork of the Beaver, Will discovered a large and fresh +Indian trail. The tracks were scattered all over the valley, showing +that a large village had recently passed that way. Will estimated that +at least four hundred lodges were represented; that would mean from +twenty-five hundred to three thousand warriors, squaws, and children. + +When General Carr (who had taken the command) got the news, he followed +down a ravine to Beaver Creek, and here the regiment went into camp. +Lieutenant Ward and a dozen men were detailed to accompany Will on a +reconnoissance. They followed Beaver Creek for twelve miles, and +then the lieutenant and the scout climbed a knoll for a survey of the +country. One glance took in a large Indian village some three miles +distant. Thousands of ponies were picketed out, and small bands of +warriors were seen returning from the hunt, laden with buffalo-meat. + +"I think, Lieutenant," said Will, "that we have important business at +camp." + +"I agree with you," said Ward. "The quicker we get out of here, the +better." + +When they rejoined the men at the foot of the hill, Ward dispatched a +courier to General Carr, the purpose of the lieutenant being to follow +slowly and meet the troops which he knew would be sent forward. + +The courier rode away at a gallop, but in a few moments came riding +back, with three Indians at his horse's heels. The little company +charged the warriors, who turned and fled for the village. + +"Lieutenant," said Will, "give me that note." And as it was passed over, +he clapped spurs to his horse and started for the camp. + +He had proceeded but a short distance when he came upon another party of +Indians, returning to the village with buffalo-meat. Without stopping, +he fired a long-range shot at them, and while they hesitated, puzzled by +the action, he galloped past. The warriors were not long in recovering +from their surprise, and cutting loose their meat, followed; but their +ponies were tired from a long hunt, and Will's fresh horse ran away from +them. + +When General Carr received the lieutenant's dispatch, he ordered the +bugler to sound the inspiring "Boots and Saddles," and, while two +companies remained to guard the wagons, the rest of the troops hastened +against the Indians. + +Three miles out they were joined by Lieutenant Ward's company, and five +miles more brought them within sight of a huge mass of mounted Indians +advancing up the creek. These warriors were covering the retreat of +their squaws, who were packing up and getting ready for hasty flight. + +General Carr ordered a charge on the red line. If it were broken, the +cavalry was to continue, and surround the village. The movement was +successfully executed, but one officer misunderstood the order, and, +charging on the left wing of the hostiles, was speedily hemmed in by +some three hundred redskins. Reinforcements were dispatched to his +relief, but the plan of battle was spoiled, and the remainder of the +afternoon was spent in contesting the ground with the Indians, who +fought for their lodges, squaws, and children with desperate and dogged +courage. When night came on, the wagon-trains, which had been ordered to +follow, had not put in an appearance, and, though the regiment went back +to look for them, it was nine o'clock before they were reached. + +Camp was broken at daybreak, and the pursuit began, but not an Indian +was in sight. All the day the trail was followed. There was evidence +that the Indians had abandoned everything that might hinder their +flight. That night the regiment camped on the banks of the Republican, +and the next morning caught a distant glimpse of the foe. + +About eleven o'clock a charge was made by three hundred mounted +warriors, but they were repulsed with considerable loss, and when they +discovered that defeat was certain, they evaded further pursuit by +breaking up into companies and scattering to all points of the compass. +A large number of ponies were collected as trophies of this expedition. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. -- WILL MADE CHIEF OF SCOUTS. + +IN due time the Fifth Cavalry reached Fort McPherson, which became its +headquarters while they were fitting out a new expedition to go into +the Republican River country. At this time General Carr recommended to +General Augur, who was in command of the Department, that Will be made +chief of scouts in the Department of the Platte. + +Will's fancy had been so taken by the scenery along the line of march +that he proceeded to explore the country around McPherson, the result +being a determination to make his future home in the Platte Valley. + +Shortly after reaching the fort, the scouts' division of the Fifth +Cavalry was reinforced by Major Frank North and three companies of the +celebrated Pawnee scouts. These became the most interesting and amusing +objects in camp, partly on account of their race, but mainly because +of the bizarre dress fashions they affected. My brother, in his +autobiography, describes the appearance presented by these scouts during +a review of the command by Brigadier-General Duncan. + +The regiment made a fine showing, the men being well drilled and +thoroughly versed in tactics. The Pawnees also showed up well on drill, +but their full dress uniforms were calculated to excite even the army +horses to laughter. Regular cavalry suits had been furnished them, but +no two of the Pawnees seemed to agree as to the correct manner in which +the various articles should be worn. As they lined up for dress parade, +some of them wore heavy overcoats, others discarded even pantaloons, +content with a breech-clout. Some wore large black hats, with brass +accouterments, others were bareheaded. Many wore the pantaloons, but +declined the shirts, while a few of the more original cut the seats from +the pantaloons, leaving only leggings. Half of them were without boots +or moccasins, but wore the clinking spurs with manifest pride. + +They were a quaint and curious lot, but drilled remarkably well for +Indians, and obeyed orders. They were devoted to their white chief, +Major North, who spoke Pawnee like a native, and they were very proud +of their position in the United States army. Good soldiers they made, +too--hard riders, crack shots, and desperate fighters. + +At the close of the parade and review referred to, the officers and the +ladies attended an Indian dance, given by the Pawnees, which climaxed a +rather exciting day. + +The following morning an expedition moved back to the Republican River, +to curb the high spirits of a band of Sioux, who had grown boldly +troublesome. This was the sort of service the Pawnees welcomed, as they +and the Sioux were hereditary enemies. + +At the journey's end, camp was made at the mouth of the Beaver, and the +Sioux were heard from within the hour. A party of them raided the mules +that had been taken to the river, and the alarm was given by a herder, +who dashed into camp with an arrow sticking in his shoulder. + +Will did not wait to saddle his horse, but the Pawnees were as quick as +he, and both of them rather surprised the Sioux, who did not expect +such a swift response. Especially were they surprised to find themselves +confronted by their tribal foe, the Pawnee, and they fell back hastily, +closely pressed by Will and his red allies. A running fight was kept up +for fifteen miles, and when many of the Sioux had been stretched upon +the plain and the others scattered, the pursuing party returned to camp. + +Will himself, on a fine horse, had been somewhat chagrined at being +passed in the chase by a Pawnee on an inferior-looking steed. Upon +inquiring of Major North, he found that the swifter horse was, like his +own, government property. The Pawnee was much attached to his mount, +but he was also fond of tobacco, and a few pieces of that commodity, +supplemented by some other articles, induced him to exchange horses. +Will named his new charge "Buckskin Joe," and rode him for four years. +Joe proved a worthy successor to Brigham for speed, endurance, and +intelligence. + +This was the first adventure that Will and the Pawnees had pursued +together, and they emerged with an increased esteem for each other. Not +long afterward, Will's skill as a buffalo-hunter raised the admiration +of the Indians to enthusiasm. + +Twenty Pawnees that circled around one herd of buffaloes killed only +twenty-two, and when the next herd came in view Will asked Major North +to keep the Indians in the background while he showed them a thing +or two. Buckskin Joe was a capital buffalo-hunter, and so well did he +perform his part that Will brought down thirty-six, about one at every +shot. + +The Pawnees were delighted. They held it considerable of an achievement +to kill two or three of the monarchs of the plains at a single run, and +Will's feat dazzled them. He was at once pronounced a great chief, and +ever after occupied a high place in their regard. + +Moving up the Republican River, the troops went into camp on Black Tail +Deer Fork. Scarcely were the tents pitched when a band of Indians were +seen sweeping toward them at full speed, singing, yelling, and waving +lances. The camp was alive in an instant, but the Pawnees, instead +of preparing for defense, began to sing and yell in unison with the +advancing braves. "Those are some of our own Indians," said Major North; +"they've had a fight, and are bringing in the scalps." + +And so it proved. The Pawnees reported a skirmish with the Sioux, in +which a few of the latter had been killed. + +The next day the regiment set forth upon the trail of the Sioux. They +traveled rapidly, and plainly gained ground. + +At every camp the print of a woman's shoe was noted among the tracks +of moccasined feet. The band evidently had a white captive in tow, and +General Carr, selecting the best horses, ordered a forced march, the +wagon-trains to follow as rapidly as possible. Will, with six Pawnees, +was to go ahead and locate the hostiles, and send back word, so that a +plan of attack might be arranged before the Indian village was reached. + +This village the scouts discovered among the sand-hills at Summit +Springs, a few miles from the South Platte River; and while the Pawnees +remained to watch, Will returned to General Carr with the news. + +There was suppressed excitement all along the line, as officers and men +prepared for what promised to be a lively scrimmage. The troops moved +forward by a circuitous route, and reached a hill overlooking the +hostile camp without their presence being dreamed of by the red men. + +The bugler was ordered to sound the charge, but he was trembling with +excitement, and unable to blow a note. + +"Sound the charge, man!" ordered General Carr a second time; but +the unhappy wight could scarcely hold his horn, much less blow it. +Quartermaster Hays snatched the instrument from the flustered man's +hands, and as the call rang out loud and clear the troops rushed to the +attack. + +Taken wholly by surprise, the Indian village went to pieces in a +twinkling. A few of the Sioux mounted and rode forward to repel the +assault, but they turned back in half a minute, while those that were +not mounted scattered for the foothills hard by. The cavalry swept +through the village like a prairie fire, and pursued the flying Indians +until darkness put an end to the chase. + +By the next morning the bugler had grown calm enough to sound "Boots +and Saddles!" and General Carr split his force into companies, as it was +discovered that the Indians had divided. Each company was to follow a +separate trail. + +Will made one of a band of two hundred, and for two days they dogged +the red man's footsteps. At sunrise of the third day the trail ran into +another, showing that the Sioux had reunited their forces. This was +serious for the little company of regulars, but they went ahead, eager +for a meeting with the savages. + +They had not long to wait. The sun was scarcely an hour high when some +six hundred Sioux were espied riding in close ranks along the bank of +the Platte. The Indians discovered the troops at the same moment, and +at once gave battle. The Indian is not a coward, though he frequently +declines combat if the odds are not largely in his favor. + +In this engagement the Sioux outnumbered the soldiers three to one, +and the latter fell back slowly until they reached a ravine. Here they +tethered their horses and waited the course of Indian events, which, +as usual, came in circular form. The Sioux surrounded the regulars, and +finding them comparatively few in number, made a gallant charge. + +But bows and arrows are futile against powder and ball, and the warriors +reeled back from a scathing fire, leaving a score of their number dead. + +Another charge, another repulse; and then a council of war. This lasted +an hour, and evidently evolved a brilliant stratagem, for the Sioux +divided into two bands, and while one made a show of withdrawing, the +other circled around and around the position where the soldiers lay. + +At a point in this revolving belt of redskins rode a well-mounted, +handsome warrior, plainly a chief. It had been Will's experience that +to lay low a chief was half the battle when fighting Indians, but this +particular mogul kept just out of rifle-shot. There are, however, as +many ways of killing an Indian as of killing a cat; so Will crawled on +hands and knees along the ravine to a point which he thought would be +within range of the chief when next he swung around the circle. + +The calculation was close enough, and when the warrior came loping +along, slacking his pace to cross the ravine, Will rose and fired. + +It was a good four hundred yards, but the warrior pitched from his seat, +and his pony ran down the ravine into the ranks of the soldiers, who +were so elated over the success of the shot that they voted the animal +to Will as a trophy. + +The fallen warrior was Tall Bull, one of the ablest chiefs the Sioux +ever had. His death so disheartened his braves that they at once +retreated. + +A union of General Carr's scattered forces followed, and a few days +later an engagement took place in which three hundred warriors and a +large number of ponies were captured. Some white captives were released, +and several hundred squaws made prisoners. + +Among these latter was the amiable widow of Tall Bull, who, far from +cherishing animosity against Will as the slayer of her spouse, took +pride in the fact that he had fallen under the fire of so great a +warrior as "Pahaska," Long-haired Chief, by which name our scout was +known among the Indians. + + + +CHAPTER XIX. -- ARMY LIFE AT FORT M'PHERSON. + +IN the spring of 1870 Will proceeded to put into effect the +determination of the previous year--to establish a home in the lovely +country of the westerly Platte. After preparing quarters wherein his +family might be comfortable, he obtained a leave of absence and departed +for St. Louis to fetch his wife and daughter Arta, now a beautiful child +of three. + +The fame of "Buffalo Bill" had extended far beyond the plains, and +during his month's sojourn in St. Louis he was the object of a great +deal of attention. When the family prepared to depart for the frontier +home, my sister-in-law wrote to me to ask if I did not wish to accompany +them. I should have been delighted to accept the invitation, but at that +especial time there were strong attractions for me in my childhood's +home; besides, I felt that sister May, who had not enjoyed the pleasure +of the St. Louis trip, was entitled to the Western jaunt. + +So May made a visit to McPherson, and a delightful time she had, though +she was at first inclined to quarrel with the severe discipline of +army life. Will ranked with the officers, and as a result May's social +companions were limited to the two daughters of General Augur, who were +also on a visit to the fort. To compensate for the shortage of feminine +society, however, there were a number of young unmarried officers. + +Every day had its curious or enlivening incident, and May's letters +to me were filled with accounts of the gayety of life at an army post. +After several months I was invited to join her. She was enthusiastic +over a proposed buffalo-hunt, as she desired to take part in one before +her return to Leavenworth, and wished me to enjoy the sport with her. + +In accepting the invitation I fixed a certain day for my arrival at +McPherson, but I was delayed in my journey, and did not reach the fort +until three days after the date set. May was much disturbed. She had +allowed me three days for recuperation from the journey, and I had +arrived on the eve of the buffalo-hunt. Naturally, I was too fatigued +to rave over buffaloes, and I objected to joining the hunt; and I was +encouraged in my objecting by the discovery that my brother was away on +a scouting trip. + +"You don't think of going buffalo-hunting without Will, do you?" I asked +May. + +"Why," said she, "we can never tell when he will be in camp and when +away; he's off scouting nearly all the time. And we can't get up a +buffalo-hunt on five minutes' notice; we must plan ahead. Our party is +all ready to start, and there's a reporter here from an Omaha paper to +write it up. We can't put it off, and you must go." + +After that, of course, there was nothing more to be said, and when the +hunting-party set forth I made one of it. + +A gay party it was. For men, there were a number of officers, and the +newspaper man, Dr. Frank Powell, now of La Crosser for women, the wives +of two of the officers, the daughters of General Augur, May, and myself. +There was sunshine, laughter, and incessant chatter, and when one is +young and fond of horseback-riding, and a handsome young officer rides +by one's side, physical fatigue is apt to vanish for a time. + +The fort was soon nothing but a break in the sky-line, and with a +sense almost of awe I looked for the first time upon the great American +Desert. To our left, as we rode eastward, ran the swift and shallow +Platte, dotted with green-garbed islands. This river Washington Irving +called "the most magnificent and the most useless of streams" "The +islands," he wrote, "have the appearance of a labyrinth of groves +floating on the waters. Their extraordinary position gives an air +of youth and loveliness to the whole scene. If to this be added the +undulations of the river, the waving of the verdure, the alternations +of light and shade, and the purity of the atmosphere, some idea may +be formed of the pleasing sensations which the traveler experiences on +beholding a scene that seems to have started fresh from the hands of the +Creator." + +In sharp contrast was the sandy plain over which we rode. On this grew +the short, stubby buffalo-grass, the dust-colored sage-brush, and cactus +in rank profusion. Over to the right, perhaps a mile away, a long range +of foothills ran down to the horizon, with here and there the great +canons, through which entrance was effected to the upland country, each +canon bearing a historical or legendary name. + +To my eyes the picture was as beautiful as it was novel. As far as +one could see there was no sign of human habitation. It was one vast, +untenanted waste, with the touch of infinity the ocean wears. + +As we began to get into the foothills, one of our equestriennes narrowly +escaped a fall. Her horse dropped a foot into a prairie-dog's hole, and +came to an abrupt stop. The foot was extricated, and I was instructed in +the dangers that beset the prairie voyager in these blind traps of the +plain. + +The trail had been ascending at a gentle grade, and we had a slight +change of scene--desert hill instead of desert plain. The sand-hills +rose in tiers before us, and I was informed that they were formed ages +ago by the action of water. What was hard, dry ground to our horses' +hoofs was once the bottom of the sea. + +I was much interested in the geology of my environments; much more so +than I should have been had I been told that those strange, weird hills +were the haunt of the red man, who was on the war-path, and looking +constantly for scalps. But these unpleasant facts were not touched upon +by the officers, and in blissful ignorance we pursued the tenor of our +way. + +We were obliged to ride a great distance before we sighted any game, +and after twenty miles had been gone over, my temporarily forgotten +weariness began to reassert itself. Dr. Powell proposed that the ladies +should do the shooting, but my interest in the hunt had waned. It had +been several years since I had ridden a horse, and after the first few +miles I was not in a suitable frame of mind or body to enjoy the most +exciting hunt. + +A herd of buffaloes finally came into view, and the party was instantly +alive. One old bull was a little apart from the others of the herd, and +was singled out for the first attack. As we drew within range, a rifle +was given to May, with explicit directions as to its handling. The +buffalo has but one vulnerable spot, and it is next to impossible for +a novice to make a fatal shot. May fired, and perhaps her shot might be +called a good one, for the animal was struck: but it was only wounded +and infuriated, and dropping its shaggy head, it rushed toward us. The +officers fusilladed the mountain of flesh, succeeding only in rousing it +to added fury. Another rifle was handed to May, and Dr. Powell directed +its aim; but terrified by the near presence of the charging bull, May +discharged it at random. + +Although this is strictly a narrative of facts, exercising the privilege +of the novelist, we leave our present heroine in her perilous position, +and return, for a space, to the fort. + +Will returned from his scouting trip shortly after the departure of the +hunting party, and his first query was: + +"Is Nellie here?" + +"Come and gone," replied his wife; and she informed him of the manner +in which I had been carried off on the long-talked-of buffalo-hunt. +Whereupon Will gave way to one of his rare fits of passion. The scouting +trip had been long and arduous, he was tired and hungry, but also keenly +anxious for our safety. He knew what we were ignorant of--that should +we come clear of the not insignificant dangers attendant upon a +buffalo-hunt, there remained the possibility of capture by Indians. + +"I must go after them at once," said he; and off he went, without +thought of rest or food. He did take time, however, to visit the +officers' quarters and pour a vial of wrath upon the bewildered head of +the inferior who occupied the place of the absent commandant. + +"Didn't you know," cried Will, "that my continued absence meant danger +in the air? Fine idea, to let a party of ladies go beyond the fort on +such a foolhardy expedition before I had assured you it was safe to +do so! Understand, if any harm comes to my sisters, I'll hold the +government responsible!" + +With which tremendous threat he mounted the swiftest horse in camp and +rode away before the astonished officer had recovered from his surprise. + +He was able to track us over the sand-hills, and reached us, in accepted +hero fashion, in the very nick of time. The maddened bull buffalo was +charging on May, unchecked by a peppering fire from the guns of the +officers. All hands were so absorbed by the intense excitement of the +moment that the sound of approaching hoof-beats was unnoted. But I +heard, from behind us, the crack of a rifle, and saw the buffalo fall +dead almost at our feet. + +The ill-humor of our rescuer dampened the ardor of the welcome we gave +him. The long ride on an empty stomach had not smoothed a ripple of his +ruffled temper, and we were all properly lectured. We were ordered back +to the fort at once, and the command was of such a nature that no one +thought of disputing it. The only question was, whether we could make +the fort before being cut off by Indians. There was no time to be +wasted, even in cutting meat from the tongue of the fallen buffalo. Will +showed us the shortest cut for home, and himself zigzagged ahead of us, +on the watch for a danger signal. + +For my part, I was so worn out that I would as soon be captured by +Indians, if they would agree to provide me with a wigwam wherein I might +lie down and rest; but no Indians appeared. Five miles from the fort was +the ranch of a wealthy bachelor, and at May's request a halt was here +called. It was thought that the owner of the ranch might take pity upon +my deplorable condition, and provide some sort of vehicle to convey the +ladies the remainder of the journey. + +We were heartily welcomed, and our bachelor host made us extremely +comfortable in his cozy apartments, while he ordered supper for the +party. Will considered that we were within the safety zone, so he +continued on to the fort to obtain his postponed rest; and after supper +the ladies rode to the fort in a carriage. + +The next day's Omaha paper contained an account of the hunt from Dr. +Powell's graphic pen, and in it May Cody received all the glory of +the shot that laid the buffalo low. Newspaper men are usually ready to +sacrifice exact facts to an innate sense of the picturesque. + +At this time the fort was somewhat concerned over numerous petty crimes +among the civilians, and General Emory, now chief in authority at the +post, requested the county commissioners to appoint Will a justice of +the peace. This was done, much to the dismay of the new Justice, who, as +he phrased it, "knew no more of law than a mule knows of singing." But +he was compelled to bear the blushing honors thrust upon him, and his +sign was posted In a conspicuous place: + + -------------------------- | WILLIAM F. CODY, | + | JUSTICE OF THE PEACE. | + --------------------------*/ + + Almost the first thing he was called upon to do in his new + capacity was to perform a wedding ceremony. Cold sweat stood upon + his brow as he implored our aid in this desperate emergency. + The big law book with which he had been equipped at his + installation was ransacked in vain for the needed information. + The Bible was examined more diligently, perhaps, than it had + ever been by him before, but the Good Book was as unresponsive + as the legal tome. "Remember your own wedding ceremony," + was our advice "Follow that as nearly as possible." + But he shook his head despondently The cool-headed scout + and Indian fighter was dismayed, and the dignity of the law + trembled in the balance. + + To put an edge on the crisis, nearly the entire fort attended + the wedding. All is well, said we, as we watched the justice take + his place before the bridal pair with not a sign of trepidation. + At the outset his conducting of the ceremony was irreproachable, + and we were secretly congratulating ourselves upon his success, + when our ears were startled by the announcement: + + "Whom God and Buffalo Bill hath joined together, let no man + put asunder." + + So far as I am informed, no man has attempted it. + + Before May returned home, Will became the very proud father of + a son. + He had now three children, a second daughter, Orra, having + been born two + years before. The first boy of the family was the object of + the undivided + interest of the post for a time, and names by the dozen were + suggested. + Major North offered Kit Carson as an appropriate name for the + son of a great + scout and buffalo-hunter, and this was finally settled on. + + My first touch of real anxiety came with an order to Will + to report at headquarters for assignment to duty. + The country was alive with Indians, the officer in command + informed him, and this intelligence filled me with dread. + My sister-in-law had grown accustomed to her husband's excursions + into danger-land, and accepted such sallies as incidents of + his position. Later, I, too, learned this stoical philosophy, + but at first my anxiety was so keen that Will laughed at me. + + "Don't worry," said he; "the Indians won't visit the fort to-night. + There's no danger of them scalping you." + + "But," said I, "it is for you, not for myself, that I am afraid. + It is horrible to think of you going out alone among those + foothills, + which swarm with Indians." + + The fort was on the prairie, but the distant foothills + stretched away + interminably, and these furnished favorite lurking-places for + the redskins. + Will drew me to a window, and pointed out the third tier of hills, + some twelve or fifteen miles away. + + "I would advise you," said he, "to go to bed and sleep, + but if you insist on keeping awake and worrying, I will kindle + a blaze on top of that hill at midnight. Watch closely. + I can send up only one flash, for there will be Indian eyes + unclosed as well as yours." + + One may imagine with what a beating heart I stared into the + darkness + when the hour of twelve drew on. The night was a veil that hid + a thousand terrors, but a gauzy veil, to my excited fancy, + behind which passed a host of shadowy horsemen with uptossing + lances. + How could a man ride alone into such a gloomy, terror-haunted + domain? + The knights of old, who sallied forth in search of dismal ogres + and noxious dragons, were not of stouter heart, and they breasted + only fancied perils. + + Twelve o'clock! The night had a thousand eyes, but they did + not pierce + the darkness of the foothills. + + Ah! A thin ribbon of light curled upward for an instant, then + vanished. + Will was safe thus far. But there were many hours--and the + darkest--before the dawn, and I carried to my bed the + larger share of my forebodings. + + Next day the scout came home to report the exact location + of the hostile-Sioux. The troops, ready for instant action, + were hurled against them, and the Indians were thoroughly thrashed. + A large number of chiefs were captured, among them "Red Shirt," + an interesting redskin, who afterward traveled with the "Wild + West." + + Captive chiefs were always esteemed of great interest by the ladies + of the fort. To me the braves taken in the last raid were + remarkable + mainly for economy of apparel and sulkiness of demeanor. + + This same fall the fort was visited by a gentleman introduced as + Colonel Judson, though the public knows him better as "Ned + Buntline," + the story-writer. He desired to accompany the scouts on a certain + proposed trip, and Major Brown informed Will that the ulterior + motive + of the author was to project Buffalo Bill into a novel as hero. + + "Now, I'd look pretty in a novel, wouldn't I?" said Will, + sarcastically and blushingly. + + "Yes, I think you would," returned the major, eying the other's + splendid proportions critically. + + Whereupon the scout blushed again, and doffed his sombrero in + acknowledgment + of the compliment, for-- + + "'Tis pleasant, sure, to see one's name in print; + A book's a book, although there's nothing in't." + +A retired naval officer, Ned Buntline wore a black undress military +suit. His face was bronzed and rugged, determined yet kindly; he walked +with a slight limp, and carried a cane. He shook Will's hand cordially +when they were introduced, and expressed great pleasure in the meeting. +This was the genesis of a friendship destined to work great changes in +Buffalo Bill's career. + +During the scouting expedition that followed, the party chanced upon an +enormous bone, which the surgeon pronounced the femur of a human body. +Will understood the Indian tongues well enough to be in part possession +of their traditions, and he related the Sioux legend of the flood. + +It was taught by the wise men of this tribe that the earth was +originally peopled by giants, who were fully three times the size +of modern men. They were so swift and powerful that they could run +alongside a buffalo, take the animal under one arm, and tear off a leg, +and eat it as they ran. So vainglorious were they because of their own +size and strength that they denied the existence of a Creator. When it +lightened, they proclaimed their superiority to the lightning; when it +thundered, they laughed. + +This displeased the Great Spirit, and to rebuke their arrogance he sent +a great rain upon the earth. The valleys filled with water, and the +giants retreated to the hills. The water crept up the hills, and the +giants sought safety on the highest mountains. Still the rain continued, +the waters rose, and the giants, having no other refuge, were drowned. + +The Great Spirit profited by his former mistake. When the waters +subsided, he made a new race of men, but he made them smaller and less +strong. + +This tradition has been handed down from Sioux father to Sioux son since +earliest ages. It shows, at least, as the legends of all races do, that +the story of the Deluge is history common to all the world. + +Another interesting Indian tradition bears evidence of a later origin. +The Great Spirit, they say, once formed a man of clay, and he was placed +in the furnace to bake, but he was subjected to the heat too long a +time, and came out burnt. Of him came the negro race. At another trial +the Great Spirit feared the second clay man might also burn, and he was +not left in the furnace long enough. Of him came the paleface man. The +Great Spirit was now in a position to do perfect work, and the third +clay man was left in the furnace neither too long nor too short a time; +he emerged a masterpiece, the _ne plus ultra_ of creation--the noble red +man. + + + +CHAPTER XX. -- PA-HAS-KA, THE LONG-HAIRED CHIEF. + +ALTHOUGH the glory of killing the buffalo on our hunt was accredited to +sister May, to me the episode proved of much more moment. In the spring +of 1871 I was married to Mr. Jester, the bachelor ranchman at whose +place we had tarried on our hurried return to the fort. His house had a +rough exterior, but was substantial and commodious, and before I entered +it, a bride, it was refitted in a style almost luxurious. I returned to +Leavenworth to prepare for the wedding, which took place at the home of +an old friend, Thomas Plowman, his daughter Emma having been my chum in +girlhood. + +In our home near McPherson we were five miles "in the country." Nature +in primitive wildness encompassed us, but life's song never ran into a +monotone. The prairie is never dull when one watches it from day to day +for signs of Indians. Yet we were not especially concerned, as we were +near enough to the fort to reach it on short notice, and besides our +home there was another house where the ranchmen lived. With these I had +little to do. My especial factotum was a negro boy, whose chief duty was +to saddle my horse and bring it to the door, attend me upon my rides, +and minister to my comfort generally. Poor little chap! He was one of +the first of the Indians' victims. + +Early one morning John, as he was called, was sent out alone to look +after the cattle. During breakfast the clatter of hoofs was heard, and +Will rode up to inform us that the Indians were on the war-path and +massed in force just beyond our ranch. Back of Will were the troops, +and we were advised to ride at once to the fort. Hastily packing a few +valuables, we took refuge at McPherson, and remained there until the +troops returned with the news that all danger was over. + +Upon our return to the ranch we found that the cattle had been driven +away, and poor little John was picked up dead on the skirts of the +foothills. The redskins had apparently started to scalp him, but had +desisted. Perhaps they thought his wool would not make a desirable +trophy, perhaps they were frightened away. At all events, the poor +child's scalp was left to him, though the mark of the knife was plain. + +Shortly after this episode, some capitalists from the East visited +my husband. One of them, Mr. Bent, owned a large share in the +cattle-ranches. He desired to visit this ranch, and the whole party +planned a hunt at the same time. As there were no banking facilities on +the frontier, drafts or bills of exchange would have been of no use; +so the money designed for Western investment had been brought along in +cash. To carry this on the proposed trip was too great a risk, and I was +asked banteringly to act as banker. I consented readily, but imagine +my perturbation when twenty-five thousand dollars in bank-notes were +counted out and left in my care. I had never had the responsibility +of so large a sum of money before, and compared to me the man with +the elephant on his hands had a tranquil time of it. After considering +various methods for secreting the money, I decided for the hair mattress +on my bed. This I ripped open, inserted the envelope containing the +bank-notes, and sewed up the slit. No one was aware of my trust, and I +regarded it safe. + +A few mornings later I ordered my pony and rode away to visit my nearest +neighbor, a Mrs. Erickson, purposing later to ride to the fort and +spend the day with Lou, my sister-in-law. When I reached Mrs. Erickson's +house, that good woman came out in great excitement to greet me. + +"You must come right in, Mrs. Jester!" said she. "The foothills are +filled with Indians on the warpath." + +She handed me her field-glasses, and directed my gaze to the trail below +our ranch, over which buffaloes, cattle, and Indians passed down to the +Platte. I could plainly see the warriors tramping along Indian-file, +their head-feathers waving in the breeze and their blankets flapping +about them as they walked. Instantly the thought of the twenty-five +thousand dollars intrusted to my care flashed across my mind. + +"Oh, Mrs. Erickson," I exclaimed, "I must return to the ranch +immediately!" + +"You must not do so, Mrs. Jester; it's as much as your life is worth to +attempt it," said she. + +But I thought only of the money, and notwithstanding warning and +entreaty, mounted my horse and flew back on the homeward path, not even +daring to look once toward the foothills. When I reached the house, I +called to the overseer: + +"The Indians are on the war-path, and the foothills are full of them! +Have two or three men ready to escort me to the fort by the time I have +my valise packed." + +"Why, Mrs. Jester," was the reply, "there are no Indians in sight." + +"But there are," said I. "I saw them as plainly as I see you, and the +Ericksons saw them, too." + +"You have been the victim of a mirage," said the overseer. "Look! there +are no Indians now in view." + +I scanned the foothills closely, but there was no sign of a warrior. +With my field-glasses I searched the entire rim of the horizon; it was +tranquillity itself. I experienced a great relief, nevertheless. My +nerves were so shaken that I could not remain at home; so I packed a +valise, taking along the package of bank-notes, and visited another +neighbor, a Mrs. McDonald, a dear friend of many years' standing, who +lived nearer the fort. + +This excellent woman was an old resident of the frontier. After she had +heard my story, she related some of her own Indian experiences. When she +first settled in her present home, there was no fort to which she could +flee from Indian molestation, and she was often compelled to rely upon +her wits to extricate her from dangerous situations. The story that +especially impressed me was the following: + +"One evening when I was alone," said Mrs. McDonald, "I became conscious +that eyes were peering at me from the darkness outside my window. Flight +was impossible, and my husband would not likely reach home for an +hour or more. What should I do? A happy thought came to me. You know, +perhaps, that Indians, for some reason, have a strange fear of a drunken +woman, and will not molest one. I took from a closet a bottle filled +with a dark-colored liquid, poured out a glassful and drank it. In a few +minutes I repeated the dose, and then seemingly it began to take effect. +I would try to walk across the room, staggering and nearly falling. I +became uproariously 'happy.' I flung my arms above my head, lurched from +side to side, sang a maudlin song, and laughed loudly and foolishly. +The stratagem succeeded. One by one the shadowy faces at the window +disappeared, and by the time my husband and the men returned there was +not an Indian in the neighborhood. I became sober immediately. Molasses +and water is not a very intoxicating beverage." + +I plucked up courage to return to the ranch that evening, and shortly +afterward the hunting-party rode up. When I related the story of my +fright, Mr. Bent complimented me upon what he was pleased to call my +courage. + +"You are your brother's own sister," said he. "We'll make you banker +again." + +"Thank you, but I do not believe you will," said I. "I have had all the +experience I wish for in the banking business in this Indian country." + +Upon another occasion Indians were approaching the fort from the farther +side, but as we were not regarded as in danger, no warning was sent to +us. The troops sallied out after the redskins, and the cunning warriors +described a circle. To hide their trail they set fire to the prairie, +and the hills about us were soon ablaze. The flames spread swiftly, +and the smoke rolled upon us in suffocating volume. We retreated to the +river, and managed to exist by dashing water upon our faces. Here we +were found by soldiers sent from the fort to warn settlers of their +peril, and at their suggestion we returned to the ranch, saddled horses, +and rode through the dense smoke five miles to the fort. It was the most +unpleasant ride of my life. + +In the preceding chapter mention was made of the finding of a remarkable +bone. It became famous, and in the summer of 1871 Professor Marsh, of +Yale College, brought out a party of students to search for fossils. +They found a number, but were not rewarded by anything the most +credulous could torture into a human relic. + +This summer also witnessed an Indian campaign somewhat out of the common +in several of its details. More than one volume would be required +to record all the adventures Scout Cody had with the Children of the +Plains, most of which had so many points in common that it is necessary +to touch upon only those containing incidents out of the ordinary. + +An expedition, under command of General Duncan, was fitted out for the +Republican River country. Duncan was a jolly officer and a born fighter. +His brother officers had a story that once on a time he had been shot +in the head by a cannon-ball, and that while he was not hurt a particle, +the ball glanced off and killed one of the toughest mules in the army. + +Perhaps it was because the Pawnees spoke so little English, and spoke +that little so badly, that General Duncan insisted upon their repeating +the English call, which would be something like this: "Post Number One. +Nine o'clock. All's well." The Pawnee effort to obey was so ludicrous, +and provocative of such profanity (which they could express passing +well), that the order was countermanded. + +One afternoon Major North and Will rode ahead of the command to select +a site for the night's camp. They ran into a band of some fifty Indians, +and were obliged to take the back track as fast as their horses could +travel. Will's whip was shot from his hand and a hole put through his +hat. As they sighted the advance-guard of the command, Major North rode +around in a circle--a signal to the Pawnees that hostiles were near. +Instantly the Pawnees broke ranks and dashed pell-mell to the relief of +their white chief. The hostiles now took a turn at retreating, and kept +it up for several miles. + +The troops took up the trail on the following day, and a stern chase set +in. In passing through a deserted camp the troops found an aged squaw, +who had been left to die. The soldiers built a lodge for her, and she +was provided with sufficient rations to last her until she reached the +Indian heaven, the happy hunting-grounds. She was in no haste, however, +to get to her destination, and on their return the troops took her to +the fort with them. Later she was sent to the Spotted Tail agency. + +In September of 1871 General Sheridan and a party of friends arrived +at the post for a grand hunt. Between him and Will existed a warm +friendship, which continued to the close of the general's life. Great +preparations were made for the hunt. General Emory, now commander of the +fort, sent a troop of cavalry to meet the distinguished visitors at the +station and escort them to the fort. Besides General Sheridan, there +were in the party Leonard and Lawrence Jerome, Carroll Livingstone, +James Gordon Bennett, J. G. Heckscher, General Fitzhugh, Schuyler +Crosby, Dr. Asch, Mr. McCarthy, and other well-known men. When they +reached the post they found the regiment drawn up on dress parade; +the band struck up a martial air, the cavalry were reviewed by General +Sheridan, and the formalities of the occasion were regarded as over. + +It was Sheridan's request that Will should act as guide and scout for +the hunting-party. One hundred troopers under Major Brown were detailed +as escort, and the commissary department fairly bulged. Several +ambulances were also taken along, for the comfort of those who might +weary of the saddle. + +Game was abundant, and rare sport was had. Buffalo, elk, and deer were +everywhere, and to those of the party who were new to Western life the +prairie-dog villages were objects of much interest. These villages are +often of great extent. They are made up of countless burrows, and so +honeycombed is the country infested by the little animals that travel +after nightfall is perilous for horses. The dirt is heaped around the +entrance to the burrows a foot high, and here the prairie-dogs, who are +sociability itself, sit on their hind legs and gossip with one another. +Owls and rattlesnakes share the underground homes with the rightful +owners, and all get along together famously. + +When the hunting-party returned to McPherson its members voted Will a +veritable Nimrod--a mighty hunter, and he was abundantly thanked for his +masterly guidance of the expedition. + +That winter a still more distinguished party visited the post--the Grand +Duke Alexis and his friends. As many of my readers will recall, the +nobleman's visit aroused much enthusiasm in this country. The East had +wined and dined him to satiety, but wining and dining are common to all +nations, and the Grand Duke desired to see the wild life of America--the +Indian in his tepee and the prairie monarch in his domain, as well as +the hardy frontiersman, who feared neither savage warrior nor savage +beast. + +The Grand Duke had hunted big game in Eastern lands, and he was a +capital shot. General Sheridan engineered this expedition also, and, as +on the previous occasion, he relied upon Will to make it a success. The +latter received word to select a good camp on Red Willow Creek, where +game was plentiful, and to make all needed arrangements for the comfort +and entertainment of the noble party. A special feature suggested by +Sheridan for the amusement and instruction of the continental guests +was an Indian war-dance and Indian buffalo-hunt. To procure this +entertainment it was necessary to visit Spotted Tail, chief of the +Sioux, and persuade him to bring over a hundred warriors. At this time +there was peace between the Sioux and the government, and the dance idea +was feasible; nevertheless, a visit to the Sioux camp was not without +its dangers. Spotted Tail himself was seemingly sincere in a desire to +observe the terms of the ostensible peace between his people and the +authorities, but many of the other Indians would rather have had the +scalp of the Long-haired Chief than a century of peace. + +Will so timed his trip as to reach the Indian camp at dusk, and hitching +his horse in the timber, he wrapped his blanket closely about him, so +that in the gathering darkness he might easily pass for a warrior. Thus +invested, he entered the village, and proceeded to the lodge of Spotted +Tail. + +The conference with the distinguished redskin was made smooth sailing +by Agent Todd Randall, who happened to be on hand, and who acted as +interpreter. The old chief felt honored by the invitation extended to +him, and readily promised that in "ten sleeps" from that night he, with +a hundred warriors, would be present at the white man's camp, which was +to be pitched at the point where the government trail crossed Red Willow +Creek. + +As Spotted Tail did not repose a great amount of confidence in his +high-spirited young men, he kept Will in his own lodge through the +night. In the morning the chief assembled the camp, and presenting his +guest, asked if his warriors knew him. + +"It is Pa-has-ka, the Long-haired Chief!" they answered. + +Whereupon Spotted Tail informed them that he had eaten bread with the +Long-haired Chief, thus establishing a bond of friendship, against +violating which the warriors were properly warned. + +After that Will was entirely at his ease, although there were many +sullen faces about him. They had long yearned for his scalp, and it was +slightly irritating to find it so near and yet so far. + + + +CHAPTER XXI. -- THE HUNT OF THE GRAND DUKE ALEXIS. + +A SPECIAL train brought the Grand Duke Alexis and party to North Platte +on January 12, 1872. Will was presented to the illustrious visitor by +General Sheridan, and was much interested in him. He was also pleased to +note that General Custer made one of the party. + +Will had made all the arrangements, and had everything complete when the +train pulled in. As soon as the Grand Duke and party had breakfasted, +they filed out to get their horses or to find seats in the ambulances. +All who were mounted were arranged according to rank. Will had sent one +of his guides ahead, while he was to remain behind to see that nothing +was left undone. Just as they were to start, the conductor of the Grand +Duke's train came up to Will and said that Mr. Thompson had not received +a horse. "What Thompson?" asked Will. "Why, Mr. Frank Thompson, who has +charge of the Grand Duke's train." Will looked over the list of names +sent him by General Sheridan of those who would require saddle-horses, +but failed to find that of Mr. Thompson. However, he did not wish to +have Mr. Thompson or any one else left out. He had following him, as he +always did, his celebrated war-horse, "Buckskin Joe." This horse was not +a very prepossessing "insect." He was buckskin in color, and rather +a sorry-looking animal, but he was known all over the frontier as the +greatest long-distance and best buffalo-horse living. Will had never +allowed any one but himself to ride this horse, but as he had no +other there at the time, he got a saddle and bridle, had it put on old +Buckskin Joe, and told Mr. Thompson he could ride him until he got +where he could get him another. This horse looked so different from +the beautiful animals the rest of the party were supplied with that Mr. +Thompson thought it rather discourteous to mount him in such fashion. +However, he got on, and Will told him to follow up, as he wanted to go +ahead to where the general was. As Mr. Thompson rode past the wagons and +ambulances he noticed the teamsters pointing at him, and thinking the +men were guying him, rode up to one of them, and said, "Am I not riding +this horse all right?" Mr. Thompson felt some personal pride in his +horsemanship, as he was a Pennsylvania fox-hunter. + +The driver replied, "Yes, sir; you ride all right." + +"Well, then," said Thompson, "it must be this horse you are guying." + +The teamster replied: + +"Guying that horse? Not in a thousand years!" + +"Well, then, why am I such a conspicuous object?" + +"Why, sir, are you not the king?" + +"The king? Why did you take me for the king?" + +"Because you are riding that horse. I guess you don't know what horse +you are riding, do you? Nobody gets to ride that horse but Buffalo Bill. +So when we all saw you riding him we supposed that of course you were +the king, for that horse, sir, is Buckskin Joe." + +Thompson had heard General Sheridan telling about Buckskin Joe on the +way out, and how Buffalo Bill had once run him eighty miles when the +Indians were after him. Thompson told Will afterward that he grew about +four feet when he found out that he was riding that most celebrated +horse of the plains. He at once galloped ahead to overtake Will and +thank him most heartily for allowing him the honor of such a mount. Will +told him that he was going to let the Grand Duke kill his first buffalo +on Buckskin Joe. "Well," replied Thompson, "I want to ask one favor +of you. Let me also kill a buffalo on this horse." Will replied that +nothing would afford him greater pleasure. Buckskin Joe was covered with +glory on this memorable hunt, as both the Grand Duke of Russia and Mr. +Frank Thompson, later president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, killed +their first buffalo mounted on his back, and my brother ascribes to old +Joe the acquisition of Mr. Frank Thompson's name to his list of life +friendships. This hunt was an unqualified success, nothing occurring to +mar one day of it. + +Spotted Tail was true to his promise. He and his hundred braves were +on hand, shining in the full glory of war paint and feathers, and the +war-dance they performed was of extraordinary interest to the Grand Duke +and his friends. The outlandish contortions and grimaces of the Indians, +their leaps and crouchings, their fiendish yells and whoops, made up a +barbaric jangle of picture and sound not soon to be forgotten. To the +European visitors the scene was picturesque rather than ghastly, but +it was not a pleasing spectacle to the old Indian fighters looking on. +There were too many suggestions of bloodshed and massacre in the past, +and of bloodshed and massacre yet to come. + +The Indian buffalo-hunt followed the Terpsichorean revelry, and all +could enjoy the skill and strength displayed by the red huntsmen. One +warrior, Two-Lance by name, performed a feat that no other living Indian +could do; he sent an arrow entirely through the body of a bull running +at full speed. + +General Sheridan desired that the Grand Duke should carry away with +him a knowledge of every phase of life on the frontier, and when the +visitors were ready to drive to the railroad station, Will was requested +to illustrate, for their edification, the manner in which a stagecoach +and six were driven over the Rocky Mountains. + +Will was delighted at the idea; so was Alexis at the outset, as he had +little idea of what was in store for him. The Grand Duke and the general +were seated in a closed carriage drawn by six horses, and were cautioned +to fasten their hats securely on their heads, and to hang onto the +carriage; then Will climbed to the driver's seat. + +"Just imagine," said he to his passengers, "that fifty Indians are +after us." And off went the horses, with a jump that nearly spilled the +occupants of the coach into the road. + +The three miles to the station were covered in just ten minutes, and the +Grand Duke had the ride of his life. The carriage tossed like a ship in +a gale, and no crew ever clung to a life-line with more desperate grip +than did Will's passengers to their seats. Had the fifty Indians of the +driver's fancy been whooping behind, he would not have plied the whip +more industriously, or been deafer to the groans and ejaculations of +his fares. When the carriage finally drew up with another teeth-shaking +jerk, and Will, sombrero in hand, opened the coach door to inquire of +his Highness how he had enjoyed the ride, the Grand Duke replied, with +suspicious enthusiasm: + +"I would not have missed it for a large sum of money; but rather than +repeat it, I would return to Russia via Alaska, swim Bering Strait, and +finish my journey on one of your government mules." + +This ride completed a trip which the noble party pronounced satisfactory +in every detail. The Grand Duke invited Will into his private car, where +he received the thanks of the company for his zeal and skill as pilot +of a hunting-party. He was also invited by Alexis to visit him at his +palace should he ever make a journey to Russia, and was, moreover, the +recipient of a number of valuable souvenirs. + +At that time Will had very little thought of crossing the seas, but he +did decide to visit the East, whither he had more than once journeyed in +fancy. The Indians were comparatively quiet, and he readily obtained a +leave of absence. + +The first stopping-place was Chicago, where he was entertained by +General Sheridan; thence he went to New York, to be kindly received by +James Gordon Bennett, Leonard and Lawrence Jerome, J. G. Heckscher, and +others, who, it will be recalled, were members of the hunting-party +of the preceding year. Ned Buntline also rendered his sojourn in +the metropolis pleasant in many ways. The author had carried out his +intention of writing a story of Western life with Scout Cody for the +hero, and the result, having been dramatized, was doing a flourishing +business at one of the great city's theaters. Will made one of a party +that attended a performance of the play one evening, and it was shortly +whispered about the house that "Buffalo Bill" himself was in the +audience. It is customary to call for the author of a play, and no doubt +the author of this play had been summoned before the footlights in due +course, but on this night the audience demanded the hero. To respond to +the call was an ordeal for which Will was unprepared; but there was no +getting out of it, and he faced a storm of applause. The manager of the +performance, enterprising like all of his profession, offered Will +five hundred dollars a week to remain in New York and play the part of +"Buffalo Bill," but the offer was declined with thanks. + +During his stay in the city Will was made the guest of honor at sundry +luncheons and dinners given by his wealthy entertainers. He found +considerable trouble in keeping his appointments at first, but soon +caught on to the to him unreasonable hours at which New Yorkers dined, +supped, and breakfasted. The sense of his social obligations lay so +heavily on his mind that he resolved to balance accounts with a dinner +at which he should be the host. An inventory of cash on hand discovered +the sum of fifty dollars that might be devoted to playing Lucullus. +Surely that would more than pay for all that ten or a dozen men could +eat at one meal. "However," he said to himself, "I don't care if it +takes the whole fifty. It's all in a lifetime, anyway." + +In all confidence he hied him to Delmonico's, at which famous restaurant +he had incurred a large share of his social obligations. He ordered the +finest dinner that could be prepared for a party of twelve, and set as +date the night preceding his departure for the West. The guests were +invited with genuine Western hospitality. His friends had been kind to +him, and he desired to show them that a man of the West could not only +appreciate such things, but return them. + +The dinner was a thorough success. Not an invited guest was absent. +The conversation sparkled. Quip and repartee shot across the "festive +board," and all went merry as a dinner-bell. The host was satisfied, and +proud withal. The next morning he approached Delmonico's cashier with an +air of reckless prodigality. + +"My bill, please," said he, and when he got it, he looked hard at it for +several minutes. It dawned on him gradually that his fifty dollars would +about pay for one plate. As he confided to us afterward, that little +slip of paper frightened him more than could the prospect of a combat +single-handed with a whole tribe of Sioux Indians. + +Unsophisticated Will! There was, as he discovered, a wonderful +difference between a dinner at Delmonico's and a dinner on the plains. +For the one, the four corners of the earth are drawn upon to provide +the bill of fare; for the other, all one needs is an ounce of lead and a +charge of powder, a bundle of fagots and a match. + +But it would never do to permit the restaurant cashier to suspect that +the royal entertainer of the night before was astonished at his bill; so +he requested that the account be forwarded to his hotel, and sought the +open air, where he might breathe more freely. + +There was but one man in New York to whom he felt he could turn in +his dilemma, and that was Ned Buntline. One who could invent plots for +stories, and extricate his characters from all sorts of embarrassing +situations, should be able to invent a method of escape from so +comparatively simple a perplexity as a tavern bill. Will's confidence +in the wits of his friend was not unfounded. His first great financial +panic was safely weathered, but how it was done I do not know to this +day. + +One of Will's main reasons for visiting the East was to look up our only +living relatives on mother's side--Colonel Henry R. Guss and family, +of Westchester, Pennsylvania. Mother's sister, who had married this +gentleman, was not living, and we had never met him or any of his +family. Ned Buntline accompanied Will on his trip to Westchester. + +To those who have passed through the experience of waiting in a strange +drawing-room for the coming of relatives one has never seen, and of +whose personality one has but the vaguest idea, there is the uncertainty +of the reception. Will it be frank and hearty, or reserved and doubtful? +During the few minutes succeeding the giving of his and Buntline's cards +to the servant, Will rather wished that the elegant reception-room might +be metamorphosed into the Western prairie. But presently the entrance to +the parlor was brightened by the loveliest girl he had ever looked upon, +and following her walked a courtly, elegant gentleman. These were +Cousin Lizzie and Uncle Henry. There was no doubt of the quality of the +welcome; it was most cordial, and Will enjoyed a delightful visit with +his relatives. For his cousin he conceived an instant affection. +The love he had held for his mother--the purest and strongest of his +affections--became the heritage of this beautiful girl. + + + +CHAPTER XXII. -- THEATRICAL EXPERIENCES. + +THE Fifth Cavalry at Fort McPherson had been ordered to Arizona, and was +replaced by the Third Cavalry under command of General Reynolds. Upon +Will's return to McPherson he was at once obliged to take the field +to look for Indians that had raided the station during his absence +and carried off a considerable number of horses. Captain Meinhold and +Lieutenant Lawson commanded the company dispatched to recover the stolen +property. Will acted as guide, and had as an assistant T. B. Omohundro, +better known by his frontier name of "Texas Jack." + +Will was not long in finding Indian tracks, and accompanied by six men, +he went forward to locate the redskin camp. They had proceeded but a +short distance when they sighted a small party of Indians, with horses +grazing. There were just thirteen Indians--an unlucky number--and Will +feared that they might discover the scouting party should it attempt +to return to the main command. He had but to question his companions +to find them ready to follow wheresoever he might lead, and they moved +cautiously toward the Indian camp. + +At the proper moment the seven rushed upon the unsuspecting warriors, +who sprang for their horses and gave battle. But the rattle of the +rifles brought Captain Meinhold to the scene, and when the Indians saw +the reinforcements coming up they turned and fled. Six of their number +were dead on the plain, and nearly all of the stolen horses were +recovered. One soldier was killed, and this was one of the few occasions +when Will received a wound. + +And now once more was the versatile plainsman called upon to enact a new +role. Returning from a long scout in the fall of 1872, he found that his +friends had made him a candidate for the Nebraska legislature from the +twenty-sixth district. He had never thought seriously of politics, +and had a well-defined doubt of his fitness as a law-maker. He made +no campaign, but was elected by a flattering majority. He was now +privileged to prefix the title "Honorable" to his name, and later this +was supplanted by "Colonel"--a title won in the Nebraska National Guard, +and which he claims is much better suited to his attainments. + +Will, unlike his father, had no taste for politics or for political +honors. I recall one answer--so characteristic of the man--to some +friends who were urging him to enter the political arena. "No," said he, +"politics are by far too deep for me. I think I can hold my own in any +fair and no foul fight; but politics seem to me all foul and no fair. +I thank you, my friends, but I must decline to set out on this trail, +which I know has more cactus burs to the square inch than any I ever +followed on the plains." + +Meantime Ned Buntline had been nurturing an ambitious project. He had +been much impressed by the fine appearance made by Will in the New York +theater, and was confident that a fortune awaited the scout if he would +consent to enter the theatrical profession. He conceived the idea of +writing a drama entitled "The Scout of the Plains," in which Will was +to assume the title role and shine as a star of the first magnitude. The +bait he dangled was that the play should be made up entirely of frontier +scenes, which would not only entertain the public, but instruct it. + +The bait was nibbled at, and finally swallowed, but there was a proviso +that Wild Bill and Texas Jack must first be won over to act as "pards" +in the enterprise. He telegraphed his two friends that he needed their +aid in an important business matter, and went to Chicago to meet them. +He was well assured that if he had given them an inkling of the nature +of the "business matter," neither would put in an appearance; but he +relied on Ned Buntline's persuasive powers, which were well developed. + +There had never been a time when Wild Bill and Texas Jack declined +to follow Will's lead, and on a certain morning the trio presented +themselves at the Palmer House in Chicago for an interview with Colonel +Judson. + +The author could scarcely restrain his delight. All three of the scouts +were men of fine physique and dashing appearance. It was very possible +that they had one or two things to learn about acting, but their +inexperience would be more than balanced by their reputation and +personal appearance, and the knowledge that they were enacting on the +stage mock scenes of what to them had oft been stern reality. + +"Don't shoot, pards!" began Will, when the conference opened. "I +guess, Judson," he continued, after vainly trying to find a diplomatic +explanation, "you'd better tell them what we want." + +Buntline opened with enthusiasm, but he did not kindle Wild Bill +and Texas Jack, who looked as if they might at any moment grab their +sombreros and stampede for the frontier. Will turned the scale. + +"We're bound to make a fortune at it," said he. "Try it for a while, +anyway." + +The upshot of a long discussion was that the scouts gave a reluctant +consent to a much-dreaded venture. Will made one stipulation. + +"If the Indians get on the rampage," said he, "we must be allowed leave +of absence to go back and settle them." + +"All right, boys," said Buntline; "that shall be put in the contract. +And if you're called back into the army to fight redskins, I'll go with +you." + +This reply established the author firmly in the esteem of the scouts. +The play was written in four hours (most playwrights allow themselves +at least a week), and the actor-scouts received their "parts." Buntline +engaged a company to support the stellar trio, and the play was widely +advertised. + +When the critical "first night" arrived, none of the scouts knew a line +of his part, but each had acquired all the varieties of stage fright +known to the profession. Buntline had hinted to them the possibility of +something of the sort, but they had not realized to what a condition +of abject dismay a man may be reduced by the sight of a few hundred +inoffensive people in front of a theater curtain. It would have done +them no good to have told them (as is the truth) that many experienced +actors have touches of stage fright, as well as the unfortunate novice. +All three declared that they would rather face a band of war-painted +Indians, or undertake to check a herd of stampeding buffaloes, than +face the peaceful-looking audience that was waiting to criticise their +Thespian efforts. + +Like almost all amateurs, they insisted on peering through the +peep-holes in the curtain, which augmented their nervousness, and if the +persuasive Colonel Judson had not been at their elbows, reminding them +that he, also, was to take part in the play, it is more than likely +they would have slipped quietly out at the stage door and bought railway +passage to the West. + +Presently the curtain rolled up, and the audience applauded +encouragingly as three quaking six-footers, clad in buckskin, made their +first bow before the footlights. + +I have said that Will did not know a line of his part, nor did he when +the time to make his opening speech arrived. It had been faithfully +memorized, but oozed from his mind like the courage from Bob Acres's +finger-tips. "Evidently," thought Buntline, who was on the stage with +him, "he needs time to recover." So he asked carelessly: + +"What have you been about lately, Bill?" + +This gave "The Scout of the Plains" an inspiration. In glancing over +the audience, he had recognized in one of the boxes a wealthy gentleman +named Milligan, whom he had once guided on a big hunt near McPherson. +The expedition had been written up by the Chicago papers, and the +incidents of it were well known. + +"I've been out on a hunt with Milligan," replied Will, and the house +came down. Milligan was quite popular, but had been the butt of +innumerable jokes because of his alleged scare over the Indians. The +applause and laughter that greeted the sally stocked the scout with +confidence, but confidence is of no use if one has forgotten his part. +It became manifest to the playwright-actor that he would have to prepare +another play in place of the one he had expected to perform, and that he +must prepare it on the spot. + +"Tell us about it, Bill," said he, and the prompter groaned. + +One of the pleasures of frontier life consists in telling stories around +the camp-fire. A man who ranks as a good frontiersman is pretty sure +to be a good raconteur. Will was at ease immediately, and proceeded +to relate the story of Milligan's hunt in his own words. That it was +amusing was attested by the frequent rounds of applause. The prompter, +with a commendable desire to get things running smoothly, tried again +and again to give Will his cue, but even cues had been forgotten. + +The dialogue of that performance must have been delightfully absurd. +Neither Texas Jack nor Wild Bill was able to utter a line of his part +during the entire evening. In the Indian scenes, however, they scored +a great success; here was work that did not need to be painfully +memorized, and the mock red men were slain at an astonishing rate. + +Financially the play proved all that its projectors could ask for. +Artistically--well, the critics had a great deal of fun with the hapless +dramatist. The professionals in the company had played their parts +acceptably, and, oddly enough, the scouts were let down gently in the +criticisms; but the critics had no means of knowing that the stars of +the piece had provided their own dialogue, and poor Ned Buntline was +plastered with ridicule. It had got out that the play was written +in four hours, and in mentioning this fact, one paper wondered, with +delicate sarcasm, what the dramatist had been doing all that time. +Buntline had played the part of "Gale Durg," who met death in the second +act, and a second paper, commenting on this, suggested that it would +have been a happy consummation had the death occurred before the play +was written. A third critic pronounced it a drama that might be begun +in the middle and played both ways, or played backward, quite as well as +the way in which it had been written. + +However, nothing succeeds like success. A number of managers offered +to take hold of the company, and others asked for entrance to the +enterprise as partners. Ned Buntline took his medicine from the critics +with a smiling face, for "let him laugh who wins." + +The scouts soon got over their stage fright, in the course of time were +able to remember their parts, and did fully their share toward making +the play as much of a success artistically as it was financially. From +Chicago the company went to St. Louis, thence to Cincinnati and other +large cities, and everywhere drew large and appreciative houses. + +When the season closed, in Boston, and Will had made his preparations +to return to Nebraska, an English gentleman named Medley, presented +himself, with a request that the scout act as guide on a big hunt and +camping trip through Western territory. The pay offered was liberal--a +thousand dollars a month and expenses--and Will accepted the offer. +He spent that summer in his old occupation, and the ensuing winter +continued his tour as a star of the drama. Wild Bill and Texas Jack +consented again to "support" him, but the second season proved too much +for the patience of the former, and he attempted to break through the +contract he had signed for the season. The manager, of course, refused +to release him, but Wild Bill conceived the notion that under certain +circumstances the company would be glad to get rid of him. + +That night he put his plan into execution by discharging his blank +cartridges so near the legs of the dead Indians on the stage that +the startled "supers" came to life with more realistic yells than had +accompanied their deaths. This was a bit of "business" not called for +in the play-book, and while the audience was vastly entertained, the +management withheld its approval. + +Will was delegated to expostulate with the reckless Indian-slayer; but +Wild Bill remarked calmly that he "hadn't hurt the fellows any," and he +continued to indulge in his innocent pastime. + +Severe measures were next resorted to. He was informed that he must stop +shooting the Indians after they were dead, or leave the company. This +was what Wild Bill had hoped for, and when the curtain went up on the +next performance he was to be seen in the audience, enjoying the play +for the first time since he had been mixed up with it. + +Will sympathized with his former "support," but he had a duty to +perform, and faithfully endeavored to persuade the recreant actor to +return to the company. Persuasion went for nothing, so the contract was +annulled, and Wild Bill returned to his beloved plains. + +The next season Will removed his family to Rochester, and organized a +theatrical company of his own. There was too much artificiality about +stage life to suit one that had been accustomed to stern reality, and he +sought to do away with this as much as possible by introducing into +his own company a band of real Indians. The season of 1875-76 opened +brilliantly; the company played to crowded houses, and Will made a large +financial success. + +One night in April, when the season was nearing its close, a telegram +was handed to him, just as he was about to step upon the stage. It was +from his wife, and summoned him to Rochester, to the bedside of his only +son, Kit Carson Cody. He consulted with his manager, and it was arranged +that after the first act he should be excused, that he might catch the +train. + +That first act was a miserable experience, though the audience did not +suspect that the actor's heart was almost stopped by fear and anxiety. +He caught his train, and the manager, John Burke, an actor of much +experience, played out the part. + +It was, too, a miserable ride to Rochester, filled up with the gloomiest +of forebodings, heightened by memories of every incident in the precious +little life now in danger. + +Kit was a handsome child, with striking features and curly hair. His +mother always dressed him in the finest clothes, and tempted by these +combined attractions, gypsies had carried him away the previous summer. +But Kit was the son of a scout, and his young eyes were sharp. He marked +the trail followed by his captors, and at the first opportunity gave +them the slip and got safely home, exclaiming as he toddled into the +sobbing family circle, "I tumed back adain, mama; don't cry." Despite +his anxiety, Will smiled at the recollection of the season when his +little son had been a regular visitor at the theater. The little fellow +knew that the most important feature of a dramatic performance, from a +management's point of view, is a large audience. He watched the seats +fill in keen anxiety, and the moment the curtain rose and his father +appeared on the stage, he would make a trumpet of his little hands, and +shout from his box, "Good house, papa!" The audience learned to +expect and enjoy this bit of by-play between father and son. His duty +performed, Kit settled himself in his seat, and gave himself up to +undisturbed enjoyment of the play. + +When Will reached Rochester he found his son still alive, though beyond +the reach of medical aid. He was burning up with fever, but still +conscious, and the little arms were joyfully lifted to clasp around his +father's neck. He lingered during the next day and into the night, but +the end came, and Will faced a great sorrow of his life. He had built +fond hopes for his son, and in a breath they had been swept away. His +boyhood musings over the prophecy of the fortune-teller had taken a turn +when his own boy was born. It might be Kit's destiny to become President +of the United States; it was not his own. Now, hope and fear had +vanished together, the fabric of the dream had dissolved, and left "not +a rack behind." + +Little Kit was laid to rest in Mount Hope Cemetery, April 24, 1876. He +is not dead, but sleeping; not lost, but gone before. He has joined the +innumerable company of the white-souled throng in the regions of the +blest. He has gone to aid my mother in her mission unfulfilled--that of +turning heavenward the eyes of those that loved them so dearly here on +earth. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. -- THE GOVERNMENT'S INDIAN POLICY. + +VERY glad was the sad-hearted father that the theatrical season was so +nearly over. The mummeries of stage life were more distasteful to him +than ever when he returned to his company with his crushing grief fresh +upon him. He played nightly to crowded houses, but it was plain that his +heart was not in his work. A letter from Colonel Mills, informing him +that his services were needed in the army, came as a welcome relief. +He canceled his few remaining dates, and disbanded his company with a +substantial remuneration. + +This was the spring of the Centennial year. It has also been called the +"Custer year," for during that summer the gallant general and his heroic +Three Hundred fell in their unequal contest with Sitting Bull and his +warriors. + +Sitting Bull was one of the ablest chiefs and fighters the Sioux nation +ever produced. He got his name from the fact that once when he had shot +a buffalo he sprang astride of it to skin it, and the wounded bull rose +on its haunches with the Indian on its back. He combined native Indian +cunning with the strategy and finesse needed to make a great general, +and his ability as a leader was conceded alike by red and white man. A +dangerous man at best, the wrongs his people had suffered roused all his +Indian cruelty, vindictiveness, hatred, and thirst for revenge. + +The Sioux war of 1876 had its origin, like most of its predecessors +and successors, in an act of injustice on the part of the United States +government and a violation of treaty rights. + +In 1868 a treaty had been made with the Sioux, by which the Black Hills +country was reserved for their exclusive use, no settling by white men +to be allowed. In 1874 gold was discovered, and the usual gold fever +was followed by a rush of whites into the Indian country. The Sioux +naturally resented the intrusion, and instead of attempting to placate +them, to the end that the treaty might be revised, the government sent +General Custer into the Black Hills with instructions to intimidate +the Indians into submission. But Custer was too wise, too familiar with +Indian nature, to adhere to his instructions to the letter. Under cover +of a flag of truce a council was arranged. At this gathering coffee, +sugar, and bacon were distributed among the Indians, and along with +those commodities Custer handed around some advice. This was to the +effect that it would be to the advantage of the Sioux if they permitted +the miners to occupy the gold country. The coffee, sugar, and bacon were +accepted thankfully by Lo, but no nation, tribe, or individual since +the world began has ever welcomed advice. It was thrown away on Lo. +He received it with such an air of indifference and in such a stoical +silence that General Custer had no hope his mission had succeeded. + +In 1875 General Crook was sent into the Hills to make a farcical +demonstration of the government's desire to maintain good faith, but no +one was deceived, the Indians least of all. In August Custer City was +laid out, and in two weeks its population numbered six hundred. General +Crook drove out the inhabitants, and as he marched triumphantly out of +one end of the village the people marched in again at the other. + +The result of this continued bad faith was inevitable; everywhere the +Sioux rose in arms. Strange as it might seem to one who has not followed +the government's remarkable Indian policy, it had dispensed firearms +to the Indians with a generous hand. The government's Indian policy, +condensed, was to stock the red man with rifles and cartridges, and then +provide him with a first-class reason for using them against the whites. +During May, June, and July of that year the Sioux had received 1,120 +Remington and Winchester rifles and 13,000 rounds of patent ammunition. +During that year they received several thousand stands of arms and more +than a million rounds of ammunition, and for three years before that +they had been regularly supplied with weapons. The Sioux uprising of +1876 was expensive for the government. One does not have to go far to +find the explanation. + +Will expected to join General Crook, but on reaching Chicago he found +that General Carr was still in command of the Fifth Cavalry, and +had sent a request that Will return to his old regiment. Carr was at +Cheyenne; thither Will hastened at once. He was met at the station +by Captain Charles King, the well-known author, and later serving as +brigadier-general at Manila, then adjutant of the regiment. As the pair +rode into camp the cry went up, "Here comes Buffalo Bill!" Three ringing +cheers expressed the delight of the troopers over his return to his old +command, and Will was equally delighted to meet his quondam companions. +He was appointed guide and chief of scouts, and the regiment proceeded +to Laramie. From there they were ordered into the Black Hills country, +and Colonel Merritt replaced General Carr. + +The incidents of Custer's fight and fall are so well known that it is +not necessary to repeat them here. It was a better fight than the famous +charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava, for not one of the three +hundred came forth from the "jaws of death." As at Balaklava, "some +one had blundered," not once, but many times, and Custer's command +discharged the entire debt with their lifeblood. + +When the news of the tragedy reached the main army, preparations +were made to move against the Indians in force. The Fifth Cavalry was +instructed to cut off, if possible, eight hundred Cheyenne warriors +on their way to join the Sioux, and Colonel Wesley Merritt, with five +hundred men, hastened to Hat, or War-Bonnet, Creek, purposing to reach +the trail before the Indians could do so. The creek was reached on the +17th of July, and at daylight the following morning Will rode forth to +ascertain whether the Cheyennes had crossed the trail. They had not, but +that very day the scout discerned the warriors coming up from the south. + +Colonel Merritt ordered his men to mount their horses, but to remain out +of sight, while he, with his adjutant, Charles King, accompanied Will +on a tour of observation. The Cheyennes came directly toward the troops, +and presently fifteen or twenty of them dashed off to the west along the +trail the army had followed the night before. Through his glass Colonel +Merritt remarked two soldiers on the trail, doubtless couriers with +dispatches, and these the Indians manifestly designed to cut off. Will +suggested that it would be well to wait until the warriors were on the +point of charging the couriers, when, if the colonel were willing, he +would take a party of picked men and cut off the hostile delegation from +the main body, which was just coming over the divide. + +The colonel acquiesced, and Will, galloping back to camp, returned with +fifteen men. The couriers were some four hundred yards away, and their +Indian pursuers two hundred behind them. Colonel Merritt gave the word +to charge, and Will and his men skurried toward the redskins. + +In the skirmish that ensued three Indians were killed. The rest started +for the main band of warriors, who had halted to watch the fight, but +they were so hotly pursued by the soldiers that they turned at a point +half a mile distant from Colonel Merritt, and another skirmish took +place. + +Here something a little out of the usual occurred--a challenge to a +duel. A warrior, whose decorations and war-bonnet proclaimed him a +chief, rode out in front of his men, and called out in his own tongue, +which Will could understand: + +"I know you, Pa-has-ka! Come and fight me, if you want to fight!" + +Will rode forward fifty yards, and the warrior advanced a like distance. +The two rifles spoke, and the Indian's horse fell; but at the same +moment Will's horse stumbled into a gopher-hole and threw its rider. +Both duelists were instantly on their feet, confronting each other +across a space of not more than twenty paces. They fired again +simultaneously, and though Will was unhurt, the Indian fell dead. + +The duel over, some two hundred warriors dashed up to recover the +chieftain's body and to avenge his death. It was now Colonel Merritt's +turn to move. He dispatched a company of soldiers to Will's aid, and +then ordered the whole regiment to the charge. As the soldiers advanced, +Will swung the Indian's topknot and war-bonnet which he had secured, and +shouted, "The first scalp for Custer!" + +The Indians made a stubborn resistance, but as they found this useless, +began a retreat toward Red Cloud agency, whence they had come. The +retreat continued for thirty-five miles, the troops following into the +agency. The fighting blood of the Fifth was at fever heat, and they were +ready to encounter the thousands of warriors at the agency should they +exhibit a desire for battle. But they manifested no such desire. + +Will learned that the name of the chief he had killed that morning was +"Yellow Hand." He was the son of "Cut Nose," a leading spirit among the +Cheyennes. This old chieftain offered Will four mules if he would return +the war-bonnet and accouterments worn by the young warrior and captured +in the fight, but Will did not grant the request, much as he pitied Cut +Nose in his grief. + +The Fifth Cavalry on the following morning started on its march to join +General Crook's command in the Big Horn Mountains. The two commands +united forces on the 3d of August, and marched to the confluence of +the Powder River with the Yellowstone. Here General Miles met them, to +report that no Indians had crossed the stream. + +No other fight occurred; but Will made himself useful in his capacity of +scout. There were many long, hard rides, carrying dispatches that no one +else would volunteer to bear. When he was assured that the fighting was +all over, he took passage, in September, on the steamer "Far West," and +sailed down the Missouri. + +People in the Eastern States were wonderfully interested in the stirring +events on the frontier, and Will conceived the idea of putting the +incidents of the Sioux war upon the stage. Upon his return to Rochester +he had a play written for his purpose, organized a company, and opened +his season. Previously he had paid a flying visit to Red Cloud agency, +and induced a number of Sioux Indians to take part in his drama. + +The red men had no such painful experience as Wild Bill and Texas Jack. +All they were expected to do in the way of acting was what came natural +to them. Their part was to introduce a bit of "local color," to give +a war-dance, take part in a skirmish, or exhibit themselves in some +typical Indian fashion. + +At the close of this season Will bought a large tract of land near North +Platte, and started a cattle-ranch. He already owned one some distance +to the northward, in partnership with Major North, the leader of the +Pawnee scouts. Their friendship had strengthened since their first +meeting, ten years before. + +In this new ranch Will takes great pride. He has added to its area until +it now covers seven thousand acres, and he has developed its resources +to the utmost. Twenty-five hundred acres are devoted to alfalfa and +twenty-five hundred sown to corn. One of the features of interest +to visitors is a wooded park, containing a number of deer and young +buffaloes. Near the park is a beautiful lake. In the center of the broad +tract of land stands the picturesque building known as "Scout's Rest +Ranch," which, seen from the foothills, has the appearance of an old +castle. + +The ranch is one of the most beautiful spots that one can imagine, and +is, besides, an object-lesson in the value of scientific investigation +and experiment joined with persistence and perseverance. When Will +bought the property he was an enthusiastic believer in the possibilities +of Nebraska development. His brother-in-law, Mr. Goodman, was put in +charge of the place. + +The whole Platte Valley formed part of the district once miscalled the +Great American Desert. It was an idea commonly accepted, but, as the +sequel proved, erroneous, that lack of moisture was the cause of lack of +vegetation. An irrigating ditch was constructed on the ranch, trees were +planted, and it was hoped that with such an abundance of moisture +they would spring up like weeds. Vain hope! There was "water, water +everywhere," but not a tree would grow. + +Will visited his old Kansas home, and the sight of tall and stately +trees filled him with a desire to transport some of this beauty to his +Nebraska ranch. + +"I'd give five hundred dollars," said he, "for every tree I had like +that in Nebraska!" + +Impressed by the proprietor's enthusiasm for arboreal development, Mr. +Goodman began investigation and experiment. It took him but a short time +to acquire a knowledge of the deficiencies of the soil, and this done, +the bigger half of the problem was solved. + +Indian legend tells us that this part of our country was once an inland +sea. There is authority for the statement that to-day it is a vast +subterranean reservoir, and the conditions warrant the assertion. The +soil in all the region has a depth only of from one to three feet, while +underlying the shallow arable deposit is one immense bedrock, varying +in thickness, the average being from three to six feet. Everywhere water +may be tapped by digging through the thin soil and boring through the +rock formation. The country gained its reputation as a desert, not +from lack of moisture, but from lack of soil. In the pockets of the +foothills, where a greater depth of soil had accumulated from the +washings of the slopes above, beautiful little groves of trees might +be found, and the islands of the Platte River were heavily wooded. +Everywhere else was a treeless waste. + +The philosophy of the transformation from sea to plain is not fully +understood. The most tenable theory yet advanced is that the bedrock +is an alkaline deposit, left by the waters in a gradually widening and +deepening margin. On this the prairie wind sifted its accumulation of +dust, and the rain washed down its quota from the bank above. In the +slow process of countless years the rock formation extended over the +whole sea; the alluvial deposit deepened; seeds lodged in it, and the +buffalo-grass and sage-brush began to grow, their yearly decay adding to +the ever-thickening layer of soil. + +Having learned the secret of the earth, Mr. Goodman devoted himself to +the study of the trees. He investigated those varieties having lateral +roots, to determine which would flourish best in a shallow soil. He +experimented, he failed, and he tried again. All things come round to +him who will but work. Many experiments succeeded the first, and many +failures followed in their train. But at last, like Archimedes, he could +cry "Eureka! I have found it!" In a very short time he had the ranch +charmingly laid out with rows of cottonwoods, box-elder, and other +members of the tree family. The ranch looked like an oasis in the +desert, and neighbors inquired into the secret of the magic that had +worked so marvelous a transformation. The streets of North Platte are +now beautiful with trees, and adjoining farms grow many more. It +is "Scout's Rest Ranch," however, that is pointed out with pride to +travelers on the Union Pacific Railroad. + +Mindful of his resolve to one day have a residence in North Platte, Will +purchased the site on which his first residence was erected. His family +had sojourned in Rochester for several years, and when they returned to +the West the new home was built according to the wishes and under the +supervision of the wife and mother. To the dwelling was given the name +"Welcome Wigwam." + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. -- LITERARY WORK. + +IT was during this period of his life that my brother's first literary +venture was made. As the reader has seen, his school-days were few in +number, and as he told Mr. Majors, in signing his first contract with +him, he could use a rifle better than a pen. A life of constant +action on the frontier does not leave a man much time for acquiring an +education; so it is no great wonder that the first sketch Will wrote for +publication was destitute of punctuation and short of capitals in many +places. His attention was directed to these shortcomings, but Western +life had cultivated a disdain for petty things. + +"Life is too short," said he, "to make big letters when small ones will +do; and as for punctuation, if my readers don't know enough to take +their breath without those little marks, they'll have to lose it, that's +all." + +But in spite of his jesting, it was characteristic of him that when +he undertook anything he wished to do it well. He now had leisure for +study, and he used it to such good advantage that he was soon able +to send to the publishers a clean manuscript, grammatical, and well +spelled, capitalized, and punctuated. The publishers appreciated the +improvement, though they had sought after his work in its crude state, +and paid good prices for it. + +Our author would never consent to write anything except actual scenes +from border life. As a sop to the Cerberus of sensationalism, he did +occasionally condescend to heighten his effects by exaggeration. In +sending one story to the publisher he wrote: + +"I am sorry to have to lie so outrageously in this yarn. My hero has +killed more Indians on one war-trail than I have killed in all my life. +But I understand this is what is expected in border tales. If you think +the revolver and bowie-knife are used too freely, you may cut out a +fatal shot or stab wherever you deem it wise." + +Even this story, which one accustomed to border life confessed to be +exaggerated, fell far short of the sensational and blood-curdling tales +usually written, and was published exactly as the author wrote it. + +During the summer of 1877 I paid a visit to our relatives in +Westchester, Pennsylvania. My husband had lost all his wealth before his +death, and I was obliged to rely upon my brother for support. To meet +a widespread demand, Will this summer wrote his autobiography. It was +published at Hartford, Connecticut, and I, anxious to do something +for myself, took the general agency of the book for the state of Ohio, +spending a part of the summer there in pushing its sale. But I soon +tired of a business life, and turning over the agency to other hands, +went from Cleveland to visit Will at his new home in North Platte, where +there were a number of other guests at the time. + +Besides his cattle-ranch in the vicinity of North Platte, Will had +another ranch on the Dismal River, sixty-five miles north, touching the +Dakota line. One day he remarked to us: + +"I'm sorry to leave you to your own resources for a few days, but I must +take a run up to my ranch on Dismal River." + +Not since our early Kansas trip had I had an experience in camping out, +and in those days I was almost too young to appreciate it; but it had +left me with a keen desire to try it again. + +"Let us all go with you, Will," I exclaimed. "We can camp out on the +road." + +Our friends added their approval, and Will fell in with the suggestion +at once. + +"There's no reason why you can't go if you wish to," said he. Will owned +numerous conveyances, and was able to provide ways and means to carry us +all comfortably. Lou and the two little girls, Arta and Orra, rode in +an open phaeton. There were covered carriages, surreys, and a variety of +turn-outs to transport the invited guests. Several prominent citizens of +North Platte were invited to join the party, and when our arrangements +were completed we numbered twenty-five. + +Will took a caterer along, and made ample provisions for the inner man +and woman. We knew, from long experience, that a camping trip without an +abundance of food is rather a dreary affair. + +All of us except Will were out for pleasure solely, and we found time to +enjoy ourselves even during the first day's ride of twenty-five miles. +As we looked around at the new and wild scenes while the tents were +pitched for the night, Will led the ladies of the party to a tree, +saying: + +"You are the first white women whose feet have trod this region. Carve +your names here, and celebrate the event." + +After a good night's rest and a bounteous breakfast, we set out in high +spirits, and were soon far out in the foothills. + +One who has never seen these peculiar formations can have but little +idea of them. On every side, as far as the eye can see, undulations +of earth stretch away like the waves of the ocean, and on them no +vegetation flourishes save buffalo-grass, sage-brush, and the cactus, +blooming but thorny. + +The second day I rode horseback, in company with Will and one or two +others of the party, over a constant succession of hill and vale; +we mounted an elevation and descended its farther side, only to be +confronted by another hill. The horseback party was somewhat in advance +of those in carriages. + +From the top of one hill Will scanned the country with his field-glass, +and remarked that some deer were headed our way, and that we should have +fresh venison for dinner. He directed us to ride down into the valley +and tarry there, so that we might not startle the timid animals, while +he continued part way up the hill and halted in position to get a good +shot at the first one that came over the knoll. A fawn presently bounded +into view, and Will brought his rifle to his shoulder; but much to our +surprise, instead of firing, dropped the weapon to his side. Another +fawn passed him before he fired, and as the little creature fell we rode +up to Will and began chaffing him unmercifully, one gentleman remarking: + +"It is difficult to believe we are in the presence of the crack shot of +America, when we see him allow two deer to pass by before he brings one +down." + +But to the laughing and chaffing Will answered not a word, and recalling +the childish story I had heard of his buck fever, I wondered if, at this +late date, it were possible for him to have another attack of that kind. +The deer was handed over to the commissary department, and we rode on. + +"Will, what was the matter with you just now?" I asked him, privately. +"Why didn't you shoot that first deer; did you have another attack like +you had when you were a little boy?" + +He rode along in silence for a few moments, and then turned to me with +the query: + +"Did you ever look into a deer's eyes?" And as I replied that I had not, +he continued: + +"Every one has his little weakness; mine is a deer's eye. I don't want +you to say anything about it to your friends, for they would laugh more +than ever, but the fact is I have never yet been able to shoot a deer if +it looked me in the eye. With a buffalo, or a bear, or an Indian, it is +different. But a deer has the eye of a trusting child, soft, gentle, and +confiding. No one but a brute could shoot a deer if he caught that look. +The first that came over the knoll looked straight at me; I let it go +by, and did not look at the second until I was sure it had passed me." + +He seemed somewhat ashamed of his soft-heartedness; yet to me it was +but one of many little incidents that revealed a side of his nature the +rough life of the frontier had not corrupted. + +Will expected to reach the Dismal River on the third day, and at noon +of it he remarked that he had better ride ahead and give notice of our +coming, for the man who looked after the ranch had his wife with him, +and she would likely be dismayed at the thought of preparing supper for +so large a crowd on a minute's notice. + +Sister Julia's son, Will Goodman, a lad of fifteen, was of our party, +and he offered to be the courier. + +"Are you sure you know the way?" asked his uncle. + +"Oh, yes," was the confident response; "you know I have been over the +road with you before, and I know just how to go." + +"Well, tell me how you would go." + +Young Will described the trail so accurately that his uncle concluded +it would be safe for him to undertake the trip, and the lad rode ahead, +happy and important. + +It was late in the afternoon when we reached the ranch; and the greeting +of the overseer was: + +"Well, well; what's all this?" + +"Didn't you know we were coming?" asked Will, quickly. "Hasn't Will +Goodman been here?" The ranchman shook his head. + +"Haven't seen him, sir," he replied, "since he was here with you +before." + +"Well, he'll be along," said Will, quietly; but I detected a ring +of anxiety in his voice. "Go into the house and make yourselves +comfortable," he added. "It will be some time before a meal can be +prepared for such a supper party." We entered the house, but he remained +outside, and mounting the stile that served as a gate, examined the +nearer hills with his glass. There was no sign of Will, Jr.; so the +ranchman was directed to dispatch five or six men in as many directions +to search for the boy, and as they hastened away on their mission Will +remained on the stile, running his fingers every few minutes through the +hair over his forehead--a characteristic action with him when worried. +Thinking I might reassure him, I came out and chided him gently for what +I was pleased to regard as his needless anxiety. It was impossible for +Willie to lose his way very long, I explained, without knowing anything +about my subject. "See how far you can look over these hills. It is not +as if he were in the woods," said I. + +Will looked at me steadily and pityingly for a moment. "Go back in the +house, Nell," said he, with a touch of impatience; "you don't know what +you are talking about." + +That was true enough, but when I returned obediently to the house I +repeated my opinion that worry over the absent boy was needless, for it +would be difficult, I declared, for one to lose himself where the +range of vision was so extensive as it was from the top of one of these +foothills. + +"But suppose," said one of the party, "that you were in the valley +behind one of the foothills--what then?" + +This led to an animated discussion as to the danger of getting lost in +this long-range locality, and in the midst of it Will walked in, his +equanimity quite restored. + +"It's all right," said he; "I can see the youngster coming along." + +We flocked to the stile, and discovered a moving speck in the distance. +Looked at through the field-glasses, it proved to be the belated +courier. Then we appealed to Will to settle the question that had been +under discussion. + +"Ladies and gentlemen," he answered, impressively, "if one of you were +lost among these foothills, and a whole regiment started out in search +of you, the chances are ten to one that you would starve to death, to +say the least, before you could be found." + +To find the way with ease and locate the trail unerringly over an +endless and monotonous succession of hills identical in appearance is an +ability the Indian possesses, but few are the white men that can imitate +the aborigine. I learned afterward that it was accounted one of Will's +great accomplishments as a scout that he was perfectly at home among the +frozen waves of the prairie ocean. + +When the laggard arrived, and was pressed for particulars, he declared +he had traveled eight or ten miles when he found that he was off the +trail. "I thought I was lost," said he; "but after considering the +matter I decided that I had one chance--that was to go back over my own +tracks. The marks of my horse's hoofs led me out on the main trail, and +your tracks were so fresh that I had no further trouble." + +"Pretty good," said Will, patting the boy's shoulder. "Pretty good. You +have some of the Cody blood in you, that's plain." + +The next day was passed in looking over the ranch, and the day following +we visited, at Will's solicitation, a spot that he had named "The Garden +of the Gods." Our thoughtful host had sent ranchmen ahead to prepare the +place for our reception, and we were as surprised and delighted as he +could desire. A patch on the river's brink was filled with tall and +stately trees and luxuriant shrubs, laden with fruits and flowers, while +birds of every hue nested and sang about us. It was a miniature +paradise in the midst of a desert of sage-brush and buffalo-grass. The +interspaces of the grove were covered with rich green grass, and in one +of these nature-carpeted nooks the workmen, under Will's direction, +had put up an arbor, with rustic seats and table. Herein we ate our +luncheon, and every sense was pleasured. + +As it was not likely that the women of the party would ever see the +place again, so remote was it from civilization, belonging to the as yet +uninhabited part of the Western plains, we decided to explore it, in +the hope of finding something that would serve as a souvenir. We had +not gone far when we found ourselves out of Eden and in the desert that +surrounded it, but it was the desert that held our great discovery. On +an isolated elevation stood a lone, tall tree, in the topmost branches +of which reposed what seemed to be a large package. As soon as our +imaginations got fairly to work the package became the hidden treasure +of some prairie bandit, and while two of the party returned for our +masculine forces the rest of us kept guard over the cachet in the +treetop. Will came up with the others, and when we pointed out to +him the supposed chest of gold he smiled, saying that he was sorry to +dissipate the hopes which the ladies had built in the tree, but that +they were not gazing upon anything of intrinsic value, but on the +open sepulcher of some departed brave. "It is a wonder," he remarked, +laughingly, "you women didn't catch on to the skeleton in that closet." + +As we retraced our steps, somewhat crestfallen, we listened to the tale +of another of the red man's superstitions. + +When some great chief, who particularly distinguishes himself on the +war-path, loses his life on the battle-field without losing his scalp, +he is regarded as especially favored by the Great Spirit. A more exalted +sepulcher than mother earth is deemed fitting for such a warrior. +Accordingly he is wrapped in his blanket-shroud, and, in his war paint +and feathers and with his weapons by his side, he is placed in the top +of the highest tree in the neighborhood, the spot thenceforth being +sacred against intrusion for a certain number of moons. At the end of +that period messengers are dispatched to ascertain if the remains have +been disturbed. If they have not, the departed is esteemed a spirit +chief, who, in the happy hunting-grounds, intercedes for and leads on to +sure victory the warriors who trusted to his leadership in the material +world. + +We bade a reluctant adieu to the idyllic retreat, and threw it many +a backward glance as we took our way over the desert that stretched +between us and the ranch. Here another night was passed, and then we +set out for home. The brief sojourn "near to Nature's heart" had been a +delightful experience, holding for many of us the charm of novelty, and +for all recreation and pleasant comradeship. + +With the opening of the theatrical season Will returned to the stage, +and his histrionic career continued for five years longer. As an actor +he achieved a certain kind of success. He played in every large city of +the United States, always to crowded houses, and was everywhere received +with enthusiasm. There was no doubt of his financial success, whatever +criticisms might be passed on the artistic side of his performance. It +was his personality and reputation that interested his audiences. They +did not expect the art of Sir Henry Irving, and you may be sure that +they did not receive it. + +Will never enjoyed this part of his career; he endured it simply because +it was the means to an end. He had not forgotten his boyish dream--his +resolve that he would one day present to the world an exhibition that +would give a realistic picture of life in the Far West, depicting its +dangers and privations, as well as its picturesque phases. His first +theatrical season had shown him how favorably such an exhibition would +be received, and his long-cherished ambition began to take shape. He +knew that an enormous amount of money would be needed, and to acquire +such a sum he lived for many years behind the footlights. + +I was present in a Leavenworth theater during one of his last +performances--one in which he played the part of a loving swain to a +would-be charming lassie. When the curtain fell on the last act I went +behind the scenes, in company with a party of friends, and congratulated +the star upon his excellent acting. + +"Oh, Nellie," he groaned, "don't say anything about it. If heaven will +forgive me this foolishness, I promise to quit it forever when this +season is over." + +That was the way he felt about the stage, so far as his part in it was +concerned. He was a fish out of water The feeble pretensions to a stern +reality, and the mock dangers exploited, could not but fail to seem +trivial to one who had lived the very scenes depicted. + + + +CHAPTER XXV. -- FIRST VISIT TO THE VALLEY OF THE BIG HORN. + +MY brother was again bereaved in 1880 by the death of his little +daughter Orra. At her own request, Orra's body was interred in +Rochester, in beautiful Mount Hope Cemetery, by the side of little Kit +Carson. + +But joy follows upon sadness, and the summer before Will spent his last +season on the stage was a memorable one for him. It marked the birth +of another daughter, who was christened Irma. This daughter is the very +apple of her father's eye; to her he gives the affection that is her +due, and round her clings the halo of the tender memories of the other +two that have departed this life. + +This year, 1882, was also the one in which Will paid his first visit to +the valley of the Big Horn. He had often traversed the outskirts of +that region, and heard incredible tales from Indians and trappers of its +wonders and beauties, but he had yet to explore it himself. In his early +experience as Pony Express rider, California Joe had related to him the +first story he had heard of the enchanted basin, and in 1875, when +he was in charge of a large body of Arapahoe Indians that had been +permitted to leave their reservation for a big hunt, he obtained more +details. + +The agent warned Will that some of the Indians were dissatisfied, and +might attempt to escape, but to all appearances, though he watched them +sharply, they were entirely content. Game was plentiful, the weather +fine, and nothing seemed omitted from the red man's happiness. + +One night about twelve o'clock Will was aroused by an Indian guide, who +informed him that a party of some two hundred Arapahoes had started away +some two hours before, and were on a journey northward. The red man does +not wear his heart upon his sleeve for government daws to peck at. +One knows what he proposes to do after he has done it. The red man is +conspicuously among the things that are not always what they seem. + +Pursuit was immediately set on foot, and the entire body of truant +warriors were brought back without bloodshed. One of them, a young +warrior, came to Will's tent to beg for tobacco. The Indian--as all know +who have made his acquaintance--has no difficulty in reconciling +begging with his native dignity. To work may be beneath him, to beg is a +different matter, and there is frequently a delightful hauteur about his +mendicancy. In this respect he is not unlike some of his white brothers. +Will gave the young chief the desired tobacco, and then questioned him +closely concerning the attempted escape. + +"Surely," said he, "you cannot find a more beautiful spot than this. The +streams are full of fish, the grazing is good, the game is plentiful, +and the weather is fine. What more could you desire?" + +The Indian drew himself up. His face grew eager, and his eyes were full +of longing as he answered, by the interpreter: + +"The land to the north and west is the land of plenty. There the buffalo +grows larger; and his coat is darker. There the bu-yu (antelope) comes +in droves, while here there are but few. There the whole region is +covered with the short, curly grass our ponies like. There grow the wild +plums that are good for my people in summer and winter. There are the +springs of the Great Medicine Man, Tel-ya-ki-y. To bathe in them gives +new life; to drink them cures every bodily ill. + +"In the mountains beyond the river of the blue water there is gold and +silver, the metals that the white man loves. There lives the eagle, +whose feathers the Indian must have to make his war-bonnet. There, too, +the sun shines always. + +"It is the Ijis (heaven) of the red man. My heart cries for it. The +hearts of my people are not happy when away from the Eithity Tugala." + +The Indian folded his arms across his breast, and his eyes looked +yearningly toward the country whose delights he had so vividly pictured; +then he turned and walked sorrowfully away. The white man's government +shut him out from the possession of his earthly paradise. Will learned +upon further inquiry that Eithity Tugala was the Indian name of the Big +Horn Basin. + +In the summer of 1882 Will's party of exploration left the cars at +Cheyenne, and struck out from this point with horses and pack-mules. +Will's eyes becoming inflamed, he was obliged to bandage them, and turn +the guidance of the party over to a man known as "Ready." For days he +traveled in a blinded state, and though his eyes slowly bettered, he did +not remove the bandage until the Big Horn Basin was reached. They had +paused for the midday siesta, and Reddy inquired whether it would not be +safe to uncover the afflicted eyes, adding that he thought Will "would +enjoy looking around a bit." + +Off came the bandage, and I shall quote Will's own words to describe the +scene that met his delighted gaze: + +"To my right stretched a towering range of snow-capped mountains, broken +here and there into minarets, obelisks, and spires. Between me and this +range of lofty peaks a long irregular line of stately cottonwoods told +me a stream wound its way beneath. The rainbow-tinted carpet under me +was formed of innumerable brilliant-hued wild flowers; it spread about +me in every direction, and sloped gracefully to the stream. Game of +every kind played on the turf, and bright-hued birds flitted over it. +It was a scene no mortal can satisfactorily describe. At such a moment a +man, no matter what his creed, sees the hand of the mighty Maker of +the universe majestically displayed in the beauty of nature; he becomes +sensibly conscious, too, of his own littleness. I uttered no word for +very awe; I looked upon one of nature's masterpieces. + +"Instantly my heart went out to my sorrowful Arapahoe friend of 1875. He +had not exaggerated; he had scarcely done the scene justice. He spoke of +it as the Ijis, the heaven of the red man. I regarded it then, and still +regard it, as the Mecca of all appreciative humanity." + +To the west of the Big Horn Basin, Hart Mountain rises abruptly from +the Shoshone River. It is covered with grassy slopes and deep ravines; +perpendicular rocks of every hue rise in various places and are fringed +with evergreens. Beyond this mountain, in the distance, towers the hoary +head of Table Mountain. Five miles to the southwest the mountains recede +some distance from the river, and from its bank Castle Rock rises in +solitary grandeur. As its name indicates, it has the appearance of a +castle, with towers, turrets, bastions, and balconies. + +Grand as is the western view, the chief beauty lies in the south. Here +the Carter Mountain lies along the entire distance, and the grassy +spaces on its side furnish pasturage for the deer, antelope, and +mountain sheep that abound in this favored region. Fine timber, too, +grows on its rugged slopes; jagged, picturesque rock-forms are seen in +all directions, and numerous cold springs send up their welcome nectar. + +It is among the foothills nestling at the base of this mountain that +Will has chosen the site of his future permanent residence. Here there +are many little lakes, two of which are named Irma and Arta, in honor +of his daughters. Here he owns a ranch of forty thousand acres, but the +home proper will comprise a tract of four hundred and eighty acres. The +two lakes referred to are in this tract, and near them Will proposes to +erect a palatial residence. To him, as he has said, it is the Mecca +of earth, and thither he hastens the moment he is free from duty and +obligation. In that enchanted region he forgets for a little season the +cares and responsibilities of life. + +A curious legend is told of one of the lakes that lie on the border of +this valley. It is small--half a mile long and a quarter wide--but its +depth is fathomless. It is bordered and shadowed by tall and stately +pines, quaking-asp and birch trees, and its waters are pure and ice-cold +the year round. They are medicinal, too, and as yet almost unknown to +white men. Will heard the legend of the lake from the lips of an old +Cheyenne warrior. + +"It was the custom of my tribe," said the Indian, "to assemble around +this lake once every month, at the hour of midnight, when the moon is +at its full. Soon after midnight a canoe filled with the specters of +departed Cheyenne warriors shot out from the eastern side of the +lake and crossed rapidly to the western border; there it suddenly +disappeared. + +"Never a word or sound escaped from the specters in the canoe. They sat +rigid and silent, and swiftly plied their oars. All attempts to get a +word from them were in vain. + +"So plainly were the canoe and its occupants seen that the features of +the warriors were readily distinguished, and relatives and friends were +recognized." + +For years, according to the legend, the regular monthly trip was made, +and always from the eastern to the western border of the lake. In 1876 +it suddenly ceased, and the Indians were much alarmed. A party of them +camped on the bank of the lake, and watchers were appointed for every +night. It was fancied that the ghostly boatmen had changed the date +of their excursion. But in three months there was no sign of canoe or +canoeists, and this was regarded as an omen of evil. + +At a council of the medicine men, chiefs, and wiseacres of the tribe +it was decided that the canoeing trip had been a signal from the Great +Spirit--the canoe had proceeded from east to west, the course always +followed by the red man. The specters had been sent from the Happy +Hunting-Grounds to indicate that the tribe should move farther west, and +the sudden disappearance of the monthly signal was augured to mean the +extinction of the race. + +Once when Will was standing on the border of this lake a Sioux warrior +came up to him. This man was unusually intelligent, and desired that +his children should be educated. He sent his two sons to Carlisle, and +himself took great pains to learn the white man's religious beliefs, +though he still clung to his old savage customs and superstitions. A +short time before he talked with Will large companies of Indians +had made pilgrimages to join one large conclave, for the purpose +of celebrating the Messiah, or "Ghost Dance." Like all religious +celebrations among savage people, it was accompanied by the grossest +excesses and most revolting immoralities. As it was not known what +serious happening these large gatherings might portend, the President, +at the request of many people, sent troops to disperse the Indians. The +Indians resisted, and blood was spilled, among the slain being the sons +of the Indian who stood by the side of the haunted lake. + +"It is written in the Great Book of the white man," said the old chief +to Will, "that the Great Spirit--the Nan-tan-in-chor--is to come to +him again on earth. The white men in the big villages go to their +council-lodges (churches) and talk about the time of his coming. Some +say one time, some say another, but they all know the time will come, +for it is written in the Great Book. It is the great and good among the +white men that go to these council-lodges, and those that do not go say, +'It is well; we believe as they believe; He will come.' It is written in +the Great Book of the white man that all the human beings on earth are +the children of the one Great Spirit. He provides and cares for them. +All he asks in return is that his children obey him, that they be good +to one another, that they judge not one another, and that they do not +kill or steal. Have I spoken truly the words of the white man's Book?" + +Will bowed his head, somewhat surprised at the tone of the old chief's +conversation. The other continued: + +"The red man, too, has a Great Book. You have never seen it; no white +man has ever seen it; it is hidden here." He pressed his hand against +his heart. "The teachings of the two books are the same. What the Great +Spirit says to the white man, the Nan-tan-in-chor says to the red man. +We, too, go to our council-lodges to talk of the second coming. We +have our ceremony, as the white man has his. The white man is solemn, +sorrowful; the red man is happy and glad. We dance and are joyful, and +the white man sends soldiers to shoot us down. Does their Great Spirit +tell them to do this? + +"In the big city (Washington) where I have been, there is another big +book (the Federal Constitution), which says the white man shall not +interfere with the religious liberty of another. And yet they come out +to our country and kill us when we show our joy to Nan-tan-in-chor. + +"We rejoice over his second coming; the white man mourns, but he sends +his soldiers to kill us in our rejoicing. Bah! The white man is false. I +return to my people, and to the customs and habits of my forefathers. I +am an Indian!" + +The old chief strode away with the dignity of a red Caesar, and Will, +alone by the lake, reflected that every question has two sides to it. +The one the red man has held in the case of the commonwealth versus the +Indian has ever been the tragic side. + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. -- TOUR OF GREAT BRITAIN. + +IT was not until the spring of 1883 that Will was able to put into +execution his long-cherished plan--to present to the public an +exhibition which should delineate in throbbing and realistic color, not +only the wild life of America, but the actual history of the West, as it +was lived for, fought for, died for, by Indians, pioneers, and soldiers. + +The wigwam village; the Indian war-dance; the chant to the Great Spirit +as it was sung over the plains; the rise and fall of the famous tribes; +the "Forward, march!" of soldiers, and the building of frontier posts; +the life of scouts and trappers; the hunt of the buffalo; the coming +of the first settlers; their slow, perilous progress in the prairie +schooners over the vast and desolate plains; the period of the Deadwood +stage and the Pony Express; the making of homes in the face of fire and +Indian massacre; United States cavalry on the firing-line, "Death to +the Sioux!"--these are the great historic pictures of the Wild West, +stirring, genuine, heroic. + +It was a magnificent plan on a magnificent scale, and it achieved +instant success. The adventurous phases of Western life never fail to +quicken the pulse of the East. + +An exhibition which embodied so much of the historic and picturesque, +which resurrected a whole half-century of dead and dying events, events +the most thrilling and dramatic in American history, naturally stirred +up the interest of the entire country. The actors, too, were historic +characters--no weakling imitators, but men of sand and grit, who had +lived every inch of the life they pictured. + +The first presentation was given in May, 1883, at Omaha, Nebraska, the +state Will had chosen for his home. Since then it has visited nearly +every large city on the civilized globe, and has been viewed by +countless thousands--men, women, and children of every nationality. It +will long hold a place in history. + +The "grand entrance" alone has never failed to chain the interest of the +onlooker. The furious galloping of the Indian braves--Sioux, Arapahoe, +Brule, and Cheyenne, all in war paint and feathers; the free dash of the +Mexicans and cowboys, as they follow the Indians into line at break-neck +speed; the black-bearded Cossacks of the Czar's light cavalry; the +Riffian Arabs on their desert thoroughbreds; a cohort from the "Queen's +Own" Lancers; troopers from the German Emperor's bodyguard; chasseurs +and cuirassiers from the crack cavalry regiments of European standing +armies; detachments from the United States cavalry and artillery; +South American gauchos; Cuban veterans; Porto Ricans; Hawaiians; again +frontiersmen, rough riders, Texas rangers--all plunging with dash and +spirit into the open, each company followed by its chieftain and its +flag; forming into a solid square, tremulous with color; then a quicker +note to the music; the galloping hoofs of another horse, the finest of +them all, and "Buffalo Bill," riding with the wonderful ease and stately +grace which only he who is "born to the saddle" can ever attain, enters +under the flash of the lime-light, and sweeping off his sombrero, holds +his head high, and with a ring of pride in his voice, advances before +his great audience and exclaims: + +"Ladies and gentlemen, permit me to introduce to you a congress of the +rough riders of the world." + +As a child I wept over his disregard of the larger sphere predicted +by the soothsayer; as a woman, I rejoice that he was true to his own +ideals, for he sits his horse with a natural grace much better suited to +the saddle than to the Presidential chair. + +From the very beginning the "Wild West" was an immense success. +Three years were spent in traveling over the United States; then Will +conceived the idea of visiting England, and exhibiting to the mother +race the wild side of the child's life. This plan entailed enormous +expense, but it was carried out successfully. + +Still true to the state of his adoption, Will chartered the steamer +"State of Nebraska," and on March 31, 1886 a living freight from the +picturesque New World began its voyage to the Old. + +At Gravesend, England, the first sight to meet the eyes of the watchers +on the steamer was a tug flying American colors. Three ringing cheers +saluted the beautiful emblem, and the band on the tug responded with +"The Star-Spangled Banner." Not to be outdone, the cowboy band on +the "State of Nebraska" struck up "Yankee Doodle." The tug had been +chartered by a company of Englishmen for the purpose of welcoming the +novel American combination to British soil. + +When the landing was made, the members of the Wild West company entered +special coaches and were whirled toward London. Then even the stolidity +of the Indians was not proof against sights so little resembling those +to which they had been accustomed, and they showed their pleasure and +appreciation by frequent repetition of the red man's characteristic +grunt. + +Major John M. Burke had made the needed arrangements for housing the big +show, and preparations on a gigantic scale were rapidly pushed to please +an impatient London public. More effort was made to produce spectacular +effects in the London amphitheater than is possible where a merely +temporary staging is erected for one day's exhibition. The arena was a +third of a mile in circumference, and provided accommodation for +forty thousand spectators. Here, as at Manchester, where another great +amphitheater was erected in the fall, to serve as winter quarters, the +artist's brush was called on to furnish illusions. + +The English exhibited an eager interest in every feature of the +exhibition--the Indian war-dances, the bucking broncho, speedily +subjected by the valorous cowboy, and the stagecoach attacked by Indians +and rescued by United States troops. The Indian village on the plains +was also an object of dramatic interest to the English public. The +artist had counterfeited the plains successfully. + +It is the hour of dawn. Scattered about the plains are various wild +animals. Within their tents the Indians are sleeping. Sunrise, and a +friendly Indian tribe comes to visit the wakening warriors. A friendly +dance is executed, at the close of which a courier rushes in to announce +the approach of a hostile tribe. These follow almost at the courier's +heels, and a sham battle occurs, which affords a good idea of the +barbarity of Indian warfare. The victors celebrate their triumph with a +wild war-dance. + +A Puritan scene follows. The landing of the Pilgrims is shown, and +the rescue of John Smith by Pocahontas. This affords opportunity for +delineating many interesting Indian customs on festive celebrations, +such as weddings and feast-days. + +Again the prairie. A buffalo-lick is shown. The shaggy monsters come +down to drink, and in pursuit of them is "Buffalo Bill," mounted on his +good horse "Charlie." He has been acting as guide for an emigrant party, +which soon appears. Camp-fires are lighted, supper is eaten, and the +camp sinks into slumber with the dwindling of the fires. Then comes a +fine bit of stage illusion. A red glow is seen in the distance, faint +at first, but slowly deepening and broadening. It creeps along the whole +horizon, and the camp is awakened by the alarming intelligence that the +prairie is on fire. The emigrants rush out, and heroically seek to fight +back the rushing, roaring flames. Wild animals, driven by the flames, +dash through the camp, and a stampede follows. This scene was extremely +realistic. + +A cyclone was also simulated, and a whole village blown out of +existence. + +The "Wild West" was received with enthusiasm, not only by the general +public, but by royalty. Gladstone made a call upon Will, in company with +the Marquis of Lorne, and in return a lunch was tendered to the "Grand +Old Man" by the American visitors. In an after-dinner speech, the +English statesman spoke in the warmest terms of America. He thanked Will +for the good he was doing in presenting to the English public a picture +of the wild life of the Western continent, which served to illustrate +the difficulties encountered by a sister nation in its onward march of +civilization. + +The initial performance was before a royal party comprising the Prince +and Princess of Wales and suite. At the close of the exhibition the +royal guests, at their own request, were presented to the members of the +company. Unprepared for this contingency, Will had forgotten to coach +the performers in the correct method of saluting royalty, and when the +girl shots of the company were presented to the Princess of Wales, they +stepped forward in true democratic fashion and cordially offered their +hands to the lovely woman who had honored them. + +According to English usage, the Princess extends the hand, palm down, to +favored guests, and these reverently touch the finger-tips and lift +the hand to their lips. Perhaps the spontaneity of the American girls' +welcome was esteemed a pleasing variety to the established custom. At +all events, her Highness, true to her breeding, appeared not to notice +any breach of etiquette, but took the proffered hands and shook them +cordially. + +The Indian camp was also visited, and Red Shirt, the great chief, was, +like every one else, delighted with the Princess. Through an interpreter +the Prince expressed his pleasure over the performance of the braves, +headed by their great chief, and the Princess bade him welcome to +England. Red Shirt had the Indian gift of oratory, and he replied, in +the unimpassioned speech for which the race is noted, that it made his +heart glad to hear such kind words from the Great White Chief and his +beautiful squaw. + +During the round the Prince stopped in at Will's private quarters, and +took much interest in his souvenirs, being especially pleased with a +magnificent gold-hilted sword, presented to Will by officers of the +United States army in recognition of his services as scout. + +This was not the only time the exhibition was honored by the visit +of royalty. That the Prince of Wales was sincere in his expression of +enjoyment of the exhibition was evidenced by the report that he carried +to his mother, and shortly afterward a command came from Queen Victoria +that the big show appear before her. It was plainly impossible to take +the "Wild West" to court; the next best thing was to construct a special +box for the use of her Majesty. This box was placed upon a dais covered +with crimson velvet trimmings, and was superbly decorated. When the +Queen arrived and was driven around to the royal box, Will stepped +forward as she dismounted, and doffing his sombrero, made a low courtesy +to the sovereign lady of Great Britain. "Welcome, your Majesty," said +he, "to the Wild West of America!" + +One of the first acts in the performance is to carry the flag to the +front. This is done by a soldier, and is introduced to the spectators +as an emblem of a nation desirous of peace and friendship with all the +world. On this occasion it was borne directly before the Queen's box, +and dipped three times in honor of her Majesty. The action of the Queen +surprised the company and the vast throng of spectators. Rising, +she saluted the American flag with a bow, and her suite followed her +example, the gentlemen removing their hats. Will acknowledged the +courtesy by waving his sombrero about his head, and his delighted +company with one accord gave three ringing cheers that made the arena +echo, assuring the spectators of the healthy condition of the lungs of +the American visitors. + +The Queen's complaisance put the entire company on their mettle, and the +performance was given magnificently. At the close Queen Victoria asked +to have Will presented to her, and paid him so many compliments as +almost to bring a blush to his bronzed cheek. Red Shirt was also +presented, and informed her Majesty that he had come across the Great +Water solely to see her, and his heart was glad. This polite speech +discovered a streak in Indian nature that, properly cultivated, would +fit the red man to shine as a courtier or politician. Red Shirt walked +away with the insouciance of a king dismissing an audience, and some +of the squaws came to display papooses to the Great White Lady. These +children of nature were not the least awed by the honor done them. They +blinked at her Majesty as if the presence of queens was an incident of +their everyday existence. + +A second command from the Queen resulted in another exhibition before +a number of her royal guests. The kings of Saxony, Denmark, and Greece, +the Queen of the Belgians, and the Crown Prince of Austria, with others +of lesser rank, illumined this occasion. + +The Deadwood coach was peculiarly honored. This is a coach with a +history. It was built in Concord, New Hampshire, and sent to the Pacific +Coast to run over a trail infested by road agents. A number of times +was it held up and the passengers robbed, and finally both driver and +passengers were killed and the coach abandoned on the trail, as no one +could be found who would undertake to drive it. It remained derelict +for a long time, but was at last brought into San Francisco by an old +stage-driver and placed on the Overland trail. It gradually worked its +way eastward to the Deadwood route, and on this line figured in a number +of encounters with Indians. Again were driver and passengers massacred, +and again was the coach abandoned. Will ran across it on one of his +scouting expeditions, and recognizing its value as an adjunct to his +exhibition, purchased it. Thereafter the tragedies it figured in were of +the mock variety. + +One of the incidents of the Wild West, as all remember, is an Indian +attack on the Deadwood coach. The royal visitors wished to put +themselves in the place of the traveling public in the Western regions +of America; so the four potentates of Denmark, Saxony, Greece, and +Austria became the passengers, and the Prince of Wales sat on the box +with Will. The Indians had been secretly instructed to "whoop 'em up" on +this interesting occasion, and they followed energetically the letter of +their instructions. The coach was surrounded by a demoniac band, and the +blank cartridges were discharged in such close proximity to the coach +windows that the passengers could easily imagine themselves to be actual +Western travelers. Rumor hath it that they sought refuge under the +seats, and probably no one would blame them if they did; but it is only +rumor, and not history. + +When the wild ride was over, the Prince of Wales, who admires the +American national game of poker, turned to the driver with the remark: + +"Colonel, did you ever hold four kings like that before?" + +"I have held four kings more than once," was the prompt reply; "but, +your Highness, I never held four kings and the royal joker before." + +The Prince laughed heartily; but Will's sympathy went out to him when +he found that he was obliged to explain his joke in four different +languages to the passengers. + +In recognition of this performance, the Prince of Wales sent Will a +handsome souvenir. It consisted of his feathered crest, outlined +in diamonds, and bearing the motto "_Ich dien_," worked in jewels +underneath. An accompanying note expressed the pleasure of the royal +visitors over the novel exhibition. + +Upon another occasion the Princess of Wales visited the show incognito, +first advising Will of her intention; and at the close of the +performance assured him that she had spent a delightful evening. + +The set performances of the "Wild West" were punctuated by social +entertainments. James G. Blaine, Chauncey M. Depew, Murat Halstead, and +other prominent Americans were in London at the time, and in their honor +Will issued invitations to a rib-roast breakfast prepared in Indian +style. Fully one hundred guests gathered in the "Wild West's" +dining-tent at nine o'clock of June 10, 1887. Besides the novel +decorations of the tent, it was interesting to watch the Indian cooks +putting the finishing touches to their roasts. A hole had been dug in +the ground, a large tripod erected over it, and upon this the ribs +of beef were suspended. The fire was of logs, burned down to a bed of +glowing coals, and over these the meat was turned around and around +until it was cooked to a nicety. This method of open-air cooking over +wood imparts to the meat a flavor that can be given to it in no other +way. + +The breakfast was unconventional. Part of the bill of fare was hominy, +"Wild West" pudding, popcorn, and peanuts. The Indians squatted on the +straw at the end of the dining-tables, and ate from their fingers or +speared the meat with long white sticks. The striking contrast of +table manners was an interesting object-lesson in the progress of +civilization. + +The breakfast was a novelty to the Americans who partook of it, and they +enjoyed it thoroughly. + +Will was made a social lion during his stay in London, being dined and +feted upon various occasions. Only a man of the most rugged health could +have endured the strain of his daily performances united with his social +obligations. + +The London season was triumphantly closed with a meeting for the +establishing of a court of arbitration to settle disputes between +America and England. + +After leaving the English metropolis the exhibition visited Birmingham, +and thence proceeded to its winter headquarters in Manchester. +Arta, Will's elder daughter, accompanied him to England, and made a +Continental tour during the winter. + +The sojourn in Manchester was another ovation. The prominent men of the +city proposed to present to Will a fine rifle, and when the news of +the plan was carried to London, a company of noblemen, statesmen, and +journalists ran down to Manchester by special car. In acknowledgment of +the honor done him, Will issued invitations for another of his unique +American entertainments. Boston pork and beans, Maryland fried chicken, +hominy, and popcorn were served, and there were other distinctly +American dishes. An Indian rib-roast was served on tin plates, and the +distinguished guests enjoyed--or said they did--the novelty of eating +it from their fingers, in true aboriginal fashion. This remarkable +meal evoked the heartiest of toasts to the American flag, and a poem, a +parody on "Hiawatha," added luster to the occasion. + +The Prince of Wales was Grand Master of the Free Masons of England, +which order presented a gold watch to Will during his stay in +Manchester. The last performance in this city was given on May 1, 1887, +and as a good by to Will the spectators united in a rousing chorus of +"For he's a jolly good fellow!" The closing exhibition of the English +season occurred at Hull, and immediately afterward the company sailed +for home on the "Persian Monarch." An immense crowd gathered on the +quay, and shouted a cordial "bon voyage." + +One sad event occurred on the homeward voyage, the death of "Old +Charlie," Will's gallant and faithful horse. + +He was a half-blood Kentucky horse, and had been Will's constant and +unfailing companion for many years on the plains and in the "Wild West." + +He was an animal of almost human intelligence, extraordinary speed, +endurance, and fidelity. When he was quite young Will rode him on a hunt +for wild horses, which he ran down after a chase of fifteen miles. At +another time, on a wager of five hundred dollars that he could ride him +over the prairie one hundred miles in ten hours, he went the distance in +nine hours and forty-five minutes. + +When the "Wild West" was opened at Omaha, Charlie was the star horse, +and held that position at all the exhibitions in this country and in +Europe. In London the horse attracted a full share of attention, and +many scions of royalty solicited the favor of riding him. Grand Duke +Michael of Russia rode Charlie several times in chase of the herd of +buffaloes in the "Wild West," and became quite attached to him. + +On the morning of the 14th Will made his usual visit to Charlie, between +decks. Shortly after the groom reported him sick. He grew rapidly worse, +in spite of all the care he received, and at two o'clock on the morning +of the 17th he died. His death cast an air of sadness over the whole +ship, and no human being could have had more sincere mourners than the +faithful and sagacious old horse. He was brought on deck wrapped in +canvas and covered with the American flag. When the hour for the ocean +burial arrived, the members of the company and others assembled on deck. +Standing alone with uncovered head beside the dead was the one whose +life the noble animal had shared so long. At length, with choking +utterance, Will spoke, and Charlie for the first time failed to hear the +familiar voice he had always been so prompt to obey: + +"Old fellow, your journeys are over. Here in the ocean you must rest. +Would that I could take you back and lay you down beneath the billows of +that prairie you and I have loved so well and roamed so freely; but it +cannot be. How often at break of day, the glorious sun rising on the +horizon has found us far from human habitation! Yet, obedient to my +call, gladly you bore your burden on, little heeding what the day might +bring, so that you and I but shared its sorrows and pleasures alike. You +have never failed me. Ah, Charlie, old fellow, I have had many friends, +but few of whom I could say that. Rest entombed in the deep bosom of the +ocean! I'll never forget you. I loved you as you loved me, my dear old +Charlie. Men tell me you have no soul; but if there be a heaven, and +scouts can enter there, I'll wait at the gate for you, old friend." + +On this homeward trip Will made the acquaintance of a clergyman +returning from a vacation spent in Europe. When they neared the American +coast this gentleman prepared a telegram to send to his congregation. +It read simply: "2 John i. 12." Chancing to see it, Will's interest was +aroused, and he asked the clergyman to explain the significance of the +reference, and when this was done he said: "I have a religious sister at +home who knows the Bible so well that I will wire her that message and +she will not need to look up the meaning." + +He duplicated to me, as his return greeting, the minister's telegram to +his congregation, but I did not justify his high opinion of my Biblical +knowledge. I was obliged to search the Scriptures to unravel the enigma. +As there may be others like me, but who have not the incentive I had to +look up the reference, I quote from God's word the message I received: +"Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and +ink; but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy +may be full." + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. -- RETURN OF THE "WILD WEST" TO AMERICA. + +WHEN the "Wild West" returned to America from its first venture across +seas, the sail up the harbor was described by the New York _World_ in +the following words: + + "The harbor probably has never witnessed a more picturesque + scene than that of yesterday, when the 'Persian Monarch' + steamed up from quarantine. Buffalo Bill stood on the + captain's bridge, his tall and striking figure clearly + outlined, and his long hair waving in the wind; the gayly + painted and blanketed Indians leaned over the ship's rail; + the flags of all nations fluttered from the masts and + connecting cables. The cowboy band played 'Yankee Doodle' + with a vim and enthusiasm which faintly indicated the joy + felt by everybody connected with the 'Wild West' over the + sight of home." + +Will had been cordially welcomed by our English cousins, and had been +the recipient of many social favors, but no amount of foreign flattery +could change him one hair from an "American of the Americans," and he +experienced a thrill of delight as he again stepped foot upon his native +land. Shortly afterward he was much pleased by a letter from William T. +Sherman--so greatly prized that it was framed, and now hangs on the wall +of his Nebraska home. Following is a copy: + +"FIFTH AVENUE HOTEL, NEW YORK. + +"COLONEL WM. F. CODY: + +"_Dear Sir_: In common with all your countrymen, I want to let you know +that I am not only gratified but proud of your management and success. +So far as I can make out, you have been modest, graceful, and dignified +in all you have done to illustrate the history of civilization on this +continent during the past century. I am especially pleased with the +compliment paid you by the Prince of Wales, who rode with you in the +Deadwood coach while it was attacked by Indians and rescued by cowboys. +Such things did occur in our days, but they never will again. + +"As nearly as I can estimate, there were in 1865 about nine and one-half +million of buffaloes on the plains between the Missouri River and the +Rocky Mountains; all are now gone, killed for their meat, their skins, +and their bones. This seems like desecration, cruelty, and murder, yet +they have been replaced by twice as many cattle. At that date there were +about 165,000 Pawnees, Sioux, Cheyennes, and Arapahoes, who depended +upon these buffaloes for their yearly food. They, too, have gone, but +they have been replaced by twice or thrice as many white men and women, +who have made the earth to blossom as the rose, and who can be counted, +taxed, and governed by the laws of nature and civilization. This change +has been salutary, and will go on to the end. You have caught one epoch +of this country's history, and have illustrated it in the very heart of +the modern world--London, and I want you to feel that on this side of +the water we appreciate it. + +"This drama must end; days, years, and centuries follow fast; even the +drama of civilization must have an end. All I aim to accomplish on this +sheet of paper is to assure you that I fully recognize your work. The +presence of the Queen, the beautiful Princess of Wales, the Prince, +and the British public are marks of favor which reflect back on America +sparks of light which illuminate many a house and cabin in the land +where once you guided me honestly and faithfully, in 1865-66, from Fort +Riley to Kearny, in Kansas and Nebraska. + +"Sincerely your friend, + +"W. T. SHERMAN." + + +Having demonstrated to his satisfaction that the largest measure of +success lay in a stationary exhibition of his show, where the population +was large enough to warrant it, Will purchased a tract of land on Staten +Island, and here he landed on his return from England. Teamsters for +miles around had been engaged to transport the outfit across the island +to Erastina, the site chosen for the exhibition. And you may be certain +that Cut Meat, American Bear, Flat Iron, and the other Indians furnished +unlimited joy to the ubiquitous small boy, who was present by the +hundreds to watch the unloading scenes. + +The summer season at this point was a great success. One incident +connected with it may be worth the relating. + +Teachers everywhere have recognized the value of the "Wild West" +exhibition as an educator, and in a number of instances public schools +have been dismissed to afford the children an opportunity of attending +the entertainment. It has not, however, been generally recognized as +a spur to religious progress, yet, while at Staten Island, Will was +invited to exhibit a band of his Indians at a missionary meeting given +under the auspices of a large mission Sunday-school. He appeared with +his warriors, who were expected to give one of their religious dances as +an object-lesson in devotional ceremonials. + +The meeting was largely attended, and every one, children especially, +waited for the exercises in excited curiosity and interest. Will sat on +the platform with the superintendent, pastor, and others in authority, +and close by sat the band of stolid-faced Indians. + +The service began with a hymn and the reading of the Scriptures; then, +to Will's horror, the superintendent requested him to lead the meeting +in prayer. Perhaps the good man fancied that Will for a score of years +had fought Indians with a rifle in one hand and a prayer-book in the +other, and was as prepared to pray as to shoot. At least he surely did +not make his request with the thought of embarrassing Will, though +that was the natural result. However, Will held holy things in deepest +reverence; he had the spirit of Gospel if not the letter; so, rising, he +quietly and simply, with bowed head, repeated the Lord's Prayer. + +A winter exhibition under roof was given in New York, after which the +show made a tour of the principal cities of the United States. Thus +passed several years, and then arrangements were made for a grand +Continental trip. A plan had been maturing in Will's mind ever since the +British season, and in the spring of 1889 it was carried into effect. + +The steamer "Persian Monarch" was again chartered, and this time its +prow was turned toward the shores of France. Paris was the destination, +and seven months were passed in the gay capital. The Parisians received +the show with as much enthusiasm as did the Londoners, and in Paris +as well as in the English metropolis everything American became a fad +during the stay of the "Wild West." Even American books were read--a +crucial test of faddism; and American curios were displayed in all +the shops. Relics from American plain and mountain--buffalo-robes, +bearskins, buckskin suits embroidered with porcupine quills, Indian +blankets, woven mats, bows and arrows, bead-mats, Mexican bridles and +saddles--sold like the proverbial hot cakes. + +In Paris, also, Will became a social favorite, and had he accepted a +tenth of the invitations to receptions, dinners, and balls showered upon +him, he would have been obliged to close his show. + +While in this city Will accepted an invitation from Rosa Bonheur to +visit her at her superb chateau, and in return for the honor he extended +to her the freedom of his stables, which contained magnificent horses +used for transportation purposes, and which never appeared in the public +performance--Percherons, of the breed depicted by the famous artist in +her well-known painting of "The Horse Fair." Day upon day she visited +the camp and made studies, and as a token of her appreciation of the +courtesy, painted a picture of Will mounted on his favorite horse, both +horse and rider bedecked with frontier paraphernalia. This souvenir, +which holds the place of honor in his collection, he immediately shipped +home. + +The wife of a London embassy attache relates the following story: + +"During the time that Colonel Cody was making his triumphant tour of +Europe, I was one night seated at a banquet next to the Belgian Consul. +Early in the course of the conversation he asked: + +"'Madame, you haf undoubted been to see ze gr-rand Bouf-falo Beel?' + +"Puzzled by the apparently unfamiliar name, I asked: + +"'Pardon me, but whom did you say?' + +"'Vy, Bouf-falo Beel, ze famous Bouf-falo Beel, zat gr-reat countryman +of yours. You must know him.' + +"After a moment's thought, I recognized the well-known showman's name in +its disguise. I comprehended that the good Belgian thought his to be one +of America's most eminent names, to be mentioned in the same breath with +Washington and Lincoln." + +After leaving Paris, a short tour of Southern France was made, and at +Marseilles a vessel was chartered to transport the company to Spain. The +Spanish grandees eschewed their favorite amusement--the bull-fight--long +enough to give a hearty welcome to the "Wild West." Next followed a +tour of Italy; and the visit to Rome was the most interesting of the +experiences in this country. + +The Americans reached the Eternal City at the time of Pope Leo's +anniversary celebration, and, on the Pope's invitation, Will visited +the Vatican. Its historic walls have rarely, if ever, looked upon a more +curious sight than was presented when Will walked in, followed by the +cowboys in their buckskins and sombreros and the Indians in war paint +and feathers. Around them crowded a motley throng of Italians, clad in +the brilliant colors so loved by these children of the South, and nearly +every nationality was represented in the assemblage. + +Some of the cowboys and Indians had been reared in the Catholic faith, +and when the Pope appeared they knelt for his blessing. He seemed +touched by this action on the part of those whom he might be disposed +to regard as savages, and bending forward, extended his hands and +pronounced a benediction; then he passed on, and it was with the +greatest difficulty that the Indians were restrained from expressing +their emotions in a wild whoop. This, no doubt, would have relieved +them, but it would, in all probability, have stampeded the crowd. + +When the Pope reached Will he looked admiringly upon the frontiersman. +The world-known scout bent his head before the aged "Medicine Man," as +the Indians call his reverence, the Papal blessing was again bestowed, +and the procession passed on. The Thanksgiving Mass, with its fine +choral accompaniment, was given, and the vast concourse of people poured +out of the building. + +This visit attracted much attention. + + "I'll take my stalwart Indian braves + Down to the Coliseum + And the old Romans from their graves + Will all arise to see 'em. + Praetors and censors will return + And hasten through the Forum + The ghostly Senate will adjourn + Because it lacks a quorum. + + "And up the ancient Appian Way + Will flock the ghostly legions + From Gaul unto Calabria, + And from remoter regions; + From British bay and wild lagoon, + And Libyan desert sandy, + They'll all come marching to the tune + Of 'Yankee Doodle Dandy.' + + "Prepare triumphal cars for me, + And purple thrones to sit on, + For I've done more than Julius C.-- + He could not down the Briton! + Caesar and Cicero shall bow + And ancient warriors famous, + Before the myrtle-wreathed brow + Of Buffalo Williamus. + + "We march, unwhipped, through history-- + No bulwark can detain us-- + And link the age of Grover C. + And Scipio Africanus. + I'll take my stalwart Indian braves + Down to the Coliseum, + And the old Romans from their graves + Will all arise to see 'em." + +It may be mentioned in passing that Will had visited the Coliseum with +an eye to securing it as an amphitheater for the "Wild West" exhibition, +but the historic ruin was too dilapidated to be a safe arena for such a +purpose, and the idea was abandoned. + +The sojourn in Rome was enlivened by an incident that created much +interest among the natives. The Italians were somewhat skeptical as to +the abilities of the cowboys to tame wild horses, believing the +bronchos in the show were specially trained for their work, and that the +horse-breaking was a mock exhibition. + +The Prince of Sermonetta declared that he had some wild horses in +his stud which no cowboys in the world could ride. The challenge was +promptly taken up by the daring riders of the plains, and the Prince +sent for his wild steeds. That they might not run amuck and injure the +spectators, specially prepared booths of great strength were erected. + +The greatest interest and enthusiasm were manifested by the populace, +and the death of two or three members of the company was as confidently +looked for as was the demise of sundry gladiators in the "brave days of +old." + +But the cowboys laughed at so great a fuss over so small a matter, and +when the horses were driven into the arena, and the spectators held +their breath, the cowboys, lassos in hand, awaited the work with the +utmost nonchalance. + +The wild equines sprang into the air, darted hither and thither, and +fought hard against their certain fate, but in less time than would be +required to give the details, the cowboys had flung their lassos, caught +the horses, and saddled and mounted them. The spirited beasts still +resisted, and sought in every way to throw their riders, but the +experienced plainsmen had them under control in a very short time; and +as they rode them around the arena, the spectators rose and howled with +delight. The display of horsemanship effectually silenced the skeptics; +it captured the Roman heart, and the remainder of the stay in the city +was attended by unusual enthusiasm. + +Beautiful Florence, practical Bologna, and stately Milan, with its +many-spired cathedral, were next on the list for the triumphal march. +For the Venetian public the exhibition had to be given at Verona, in +the historic amphitheater built by Diocletian, A. D. '90. This is +the largest building in the world, and within the walls of this +representative of Old World civilization the difficulties over which New +World civilization had triumphed were portrayed. Here met the old and +new; hoary antiquity and bounding youth kissed each other under the +sunny Italian skies. + +The "Wild West" now moved northward, through the Tyrol, to Munich, and +from here the Americans digressed for an excursion on the "beautiful +blue Danube." Then followed a successful tour of Germany. + +During this Continental circuit Will's elder daughter, Arta, who +had accompanied him on his British expedition, was married. It was +impossible for the father to be present, but by cablegram he sent his +congratulations and check. + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. -- A TRIBUTE TO GENERAL MILES. + +IN view of the success achieved by my brother, it is remarkable that he +excited so little envy. Now for the first time in his life he felt +the breath of slander on his cheek, and it flushed hotly. From an idle +remark that the Indians in the "Wild West" exhibition were not properly +treated, the idle gossip grew to the proportion of malicious and +insistent slander. The Indians being government wards, such a charge +might easily become a serious matter; for, like the man who beat his +wife, the government believes it has the right to maltreat the red man +to the top of its bent, but that no one else shall be allowed to do so. + +A winter campaign of the "Wild West" had been contemplated, but the +project was abandoned and winter quarters decided on. In the quaint +little village of Benfield was an ancient nunnery and a castle, with +good stables. Here Will left the company in charge of his partner, Mr. +Nate Salisbury, and, accompanied by the Indians for whose welfare he was +responsible, set sail for America, to silence his calumniators. + +The testimony of the red men themselves was all that was required to +refute the notorious untruths. Few had placed any belief in the reports, +and friendly commenters were also active. + +As the sequel proved, Will came home very opportunely. The Sioux in +Dakota were again on the war-path, and his help was needed to subdue the +uprising. He disbanded the warriors he had brought back from Europe, +and each returned to his own tribe and people, to narrate around +the camp-fire the wonders of the life abroad, while Will reported at +headquarters to offer his services for the war. Two years previously he +had been honored by the commission of Brigadier-General of the Nebraska +National Guard, which rank and title were given to him by Governor +Thayer. + +The officer in command of the Indian campaign was General Nelson A. +Miles, who has rendered so many important services to his country, and +who, as Commander-in-Chief of our army, played so large a part in the +recent war with Spain. At the time of the Indian uprising he held the +rank of Brigadier-General. + +This brilliant and able officer was much pleased when he learned that he +would have Will's assistance in conducting the campaign, for he knew the +value of his good judgment, cool head, and executive ability, and of his +large experience in dealing with Indians. + +The "Wild West," which had served as an educator to the people of +Europe in presenting the frontier life of America, had quietly worked as +important educational influences in the minds of the Indians connected +with the exhibition. They had seen for themselves the wonders of the +world's civilization; they realized how futile were the efforts of the +children of the plains to stem the resistless tide of progress flowing +westward. Potentates had delighted to do honor to Pa-has-ka, the +Long-haired Chief, and in the eyes of the simple savage he was as +powerful as any of the great ones of earth. To him his word was law; it +seemed worse than folly for their brethren to attempt to cope with so +mighty a chief, therefore their influence was all for peace; and the +fact that so many tribes did not join in the uprising may be attributed, +in part, to their good counsel and advice. + +General Miles was both able and energetic, and managed the campaign in +masterly fashion. There were one or two hard-fought battles, in one of +which the great Sioux warrior, Sitting Bull, the ablest that nation ever +produced, was slain. This Indian had traveled with Will for a time, but +could not be weaned from his loyalty to his own tribe and a desire to +avenge upon the white man the wrongs inflicted on his people. + +What promised at the outset to be a long and cruel frontier war was +speedily quelled. The death of Sitting Bull had something to do with the +termination of hostilities. Arrangements for peace were soon perfected, +and Will attributed the government's success to the energy of its +officer in command, for whom he has a most enthusiastic admiration. He +paid this tribute to him recently: + +"I have been in many campaigns with General Miles, and a better general +and more gifted warrior I have never seen. I served in the Civil War, +and in any number of Indian wars; I have been under at least a dozen +generals, with whom I have been thrown in close contact because of the +nature of the services which I was called upon to render. General Miles +is the superior of them all. + +"I have known Phil Sheridan, Tecumseh Sherman, Hancock, and all of our +noted Indian fighters. For cool judgment and thorough knowledge of all +that pertains to military affairs, none of them, in my opinion, can be +said to excel General Nelson A. Miles. + +"Ah, what a man he is! I know. We have been shoulder to shoulder in +many a hard march. We have been together when men find out what their +comrades really are. He is a man, every inch of him, and the best +general I ever served under." + +After Miles was put in command of the forces, a dinner was given in his +honor by John Chamberlin. Will was a guest and one of the speakers, and +took the opportunity to eulogize his old friend. He dwelt at length on +the respect in which the red men held the general, and in closing said: + +"No foreign invader will ever set foot on these shores as long as +General Miles is at the head of the army. If they should--just call on +me!" + +The speaker sat down amid laughter and applause. + +While Will was away at the seat of war, his beautiful home in North +Platte, "Welcome Wigwam," burned to the ground. The little city is not +equipped with much of a fire department, but a volunteer brigade held +the flames in check long enough to save almost the entire contents of +the house, among which were many valuable and costly souvenirs that +could never be replaced. + +Will received a telegram announcing that his house was ablaze, and his +reply was characteristic: + +"Save Rosa Bonheur's picture, and the house may go to blazes." + +When the frontier war was ended and the troops disbanded, Will made +application for another company of Indians to take back to Europe with +him. Permission was obtained from the government, and the contingent +from the friendly tribes was headed by chiefs named Long Wolf, No Neck, +Yankton Charlie, and Black Heart. In addition to these a company was +recruited from among the Indians held as hostages by General Miles at +Fort Sheridan, and the leaders of these hostile braves were such noted +chiefs as Short Bull, Kicking Bear, Lone Bull, Scatter, and Revenge. To +these the trip to Alsace-Lorraine was a revelation, a fairy-tale more +wonderful than anything in their legendary lore. The ocean voyage, +with its seasickness, put them in an ugly mood, but the sight of the +encampment and the cowboys dissipated their sullenness, and they shortly +felt at home. The hospitality extended to all the members of the company +by the inhabitants of the village in which they wintered was most +cordial, and left them the pleasantest of memories. + +An extended tour of Europe was fittingly closed by a brief visit to +England. The Britons gave the "Wild West" as hearty a welcome as if it +were native to their heath. A number of the larger cities were visited, +London being reserved for the last. + +Royalty again honored the "Wild West" by its attendance, the Queen +requesting a special performance on the grounds of Windsor Castle. The +requests of the Queen are equivalent to commands, and the entertainment +was duly given. As a token of her appreciation the Queen bestowed upon +Will a costly and beautiful souvenir. + +Not the least-esteemed remembrance of this London visit was an +illuminated address presented by the English Workingman's Convention. In +it the American plainsman was congratulated upon the honors he had won, +the success he had achieved, and the educational worth of his great +exhibition. A banquet followed, at which Will presented an autograph +photograph to each member of the association. + +Notwithstanding tender thoughts of home, English soil was left +regretfully. To the "Wild West" the complacent Briton had extended a +cordial welcome, and manifested an enthusiasm that contrasted strangely +with his usual disdain for things American. + +A singular coincidence of the homeward voyage was the death of Billy, +another favorite horse of Will's. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. -- THE "WILD WEST" AT THE WORLD'S FAIR. + +EUROPEAN army officers of all nationalities regarded my brother with +admiring interest. To German, French, Italian, or British eyes he was +a commanding personality, and also the representative of a peculiar and +interesting phase of New World life. Recalling their interest in his +scenes from his native land, so unlike anything to be found in Europe +to-day, Will invited a number of these officers to accompany him on an +extended hunting-trip through Western America. + +All that could possibly do so accepted the invitation. A date was set +for them to reach Chicago, and from there arrangements were made for a +special train to convey them to Nebraska. + +When the party gathered, several prominent Americans were of the number. +By General Miles's order a military escort attended them from Chicago, +and the native soldiery remained with them until North Platte was +reached. + +Then the party proceeded to "Scout's Rest Ranch," where they were +hospitably entertained for a couple of days before starting out on their +long trail. + +At Denver ammunition and supplies were taken on board the train. A +French chef was also engaged, as Will feared his distinguished guests +might not enjoy camp-fare. But a hen in water is no more out of +place than a French cook on a "roughing-it" trip. Frontier cooks, who +understand primitive methods, make no attempt at a fashionable cuisine, +and the appetites developed by open-air life are equal to the rudest, +most substantial fare. + +Colorado Springs, the Garden of the Gods, and other places in Colorado +were visited. The foreign visitors had heard stories of this wonderland +of America, but, like all of nature's masterpieces, the rugged beauties +of this magnificent region defy an adequate description. Only one who +has seen a sunrise on the Alps can appreciate it. The storied Rhine is +naught but a story to him who has never looked upon it. Niagara is only +a waterfall until seen from various view-points, and its tremendous +force and transcendent beauty are strikingly revealed. The same is true +of the glorious wildness of our Western scenery; it must be seen to be +appreciated. + +The most beautiful thing about the Garden of the Gods is the entrance +known as the Gateway. Color here runs riot. The mass of rock in the +foreground is white, and stands out in sharp contrast to the rich red of +the sandstone of the portals, which rise on either side to a height of +three hundred feet. Through these giant portals, which in the sunlight +glow with ruddy fire, is seen mass upon mass of gorgeous color, rendered +more striking by the dazzling whiteness of Pike's Peak, which soars +upward in the distance, a hoary sentinel of the skies. The whole picture +is limned against the brilliant blue of the Colorado sky, and stands out +sharp and clear, one vivid block of color distinctly defined against the +other. + +The name "Garden of the Gods" was doubtless applied because of the +peculiar shape of the spires, needles, and basilicas of rock that rise +in every direction. These have been corroded by storms and worn smooth +by time, until they present the appearance of half-baked images of clay +molded by human hands, instead of sandstone rocks fashioned by wind and +weather. Each grotesque and fantastic shape has received a name. One +is here introduced to the "Washerwoman," the "Lady of the Garden," the +"Siamese Twins," and the "Ute God," and besides these may be seen +the "Wreck," the "Baggage Room," the "Eagle," and the "Mushroom." The +predominating tone is everywhere red, but black, brown, drab, white, +yellow, buff, and pink rocks add their quota to make up a harmonious and +striking color scheme, to which the gray and green of clinging mosses +add a final touch of picturesqueness. + +At Flagstaff, Arizona, the train was discarded for the saddle and the +buckboard. And now Will felt himself quite in his element; it was a +never-failing pleasure to him to guide a large party of guests over +plain and mountain. From long experience he knew how to make ample +provision for their comfort. There were a number of wagons filled with +supplies, three buckboards, three ambulances, and a drove of ponies. +Those who wished to ride horseback could do so; if they grew tired of +a bucking broncho, opportunity for rest awaited them in ambulance or +buckboard. The French chef found his occupation gone when it was a +question of cooking over a camp-fire; so he spent his time picking +himself up when dislodged by his broncho. The daintiness of his menu was +not a correct gauge for the daintiness of his language on these numerous +occasions. + +Through the Grand Canon of the Colorado Will led the party, and the +dwellers of the Old World beheld some of the rugged magnificence of +the New. Across rushing rivers, through quiet valleys, and over lofty +mountains they proceeded, pausing on the borders of peaceful lakes, or +looking over dizzy precipices into yawning chasms. + +There was no lack of game to furnish variety to their table; mountain +sheep, mountain lions, wildcats, deer, elk, antelope, and even coyotes +and porcupines, were shot, while the rivers furnished an abundance of +fish. + +It seemed likely at one time that there might be a hunt of bigger game +than any here mentioned, for in crossing the country of the Navajos the +party was watched and followed by mounted Indians. An attack was feared, +and had the red men opened fire, there would have been a very animated +defense; but the suspicious Indians were merely on the alert to see that +no trespass was committed, and when the orderly company passed out of +their territory the warriors disappeared. + +The visitors were much impressed with the vastness and the undeveloped +resources of our country. They were also impressed with the climate, as +the thermometer went down to forty degrees below zero while they were +on Buckskin Mountain. Nature seemed to wish to aid Will in the effort to +exhibit novelties to his foreign guests, for she tried her hand at +some spectacular effects, and succeeded beyond mortal expectation. She +treated them to a few blizzards; and shut in by the mass of whirling, +blinding snowflakes, it is possible their thoughts reverted with a +homesick longing to the sunny slopes of France, the placid vales of +Germany, or the foggy mildness of Great Britain. + +On the summit of San Francisco Mountain, the horse of Major St. +John Mildmay lost its footing, and began to slip on the ice toward a +precipice which looked down a couple of thousand feet. Will saw the +danger, brought out his ever-ready lasso, and dexterously caught the +animal in time to save it and its rider--a feat considered remarkable by +the onlookers. + +Accidents happened occasionally, many adventures were met with, Indian +alarms were given, and narrow were some of the escapes. On the whole, +it was a remarkable trail, and was written about under the heading, "A +Thousand Miles in the Saddle with Buffalo Bill." + +At Salt Lake City the party broke up, each going his separate way. All +expressed great pleasure in the trip, and united in the opinion that +Buffalo Bill's reputation as guide and scout was a well-deserved one. + +Will's knowledge of Indian nature stands him in good stead when he +desires to select the quota of Indians for the summer season of the +"Wild West." He sends word ahead to the tribe or reservation which he +intends to visit. The red men have all heard of the wonders of the great +show; they are more than ready to share in the delights of travel, and +they gather at the appointed place in great numbers. + +Will stands on a temporary platform in the center of the group. He looks +around upon the swarthy faces, glowing with all the eagerness which the +stolid Indian nature will permit them to display. It is not always the +tallest nor the most comely men who are selected. The unerring judgment +of the scout, trained in Indian warfare, tells him who may be relied +upon and who are untrustworthy. A face arrests his attention--with a +motion of his hand he indicates the brave whom he has selected; another +wave of the hand and the fate of a second warrior is settled. Hardly a +word is spoken, and it is only a matter of a few moments' time before +he is ready to step down from his exalted position and walk off with his +full contingent of warriors following happily in his wake. + +The "Wild West" had already engaged space just outside the World's Fair +grounds for an exhibit in 1893, and Will was desirous of introducing +some new and striking feature. He had succeeded in presenting to the +people of Europe some new ideas, and, in return, the European trip had +furnished to him the much-desired novelty. He had performed the work of +an educator in showing to Old World residents the conditions of a new +civilization, and the idea was now conceived of showing to the world +gathered at the arena in Chicago a representation of the cosmopolitan +military force. He called it "A Congress of the Rough Riders of the +World." It is a combination at once ethnological and military. + +To the Indians and cowboys were added Mexicans, Cossacks, and South +Americans, with regular trained cavalry from Germany, France, England, +and the United States. This aggregation showed for the first time in +1893, and was an instantaneous success. Of it Opie Read gives a fine +description: + +"Morse made the two worlds touch the tips of their fingers together. +Cody has made the warriors of all nations join hands. + +"In one act we see the Indian, with his origin shrouded in history's +mysterious fog; the cowboy--nerve-strung product of the New World; the +American soldier, the dark Mexican, the glittering soldier of Germany, +the dashing cavalryman of France, the impulsive Irish dragoon, and that +strange, swift spirit from the plains of Russia, the Cossack. + +"Marvelous theatric display, a drama with scarcely a word--Europe, Asia, +Africa, America in panoramic whirl, and yet as individualized as if they +had never left their own country." + +In 1893 the horizon of my brother's interests enlarged. In July of that +year I was married to Mr. Hugh A. Wetmore, editor of the Duluth _Press_. +My steps now turned to the North, and the enterprising young city on +the shore of Lake Superior became my home. During the long years of my +widowhood my brother always bore toward me the attitude of guardian +and protector; I could rely upon his support in any venture I deemed a +promising one, and his considerate thoughtfulness did not fail when +I remarried. He wished to see me well established in my new home; he +desired to insure my happiness and prosperity, and with this end in view +he purchased the Duluth _Press_ plant, erected a fine brick building to +serve as headquarters for the newspaper venture, and we became business +partners in the untried field of press work. + +My brother had not yet seen the Zenith City. So in January of 1894 he +arranged to make a short visit to Duluth. We issued invitations for +a general reception, and the response was of the genuine Western +kind--eighteen hundred guests assembling in the new Duluth _Press_ +Building to bid welcome and do honor to the world-famed Buffalo Bill. + +His name is a household word, and there is a growing demand for +anecdotes concerning him. As he does not like to talk about himself, +chroniclers have been compelled to interview his associates, or are +left to their own resources. Like many of the stories told about Abraham +Lincoln, some of the current yarns about Buffalo Bill are of doubtful +authority. Nevertheless, a collection of those that are authentic would +fill a volume. Almost every plainsman or soldier who met my brother +during the Indian campaigns can tell some interesting tale about him +that has never been printed. During the youthful season of redundant +hope and happiness many of his ebullitions of wit were lost, but he +was always beloved for his good humor, which no amount of carnage could +suppress. He was not averse to church-going, though he was liable even +in church to be carried away by the rollicking spirit that was in him. +Instance his visit to the little temple which he had helped to build at +North Platte. + +His wife and sister were in the congregation, and this ought not only to +have kept him awake, but it should have insured perfect decorum on his +part. The opening hymn commenced with the words, "Oh, for a thousand +tongues to sing," etc. The organist, who played "by ear," started the +tune in too high a key to be followed by the choir and congregation, and +had to try again. A second attempt ended, like the first, in failure. +"Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing, my blest--" came the opening words +for the third time, followed by a squeak from the organ, and a relapse +into painful silence. Will could contain himself no longer, and blurted +out: "Start it at five hundred, and mebbe some of the rest of us can get +in." + + +Another church episode occurred during the visit of the "Wild West" +to the Atlanta Exposition. A locally celebrated colored preacher had +announced that he would deliver a sermon on the subject of Abraham +Lincoln. A party of white people, including my brother, was made up, and +repaired to the church to listen to the eloquent address. Not wishing +to make themselves conspicuous, the white visitors took a pew in the +extreme rear, but one of the ushers, wishing to honor them, insisted +on conducting them to a front seat. When the contribution platter came +around, our hero scooped a lot of silver dollars from his pocket and +deposited them upon the plate with such force that the receptacle was +tilted and its contents poured in a jingling shower upon the floor. +The preacher left his pulpit to assist in gathering up the scattered +treasure, requesting the congregation to sing a hymn of thanksgiving +while the task was being performed. At the conclusion of the hymn the +sable divine returned to the pulpit and supplemented his sermon with the +following remarks: + + +"Brudderen an' sisters: I obsahve dat Co'nel and Gen'l Buflo Bill am +present. [A roar of 'Amens' and 'Bless God's' arose from the audience.] +You will wifhold yuh Amens till I git froo. You all owes yuh freedom to +Abraham's bosom, but he couldn't hab went an' gone an' done it widout +Buflo Bill, who he'ped him wid de sinnoose ob wah! Abraham Lincum was de +brack man's fren'--Buflo Bill am de fren' ob us all. ['Amen!' screamed +a sister.] Yes, sistah, he am yo' fren', moreova, an' de fren' ob every +daughtah ob Jakup likewise. De chu'ch debt am a cross to us, an' to dat +cross he bends his back as was prefigu'd in de scriptu's ob ol', De +sun may move, aw de sun mought stan' still, but Buflo Bill nebba stan's +still--he's ma'ching froo Geo'gia wid his Christian cowboys to sto'm +de Lookout Mountain ob Zion. Deacon Green Henry Turner will lead us in +prayah fo' Buflo Bill." + + +The following is one of Will's own stories: During the first years of +his career as an actor Will had in one of his theatrical companies a +Westerner named Broncho Bill. There were Indians in the troupe, and a +certain missionary had joined the aggregation to look after the morals +of the Indians. Thinking that Broncho Bill would bear a little looking +after also, the good man secured a seat by his side at the dinner-table, +and remarked pleasantly: + +"This is Mr. Broncho Bill, is it not?" + +"Yaas." + +"Where were you born?" + +"Near Kit Bullard's mill, on Big Pigeon." + +"Religious parents, I suppose?" + +"Yaas." + +"What is your denomination?" + +"My what?" + +"Your denomination?" + +"O--ah--yaas. Smith & Wesson." + + +While on his European tour Will was entertained by a great many +potentates. At a certain dinner given in his honor by a wealthy English +lord, Will met for the first time socially a number of blustering +British officers, fresh from India. One of them addressed himself to +the scout as follows: "I understand you are a colonel. You Americans +are blawsted fond of military titles, don't cherneow. By gad, sir, we'll +have to come over and give you fellows a good licking!" + +"What, again?" said the scout, so meekly that for an instant his +assailant did not know how hard he was hit, but he realized it when the +retort was wildly applauded by the company. + + +Before closing these pages I will give an account of an episode which +occurred during the Black Hills gold excitement, and which illustrates +the faculty my hero possesses of adapting himself to all emergencies. +Mr. Mahan, of West Superior, Wisconsin, and a party of adventurous +gold-seekers were being chased by a band of Indians, which they had +succeeded in temporarily eluding. They met Buffalo Bill at the head of +a squad of soldiers who were looking for redskins. The situation was +explained to the scout, whereupon he said: + +"I am looking for that identical crowd. Now, you draw up in line, and I +will look you over and pick out the men that I want to go back with me." + +Without any questioning he was able to select the men who really wanted +to return and fight the Indians. He left but two behind, but they were +the ones who would have been of no assistance had they been allowed to +go to the front. Will rode some distance in advance of his party, and +when the Indians sighted him, they thought he was alone, and made a dash +for him. Will whirled about and made his horse go as if fleeing for +his life. His men had been carefully ambushed. The Indians kept up a +constant firing, and when he reached a certain point Will pretended to +be hit, and fell from his horse. On came the Indians, howling like a +choir of maniacs. The next moment they were in a trap, and Will and his +men opened fire on them, literally annihilating the entire squad. It was +the Indian style of warfare, and the ten "good Indians" left upon the +field, had they been able to complain, would have had no right to do so. + +Will continued the march, and as the day was well advanced, began +looking for a good place to camp. Arriving at the top of a ridge +overlooking a little river, Will saw a spot where he had camped on a +previous expedition; but, to his great disappointment, the place was +in possession of a large village of hostiles, who were putting up their +tepees, building camp fires, and making themselves comfortable for the +coming night. + +Quick as a flash Will decided what to do. "There are too many of them +for us to whip in the tired condition of ourselves and horses," said +our hero. Then he posted his men along the top of the ridge, with +instructions to show themselves at a signal from him, and descended at +once, solitary and alone, to the encampment of hostiles. Gliding rapidly +up to the chief, Will addressed him in his own dialect as follows: + +"I want you to leave here right away, quick! I don't want to kill your +women and children. A big lot of soldiers are following me, and they +will destroy your whole village if you are here when they come." + +As he waved his hand in the direction of the hilltop, brass buttons and +polished gun-barrels began to glitter in the rays of the setting sun, +and the chief ordered his braves to fold their tents and move on. + + + +CHAPTER XXX. -- CODY DAY AT THE OMAHA EXPOSITION. + +SINCE 1893 the "Wild West" exhibitions have been restricted to the +various cities of our own land. Life in "Buffalo Bill's Tented City," +as it is called, is like life in a small village. There are some six +hundred persons in the various departments. Many of the men have their +families with them; the Indians have their squaws and papooses, and the +variety of nationalities, dialects, and costumes makes the miniature +city an interesting and entertaining one. + +The Indians may be seen eating bundles of meat from their fingers +and drinking tankards of iced buttermilk. The Mexicans, a shade more +civilized, shovel with their knives great quantities of the same food +into the capacious receptacles provided by nature. The Americans, +despite what is said of their rapid eating, take time to laugh and crack +jokes, and finish their repast with a product only known to the highest +civilization--ice-cream. + +When the "Wild West" visited Boston, one hot June day the parade passed +a children's hospital on the way to the show-grounds. Many of the little +invalids were unable to leave their couches. All who could do so ran to +the open windows and gazed eagerly at the passing procession, and +the greatest excitement prevailed. These more fortunate little ones +described, as best they could, to the little sufferers who could not +leave their beds the wonderful things they saw. The Indians were the +special admiration of the children. After the procession passed, one wee +lad, bedridden by spinal trouble, cried bitterly because he had not +seen it. A kind-hearted nurse endeavored to soothe the child, but words +proved unavailing. Then a bright idea struck the patient woman; she told +him he might write a letter to the great "Buffalo Bill" himself and ask +him for an Indian's picture. + +The idea was taken up with delight, and the child spent an eager hour +in penning the letter. It was pathetic in its simplicity. The little +sufferer told the great exhibitor that he was sick in bed, was unable to +see the Indians when they passed the hospital, and that he longed to see +a photograph of one. + +The important missive was mailed, and even the impatient little invalid +knew it was useless to expect an answer that day. The morning had hardly +dawned before a child's bright eyes were open. Every noise was listened +to, and he wondered when the postman would bring him a letter. The nurse +hardly dared to hope that a busy man like Buffalo Bill would take time +to respond to the wish of a sick child. + +"Colonel Cody is a very busy man," she said. "We must be patient." + +At perhaps the twentieth repetition of this remark the door opened +noiselessly. In came a six-foot Indian, clad in leather trousers and +wrapped in a scarlet blanket. He wore a head-dress of tall, waving +feathers, and carried his bow in his hand. + +The little invalids gasped in wonder; then they shrieked with delight. +One by one, silent and noiseless, but smiling, six splendid warriors +followed the first. The visitors had evidently been well trained, and +had received explicit directions as to their actions. + +So unusual a sight in the orderly hospital so startled the nurse that +she could not even speak. The warriors drew up in a line and saluted +her. The happy children were shouting in such glee that the poor woman's +fright was unnoticed. + +The Indians ranged themselves in the narrow space between the cots, laid +aside their gay blankets, placed their bows upon the floor, and waving +their arms to and fro, executed a quiet war-dance. A sham battle was +fought, followed by a song of victory. After this the blankets were +again donned, the kindly red men went away, still smiling as benignly as +their war paint would allow them to do. A cheer of gratitude and delight +followed them down the broad corridors. The happy children talked about +Buffalo Bill and the "Wild West" for weeks after this visit. + +North Platte had long urged my brother to bring the exhibition there. +The citizens wished to see the mammoth tents spread over the ground +where the scout once followed the trail on the actual war-path; they +desired that their famous fellow-citizen should thus honor his home +town. A performance was finally given there on October 12, 1896, the +special car bearing Will and his party arriving the preceding day, +Sunday. The writer of these chronicles joined the party in Omaha, and we +left that city after the Saturday night performance. + +The Union Pacific Railroad had offered my brother every inducement +to make this trip; among other things, the officials promised to make +special time in running from Omaha to North Platte. + +When we awoke Sunday morning, we found that in some way the train had +been delayed, that instead of making special time we were several hours +late. Will telegraphed this fact to the officials. At the next station +double-headers were put on, and the gain became at once perceptible. +At Grand Island a congratulatory telegram was sent, noting the gain in +time. At the next station we passed the Lightning Express, the "flyer," +to which usually everything gives way, and the good faith of the company +was evidenced by the fact that this train was side-tracked to make way +for Buffalo Bill's "Wild West" train. Another message was sent over the +wires to the officials; it read as follows: + + +"Have just noticed that Lightning Express is side-tracked to make way +for Wild west. I herewith promote you to top seat in heaven." + + +The trip was a continued ovation. Every station was thronged, and Will +was obliged to step out on the platform and make a bow to the assembled +crowds, his appearance being invariably greeted with a round of cheers. +When we reached the station at North Platte, we found that the entire +population had turned out to receive their fellow-townsman. The "Cody +Guards," a band to which Will presented beautiful uniforms of white +broadcloth trimmed with gold braid, struck up the strains of "See, the +Conquering Hero Comes." The mayor attempted to do the welcoming honors +of the city, but it was impossible for him to make himself heard. Cheer +followed cheer from the enthusiastic crowd. + +We had expected to reach the place some hours earlier, but our late +arrival encroached upon the hour of church service. The ministers +discovered that it was impossible to hold their congregations; so they +were dismissed, and the pastors accompanied them to the station, one +reverend gentleman humorously remarking: + +"We shall be obliged to take for our text this morning 'Buffalo Bill and +his Wild West,' and will now proceed to the station for the discourse." + +Will's tally-ho coach, drawn by six horses, was in waiting for the +incoming party. The members of his family seated themselves in that +conveyance, and we passed through the town, preceded and followed by +a band. As we arrived at the home residence, both bands united in a +welcoming strain of martial music. + +My oldest sister, Julia, whose husband is manager of "Scout's Rest +Ranch," when informed that the "Wild West" was to visit North Platte, +conceived the idea of making this visit the occasion of a family +reunion. We had never met in an unbroken circle since the days of +our first separation, but as a result of her efforts we sat thus that +evening in my brother's home. The next day our mother-sister, as she had +always been regarded, entertained us at "Scout's Rest Ranch." + +The "Wild West" exhibition had visited Duluth for the first time that +same year. This city has a population of 65,000. North Platte numbers +3,500. When he wrote to me of his intention to take the exhibition to +Duluth, Will offered to make a wager that his own little town would +furnish a bigger crowd than would the city of my residence. I could +not accept any such inferred slur upon the Zenith City, so accepted the +wager, a silk hat against a fur cloak. + +October 12th, the date of the North Platte performance, dawned bright +and cloudless. "To-day decides our wager," said Will. "I expect there +will be two or three dozen people out on this prairie. Duluth turned +out a good many thousands, so I suppose you think your wager as good as +won." + +The manager of the tents evidently thought the outlook a forlorn one. I +shared his opinion, and was, in fancy, already the possessor of a fine +fur cloak. + +"Colonel, shall we stretch the full canvas?" asked the tentman. + +"Every inch of it," was the prompt response. "We want to show North +Platte the capacity of the 'Wild West,' at any rate." + +As we started for the grounds Will was evidently uncertain over the +outcome, in spite of his previous boast of the reception North Platte +would give him. "We'll have a big tent and plenty of room to spare in +it," he observed. + +But as we drove to the grounds we soon began to see indications of a +coming crowd. The people were pouring in from all directions; the very +atmosphere seemed populated; as the dust was nearly a foot deep on the +roads, the moving populace made the air almost too thick for breathing. +It was during the time of the county fair, and managers of the Union +Pacific road announced that excursion trains would be run from every +town and hamlet, the officials and their families coming up from Omaha +on a special car. Where the crowds came from it was impossible to say. +It looked as if a feat of magic had been performed, and that the stones +were turned into men, or, perchance, that, as in olden tales, they came +up out of the earth. + +Accustomed though he is to the success of the show, Will was dumfounded +by this attendance. As the crowds poured in I became alarmed about my +wager. I visited the ticket-seller and asked how the matter stood. + +"It's pretty close," he answered. "Duluth seems to be dwindling away +before the mightiness of the Great American Desert." + +This section of the country, which was a wilderness only a few years +ago, assembled over ten thousand people to attend a performance of the +"Wild West." + +Omaha, where the opening performance of this exhibition was given, +honored Will last year by setting apart one day as "Cody Day." August +31st was devoted to his reception, and a large and enthusiastic crowd +gathered to do the Nebraska pioneer honor. The parade reached the +fair-grounds at eleven o'clock, where it was fittingly received by one +hundred and fifty mounted Indians from the encampment. A large square +space had been reserved for the reception of the party in front of the +Sherman gate. As it filed through, great applause was sent up by the +waiting multitude, and the noise became deafening when my brother made +his appearance on a magnificent chestnut horse, the gift of General +Miles. He was accompanied by a large party of officials and Nebraska +pioneers, who dismounted to seat themselves on the grand-stand. +Prominent among these were the governor of the state, Senator Thurston, +and Will's old friend and first employer, Mr. Alexander Majors. As +Will ascended the platform he was met by General Manager Clarkson, +who welcomed him in the name of the president of the exposition, whose +official duties precluded his presence. Governor Holcomb was then +introduced, and his speech was a brief review of the evolution of +Nebraska from a wilderness of a generation ago to the great state which +produced this marvelous exposition. Manager Clarkson remarked, as +he introduced Mr. Majors: "Here is the father of them all, Alexander +Majors, a man connected with the very earliest history of Nebraska, and +the business father of Colonel Cody." + +This old pioneer was accorded a reception only a shade less enthusiastic +than that which greeted the hero of the day. He said: + +"_Gentlemen, and My Boy, Colonel Cody_: [Laughter.] Can I say a few +words of welcome? Friend Creighton and I came down here together to-day, +and he thought I was not equal to the occasion. Gentlemen, I do not know +whether I am equal to the occasion at this time, but I am going to do +the best for you that I can. Give me your hand, Colonel. Gentlemen, +forty-three years ago this day, this fine-looking physical specimen +of manhood was brought to me by his mother--a little boy nine years +old--and little did I think at that time that the boy that was standing +before me, asking for employment of some kind by which I could afford to +pay his mother a little money for his services, was going to be a boy of +such destiny as he has turned out to be. In this country we have great +men, we have great men in Washington, we have men who are famous as +politicians in this country; we have great statesmen, we have had +Jackson and Grant, and we had Lincoln; we have men great in agriculture +and in stock-growing, and in the manufacturing business men who have +made great names for themselves, who have stood high in the nation. +Next, and even greater, we have a Cody. He, gentlemen, stands before you +now, known the wide world over as the last of the great scouts. When the +boy Cody came to me, standing straight as an arrow, and looked me in the +face, I said to my partner, Mr. Russell, who was standing by my side, +'We will take this little boy, and we will pay him a man's wages, +because he can ride a pony just as well as a man can.' He was lighter +and could do service of that kind when he was nine years old. I remember +when we paid him twenty-five dollars for the first month's work. He was +paid in half-dollars, and he got fifty of them. He tied them up in his +little handkerchief, and when he got home he untied the handkerchief and +spread the money all over the table." + + +Colonel Cody--"I have been spreading it ever since." + +A few remarks followed indicative of Mr. Majors's appreciation of the +exhibition, and he closed with the remark, "Bless your precious heart, +Colonel Cody!" and sat down, amid great applause. + +Senator Thurston's remarks were equally happy. He said: + + +"Colonel Cody, this is your day. This is your exposition. This is your +city. And we all rejoice that Nebraska is your state. You have carried +the fame of our country and of our state all over the civilized world; +you have been received and honored by princes, by emperors and by kings; +the titled women in the courts of the nations of the world have been +captivated by your charm of manner and your splendid manhood. You are +known wherever you go, abroad or in the United States, as Colonel Cody, +the best representative of the great and progressive West. You +stand here to-day in the midst of a wonderful assembly. Here are +representatives of the heroic and daring characters of most of the +nations of the world. You are entitled to the honor paid you to-day, and +especially entitled to it here. This people know you as a man who has +carried this demonstration of yours to foreign lands, and exhibited it +at home. You have not been a showman in the common sense of the word. +You have been a great national and international educator of men. You +have furnished a demonstration of the possibilities of our country that +has advanced us in the opinion of all the world. But we who have been +with you a third, or more than a third, of a century, we remember you +more dearly and tenderly than others do. We remember that when this +whole Western land was a wilderness, when these representatives of the +aborigines were attempting to hold their own against the onward tide +of civilization, the settler and the hardy pioneer, the women and the +children, felt safe whenever Cody rode along the frontier; he was their +protector and defender. + +"Cody, this is your home. You live in the hearts of the people of our +state. God bless you and keep you and prosper you in your splendid +work." + + +Will was deeply touched by these strong expressions from his friends. As +he moved to the front of the platform to respond, his appearance was the +signal for a prolonged burst of cheers. He said: + + +"You cannot expect me to make adequate response for the honor which +you have bestowed upon me to-day. You have overwhelmed my speaking +faculties. I cannot corral enough ideas to attempt a coherent reply in +response to the honor which you have accorded me. How little I dreamed +in the long ago that the lonely path of the scout and the pony-express +rider would lead me to the place you have assigned me to-day. Here, near +the banks of the mighty Missouri, which flows unvexed to the sea, my +thoughts revert to the early days of my manhood. I looked eastward +across this rushing tide to the Atlantic, and dreamed that in that +long-settled region all men were rich and all women happy. My friends, +that day has come and gone. I stand among you a witness that nowhere in +the broad universe are men richer in manly integrity, and women happier +in their domestic kingdom, than here in our own Nebraska. + +"I have sought fortune in many lands, but wherever I have wandered, the +flag of our beloved state has been unfurled to every breeze: from the +Platte to the Danube, from the Tiber to the Clyde, the emblem of our +sovereign state has always floated over the 'Wild West.' Time goes on +and brings with it new duties and responsibilities, but we 'old men,' +we who are called old-timers, cannot forget the trials and tribulations +which we had to encounter while paving the path for civilization and +national prosperity. + +"The whistle of the locomotive has drowned the howl of the coyote; +the barb-wire fence has narrowed the range of the cow-puncher; but +no material evidence of prosperity can obliterate our contribution to +Nebraska's imperial progress. + +"Through your kindness to-day I have tasted the sweetest fruit that +grows on ambition's tree. If you extend your kindness and permit me to +fall back into the ranks as a high private, my cup will be full. + +"In closing, let me call upon the 'Wild West, the Congress of Rough +Riders of the World,' to voice their appreciation of the kindness you +have shown them to-day." + + +At a given signal the "Wild West" gave three ringing cheers for Nebraska +and the Trans-Mississippi Exposition. The cowboy band followed with +the "Red, White, and Blue," and an exposition band responded with the +"Star-Spangled Banner." The company fell into line for a parade around +the grounds, Colonel Cody following on his chestnut horse, Duke. After +him came the officials and invited guests in carriages; then came the +Cossacks, the Cubans, the German cavalry, the United States cavalry, the +Mexicans, and representatives of twenty-five countries. + +As the parade neared its end, my brother turned to his friends and +suggested that as they had been detained long past the dinner-hour in +doing him honor, he would like to compensate them by giving an informal +spread. This invitation was promptly accepted, and the company adjourned +to a cafe, where a tempting luncheon was spread before them. Never +before had such a party of pioneers met around a banquet-table, and +many were the reminiscences of early days brought out. Mr. Majors, +the originator of the Pony Express line, was there. The two Creighton +brothers, who put through the first telegraph line, and took the +occupation of the express riders from them, had seats of honor. A. D. +Jones was introduced as the man who carried the first postoffice of +Omaha around in his hat, and who still wore the hat. Numbers of other +pioneers were there, and each contributed his share of racy anecdotes +and pleasant reminiscences. + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. -- THE LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS. + +THE story of frontier days is a tale that is told. The "Wild West" +has vanished like mist in the sun before the touch of the two great +magicians of the nineteenth century--steam and electricity. + +The route of the old historic Santa Fe trail is nearly followed by the +Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, which was completed in 1880. +The silence of the prairie was once broken by the wild war-whoop of the +Indian as he struggled to maintain his supremacy over some adjoining +tribe; the muffled roar caused by the heavy hoof-beats of thousands +of buffaloes was almost the only other sound that broke the stillness. +To-day the shriek of the engine, the clang of the bell, and the clatter +of the car-wheels form a ceaseless accompaniment to the cheerful hum of +busy life which everywhere pervades the wilderness of thirty years ago. +Almost the only memorials of the struggles and privations of the hardy +trappers and explorers, whose daring courage made the achievements of +the present possible, are the historic landmarks which bear the names of +some of these brave men. But these are very few in number. Pike's Peak +lifts its snowy head to heaven in silent commemoration of the early +traveler whose name it bears. Simpson's Rest, a lofty obelisk, +commemorates the mountaineer whose life was for the most part passed +upon its rugged slopes, and whose last request was that he should be +buried on its summit. Another cloud-capped mountain-height bears the +name of Fisher's Peak, and thereby hangs a tale. + +{illust. caption = {signature of} W. F. Cody} + +Captain Fisher commanded a battery in the army engaged in the conquest +of New Mexico. His command encamped near the base of the mountain which +now bears his name. Deceived by the illusive effect of the atmosphere, +he started out for a morning stroll to the supposed near-by elevation, +announcing that he would return in time for breakfast. The day passed +with no sign of Captain Fisher, and night lengthened into a new day. +When the second day passed without his return, his command was forced to +believe that he had fallen a prey to lurking Indians, and the soldiers +were sadly taking their seats for their evening meal when the haggard +and wearied captain put in an appearance. His morning stroll had +occupied two days and a night; but he set out to visit the mountain, and +he did it. + +The transcontinental line which supplanted the Old Salt Lake trail, +and is now known as the Union Pacific Railroad, antedated the Atchison, +Topeka and Santa Fe by eleven years. The story of the difficulties +encountered, and the obstacles overcome in the building of this road, +furnishes greater marvels than any narrated in the Arabian Nights' +Tales. + +This railroad superseded the Pony Express line, the reeking, panting +horses of which used their utmost endeavor and carried their tireless +riders fifteen miles an hour, covering their circuit in eight days' +time at their swiftest rate of speed. The iron horse gives a sniff of +disdain, and easily traverses the same distance, from the Missouri line +to the Pacific Coast, in three days. + +Travelers who step aboard the swiftly moving, luxurious cars of to-day +give little thought to their predecessors; for the dangers the early +voyagers encountered they have no sympathy. The traveler in the +stagecoach was beset by perils without from the Indians and the outlaws; +he faced the equally unpleasant companionship of fatigue and discomfort +within. The jolting, swinging coach bounced and jounced the unhappy +passengers as the reckless driver lashed the flying horses. Away they +galloped over mountains and through ravines, with no cessation of speed. +Even the shipper pays the low rate of transportation asked to-day with +reluctance, and forgets the great debt he owes this adjunct of our +civilization. + +But great as are the practical benefits derived from the railways, we +cannot repress a sigh as we meditate on the picturesque phases of the +vanished era. Gone are the bullwhackers and the prairie-schooners! +Gone are the stagecoaches and their drivers! Gone are the Pony Express +riders! Gone are the trappers, the hardy pioneers, the explorers, and +the scouts! Gone is the prairie monarch, the shaggy, unkempt buffalo! + +In 1869, only thirty years ago, the train on the Kansas Pacific-road was +delayed eight hours in consequence of the passage of an enormous herd +of buffaloes over the track in front of it. But the easy mode of travel +introduced by the railroad brought hundreds of sportsmen to the plains, +who wantonly killed this noble animal solely for sport, and thousands +of buffaloes were sacrificed for their skins, for which there was a +widespread demand. From 1868 to 1881, in Kansas alone, there was paid +out $2,500,000 for the bones of this animal, which were gathered up on +the prairie and used in the carbon works of the country. This represents +a total death-rate of 31,000,000 buffaloes in one state. As far as I am +able to ascertain, there remains at this writing only one herd, of less +than twenty animals, out of all the countless thousands that roamed the +prairie so short a time ago, and this herd is carefully preserved in a +private park. There may be a few isolated specimens in menageries +and shows, but this wholesale slaughter has resulted in the practical +extermination of the species. + +As with the animal native to our prairies, so has it been with the +race native to our land. We may deplore the wrongs of the Indian, +and sympathize with his efforts to wrest justice from his so-called +protectors. We may admire his poetic nature, as evidenced in the myths +and legends of the race. We may be impressed by the stately dignity +and innate ability as orator and statesman which he displays. We may +preserve the different articles of his picturesque garb as relics. But +the old, old drama of history is repeating itself before the eyes +of this generation; the inferior must give way to the superior +civilization. The poetic, picturesque, primitive red man must inevitably +succumb before the all-conquering tread of his pitiless, practical, +progressive white brother. + +Cooper has immortalized for us the extinction of a people in the "Last +of the Mohicans." Many another tribe has passed away, unhonored and +unsung. Westward the "Star of Empire" takes its way; the great domain +west of the Mississippi is now peopled by the white race, while the +Indians are shut up in reservations. Their doom is sealed; their sun is +set. "Kismet" has been spoken of them; the total extinction of the race +is only a question of time. In the words of Rudyard Kipling: + + "Take up the White Man's burden-- + Ye dare not stoop to less-- + Nor call too loud on freedom + To cloke your weariness. + By all ye will or whisper, + By all ye leave or do, + The silent, sullen peoples + Shall weigh your God and you." + +Of this past epoch of our national life there remains but one well-known +representative. That one is my brother. He occupies a unique place in +the portrait gallery of famous Americans to-day. It is not alone his +commanding personality, nor the success he has achieved along various +lines, which gives him the strong hold he has on the hearts of the +American people, or the absorbing interest he possesses in the eyes of +foreigners. The fact that in his own person he condenses a period of +national history is a large factor in the fascination he exercises over +others. He may fitly be named the "Last of the Great Scouts." He has +had great predecessors. The mantle of Kit Carson has fallen upon his +shoulders, and he wears it worthily. He has not, and never can have, a +successor. He is the vanishing-point between the rugged wilderness of +the past in Western life and the vast achievement in the present. + +When the "Wild West" disbands, the last vestige of our frontier life +passes from the scene of active realities, and becomes a matter of +history. + +"Life is real, life is earnest," sings the poet, and real and earnest it +has been for my brother. It has been spent in others' service. I cannot +recall a time when he has not thus been laden with heavy burdens. Yet +for himself he has won a reputation, national and international. A +naval officer visiting in China relates that as he stepped ashore he +was offered two books for purchase--one the Bible, the other a "Life of +Buffalo Bill." + +For nearly half a century, which comprises his childhood, youth, and +manhood, my brother has been before the public. He can scarcely be said +to have had a childhood, so early was he thrust among the rough scenes +of frontier life, therein to play a man's part at an age when most boys +think of nothing more than marbles and tops. He enlisted in the Union +army before he was of age, and did his share in upholding the flag +during the Civil War as ably as many a veteran of forty, and since then +he has remained, for the most part, in his country's service, always +ready to go to the front in any time of danger. He has achieved +distinction in many and various ways. He is president of the largest +irrigation enterprise in the world, president of a colonization company, +of a town-site company, and of two transportation companies. He is the +foremost scout and champion buffalo-hunter of America, one of the +crack shots of the world, and its greatest popular entertainer. He is +broad-minded and progressive in his views, inheriting from both father +and mother a hatred of oppression in any form. Taking his mother as +a standard, he believes the franchise is a birthright which should +appertain to intelligence and education, rather than to sex. It is his +public career that lends an interest to his private life, in which he +has been a devoted and faithful son and brother, a kind and considerate +husband, a loving and generous father. "Only the names of them that +are upright, brave, and true can be honorably known," were the mother's +dying words; and honorably known has his name become, in his own country +and across the sea. + +With the fondest expectation he looks forward to the hour when he shall +make his final bow to the public and retire to private life. It is his +long-cherished desire to devote his remaining years to the development +of the Big Horn Basin, in Wyoming. He has visited every country in +Europe, and has looked upon the most beautiful of Old World scenes. He +is familiar with all the most splendid regions of his own land, but to +him this new El Dorado of the West is the fairest spot on earth. + +He has already invested thousands of dollars and given much thought and +attention toward the accomplishment of his pet scheme. An irrigating +ditch costing nearly a million dollars now waters this fertile region, +and various other improvements are under way, to prepare a land +flowing with milk and honey for the reception of thousands of homeless +wanderers. Like the children of Israel, these would never reach the +promised land but for the untiring efforts of a Moses to go on before; +but unlike the ancient guide and scout of sacred history, my brother has +been privileged to penetrate the remotest corner of this primitive land +of Canaan. The log cabin he has erected there is not unlike the one of +our childhood days. Here he finds his haven of rest, his health-resort, +to which he hastens when the show season is over and he is free again +for a space. He finds refreshment in the healthful, invigorating +atmosphere of his chosen retreat; he enjoys sweet solace from the cares +of life under the influence of its magnificent scenery. + +And here, in the shadow of the Rockies, yet in the very "light of +things," it is his wish to finish his days as he began them, in +opening up for those who come after him the great regions of the still +undeveloped West, and in poring over the lesson learned as a boy on the +plains: + + "That nature never did betray + The heart that loved her." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Last of the Great Scouts, by Helen Cody Wetmore + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1248 *** diff --git a/1248-h/1248-h.htm b/1248-h/1248-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4d33443 --- /dev/null +++ b/1248-h/1248-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,10554 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Last of the Great Scouts, by Helen Cody Wetmore + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1248 ***</div> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS + </h1> + <h2> + The Life Story of William F. Cody ["Buffalo Bill" Cody] <br /> <br /> by + Helen Cody Wetmore + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> GENEALOGY OF BUFFALO BILL. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE. </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> <big><b>LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS.</b></big> + </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I.</a> THE OLD + HOMESTEAD IN IOWA. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. </a> + WILL'S FIRST INDIAN. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III. + </a> THE SHADOW OF PARTISAN STRIFE. <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. </a> PERSECUTION + CONTINUES. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V. </a> + THE "BOY EXTRA." <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI. </a> + FAMILY DEFENDER AND HOUSEHOLD TEASE. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0007"> + CHAPTER VII. </a> INDIAN ENCOUNTER AND SCHOOL-DAY INCIDENTS. + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII. </a> DEATH + AND BURIAL OF TURK. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX. </a> + WILL AS PONY EXPRESS RIDER. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER + X. </a> ECHOES FROM SUMTER. <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI. </a> A SHORT BUT DASHING + INDIAN CAMPAIGN. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII. </a> + THE MOTHER'S LAST ILLNESS. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER + XIII. </a> IN THE SECRET-SERVICE. <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XV. </a> WILL AS A BENEDICT. + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XVI. </a> HOW + THE SOBRIQUET OF "BUFFALO BILL" WAS WON. <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVII. </a> SATANTA, CHIEF OF + THE KIOWAS. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVIII. </a> + WILL MADE CHIEF OF SCOUTS. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER + XIX. </a> ARMY LIFE AT FORT M'PHERSON. <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XX. </a> PA-HAS-KA, THE + LONG-HAIRED CHIEF. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER XXI. </a> + THE HUNT OF THE GRAND DUKE ALEXIS. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0021"> + CHAPTER XXII. </a> THEATRICAL EXPERIENCES. <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0022"> CHAPTER XXIII. </a> THE GOVERNMENT'S + INDIAN POLICY. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0023"> CHAPTER XXIV. </a> + LITERARY WORK. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0024"> CHAPTER XXV. </a> + FIRST VISIT TO THE VALLEY OF THE BIG HORN. <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0025"> CHAPTER XXVI. </a> TOUR OF GREAT + BRITAIN. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0026"> CHAPTER XXVII. </a> + RETURN OF THE "WILD WEST" TO AMERICA. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0027"> + CHAPTER XXVIII. </a> A TRIBUTE TO GENERAL + MILES. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0028"> CHAPTER XXIX. </a> + THE "WILD WEST" AT THE WORLD'S FAIR. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0029"> + CHAPTER XXX. </a> CODY DAY AT THE OMAHA EXPOSITION. <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0030"> CHAPTER XXXI. </a> THE LAST OF THE + GREAT SCOUTS. + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + GENEALOGY OF BUFFALO BILL. + </h2> + <p> + The following genealogical sketch was compiled in 1897. The crest is + copied from John Rooney's "Genealogical History of Irish Families." + </p> + <p> + It is not generally known that genuine royal blood courses in Colonel + Cody's veins. He is a lineal descendant of Milesius, king of Spain, that + famous monarch whose three sons, Heber, Heremon, and Ir, founded the first + dynasty in Ireland, about the beginning of the Christian era. The Cody + family comes through the line of Heremon. The original name was Tireach, + which signifies "The Rocks." Muiredach Tireach, one of the first of this + line, and son of Fiacha Straivetine, was crowned king of Ireland, Anno + Domini 320. Another of the line became king of Connaught, Anno Domini 701. + The possessions of the Sept were located in the present counties of Clare, + Galway, and Mayo. The names Connaught-Gallway, after centuries, gradually + contracted to Connallway, Connellway, Connelly, Conly, Cory, Coddy, Coidy, + and Cody, and is clearly shown by ancient indentures still traceable among + existing records. On the maternal side, Colonel Cody can, without + difficulty, follow his lineage to the best blood of England. Several of + the Cody family emigrated to America in 1747, settling in Maryland, + Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The name is frequently mentioned in + Revolutionary history. Colonel Cody is a member of the Cody family of + Revolutionary fame. Like the other Spanish-Irish families, the Codys have + their proof of ancestry in the form of a crest, the one which Colonel Cody + is entitled to use being printed herewith. The lion signifies Spanish + origin. It is the same figure that forms a part of the royal coat-of-arms + of Spain to this day—Castile and Leon. The arm and cross denote that + the descent is through the line of Heremon, whose posterity were among the + first to follow the cross, as a symbol of their adherence to the Christian + faith. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PREFACE. + </h2> + <p> + In presenting this volume to the public the writer has a twofold purpose. + For a number of years there has been an increasing demand for an authentic + biography of "Buffalo Bill," and in response, many books of varying value + have been submitted; yet no one of them has borne the hall-mark of + veracious history. Naturally, there were incidents in Colonel Cody's life—more + especially in the earlier years—that could be given only by those + with whom he had grown up from childhood. For many incidents of his later + life I am indebted to his own and others' accounts. I desire to + acknowledge obligation to General P. H. Sheridan, Colonel Inman, Colonel + Ingraham, and my brother for valuable assistance furnished by Sheridan's + Memoirs, "The Santa Fe Trail," "The Great Salt Lake Trail," "Buffalo + Bill's Autobiography," and "Stories from the Life of Buffalo Bill." + </p> + <p> + A second reason that prompted the writing of my brother's life-story is + purely personal. The sobriquet of "Buffalo Bill" has conveyed to many + people an impression of his personality that is far removed from the + facts. They have pictured in fancy a rough frontier character, without + tenderness and true nobility. But in very truth has the poet sung: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "The bravest are the tenderest— + The loving are the daring." +</pre> + <p> + The public knows my brother as boy Indian-slayer, a champion + buffalo-hunter, a brave soldier, a daring scout, an intrepid frontiersman, + and a famous exhibitor. It is only fair to him that a glimpse be given of + the parts he played behind the scenes—devotion to a widowed mother, + that pushed the boy so early upon a stage of ceaseless action, continued + care and tenderness displayed in later years, and the generous + thoughtfulness of manhood's prime. + </p> + <p> + Thus a part of my pleasant task has been to enable the public to see my + brother through his sister's eyes—eyes that have seen truly if + kindly. If I have been tempted into praise where simple narrative might to + the reader seem all that was required, if I have seemed to exaggerate in + any of my history's details, I may say that I am not conscious of having + set down more than "a plain, unvarnished tale." Embarrassed with riches of + fact, I have had no thought of fiction. H. C. W. + </p> + <p> + CODYVIEW, DULUTH, MINNESOTA, February 26, 1899. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS. + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. — THE OLD HOMESTEAD IN IOWA. + </h2> + <p> + A PLEASANT, roomy farm-house, set in the sunlight against a background of + cool, green wood and mottled meadow—this is the picture that my + earliest memories frame for me. To this home my parents, Isaac and Mary + Cody, had moved soon after their marriage. + </p> + <p> + The place was known as the Scott farm, and was situated in Scott County, + Iowa, near the historic little town of Le Clair, where, but a few years + before, a village of the Fox Indians had been located; where Black Hawk + and his thousand warriors had assembled for their last war-dance; where + the marquee of General Scott was erected, and the treaty with the Sacs and + Foxes drawn up; and where, in obedience to the Sac chief's terms, Antoine + Le Clair, the famous half-breed Indian scholar and interpreter, had built + his cabin, and given to the place his name. Here, in this atmosphere of + pioneer struggle and Indian warfare—in the farm-house in the dancing + sunshine, with the background of wood and meadow—my brother, William + Frederick Cody, was born, on the 26th day of February, 1846. + </p> + <p> + Of the good, old-fashioned sort was our family, numbering five daughters + and two sons—Martha, Samuel, Julia, William, Eliza, Helen, and May. + Samuel, a lad of unusual beauty of face and nature, was killed through an + unhappy accident before he was yet fourteen. + </p> + <p> + He was riding "Betsy Baker," a mare well known among old settlers in Iowa + as one of speed and pedigree, yet displaying at times a most malevolent + temper, accompanied by Will, who, though only seven years of age, yet sat + his pony with the ease and grace that distinguished the veteran rider of + the future. Presently Betsy Baker became fractious, and sought to throw + her rider. In vain did she rear and plunge; he kept his saddle. Then, + seemingly, she gave up the fight, and Samuel cried, in boyish exultation: + </p> + <p> + "Ah, Betsy Baker, you didn't quite come it that time!" + </p> + <p> + His last words! As if she knew her rider was a careless victor off his + guard, the mare reared suddenly and flung herself upon her back, crushing + the daring boy beneath her. + </p> + <p> + Though to us younger children our brother Samuel was but a shadowy memory, + in him had centered our parents' fondest hopes and aims. These, naturally, + were transferred to the younger, now the only son, and the hope that + mother, especially, held for him was strangely stimulated by the + remembrance of the mystic divination of a soothsayer in the years agone. + My mother was a woman of too much intelligence and force of character to + nourish an average superstition; but prophecies fulfilled will temper, + though they may not shake, the smiling unbelief of the most hard-headed + skeptic. Mother's moderate skepticism was not proof against the strange + fulfillment of one prophecy, which fell out in this wise: + </p> + <p> + To a Southern city, which my mother visited when a girl, there came a + celebrated fortune-teller, and led by curiosity, my mother and my aunt one + day made two of the crowd that thronged the sibyl's drawing-rooms. + </p> + <p> + Both received with laughing incredulity the prophecy that my aunt and the + two children with her would be dead in a fortnight; but the dread augury + was fulfilled to the letter. All three were stricken with yellow fever, + and died within less than the time set. This startling confirmation of the + soothsayer's divining powers not unnaturally affected my mother's belief + in that part of the prophecy relating to herself that "she would meet her + future husband on the steamboat by which she expected to return home; that + she would be married to him in a year, and bear three sons, of whom only + the second would live, but that the name of this son would be known all + over the world, and would one day be that of the President of the United + States." The first part of this prophecy was verified, and Samuel's death + was another link in the curious chain of circumstances. Was it, then, + strange that mother looked with unusual hope upon her second son? + </p> + <p> + That 'tis good fortune for a boy to be only brother to five sisters is + open to question. The older girls petted Will; the younger regarded him as + a superior being; while to all it seemed so fit and proper that the + promise of the stars concerning his future should be fulfilled that never + for a moment did we weaken in our belief that great things were in store + for our only brother. We looked for the prophecy's complete fulfillment, + and with childish veneration regarded Will as one destined to sit in the + executive's chair. + </p> + <p> + My mother, always somewhat delicate, was so affected in health by the + shock of Samuel's death that a change of scene was advised. The California + gold craze was then at its height, and father caught the fever, though in + a mild form; for he had prospered as a farmer, and we not only had a + comfortable home, but were in easy circumstances. Influenced in part by a + desire to improve mother's health, and in part, no doubt, by the golden + day-dreams that lured so many Argonauts Pacificward, he disposed of his + farm, and bade us prepare for a Western journey. Before his plans were + completed he fell in with certain disappointed gold-seekers returning from + the Coast, and impressed by their representations, decided in favor of + Kansas instead of California. + </p> + <p> + Father had very extravagant ideas regarding vehicles and horses, and such + a passion for equestrian display, that we often found ourselves with a + stable full of thoroughbreds and an empty cupboard. For our Western + migration we had, in addition to three prairie-schooners, a large family + carriage, drawn by a span of fine horses in silver-mounted harness. This + carriage had been made to order in the East, upholstered in the finest + leather, polished and varnished as though for a royal progress. Mother and + we girls found it more comfortable riding than the springless + prairie-schooners. + </p> + <p> + Brother Will constituted himself an armed escort, and rode proudly + alongside on his pony, his gun slung across the pommel of his saddle, and + the dog Turk bringing up the rear. + </p> + <p> + To him this Western trip thrilled with possible Indian skirmishes and + other stirring adventures, though of the real dangers that lay in our path + he did not dream. For him, therefore, the first week of our travels held + no great interest, for we were constantly chancing upon settlers and + farm-houses, in which the night might be passed; but with every mile the + settlers grew fewer and farther between; until one day Will whispered to + us, in great glee: "I heard father tell mother that he expected we should + have to camp to-night. Now we'll have some fun!" + </p> + <p> + Will's hope was well founded. Shortly before nightfall we reached a stream + that demanded a ferry-boat for its crossing, and as the nearest dwelling + was a dozen miles away, it was decided that we should camp by the + stream-side. The family was first sent across the ferry, and upon the + eight-year-old lad of the house father placed the responsibility of + selecting the ground on which to pitch the tents. + </p> + <p> + My brother's career forcibly illustrates the fact that environment plays + as large a part as heredity in shaping character. Perhaps his love for the + free life of the plains is a heritage derived from some long-gone + ancestor; but there can be no doubt that to the earlier experiences of + which I am writing he owed his ability as a scout. The faculty for + obtaining water, striking trails, and finding desirable camping-grounds in + him seemed almost instinct. + </p> + <p> + The tents being pitched upon a satisfactory site, Will called to Turk, the + dog, and rifle in hand, set forth in search of game for supper. He was + successful beyond his fondest hopes. He had looked only for small game, + but scarcely had he put the camp behind him when Turk gave a signaling + yelp, and out of the bushes bounded a magnificent deer. Nearly every + hunter will confess to "buck fever" at sight of his first deer, so it is + not strange that a boy of Will's age should have stood immovable, staring + dazedly at the graceful animal until it vanished from sight. Turk gave + chase, but soon trotted back, and barked reproachfully at his young + master. But Will presently had an opportunity to recover Turk's good + opinion, for the dog, after darting away, with another signaling yelp + fetched another fine stag within gun range. This time the young hunter, + mastering his nerves, took aim with steady hand, and brought down his + first deer. + </p> + <p> + On the following Sabbath we were encamped by another deep, swift-running + stream. After being wearied and overheated by a rabbit chase, Turk + attempted to swim across this little river, but was chilled, and would + have perished had not Will rushed to the rescue. The ferryman saw the boy + struggling with the dog in the water, and started after him with his boat. + But Will reached the bank without assistance. + </p> + <p> + "I've hearn of dogs saving children, but this is the first time I ever + hearn of a child saving a dog from drowning," ejaculated the ferryman. + "How old be you?" + </p> + <p> + "Eight, going on nine," answered Will. + </p> + <p> + "You're a big boy for your age," said the man. "But it's a wonder you + didn't sink with that load; he's a big old fellow," referring to Turk, + who, standing on three feet, was vigorously shaking the water from his + coat. Will at once knelt down beside him, and taking the uplifted foot in + his hands, remarked: "He must have sprained one of his legs when he fell + over that log; he doesn't whine like your common curs when they get hurt." + </p> + <p> + "He's blooded stock, then," said the man. "What kind of dog do you call + him?" + </p> + <p> + "He's an Ulm dog," said Will. + </p> + <p> + "I never heard tell of that kind of dog before." + </p> + <p> + "Did you ever hear of a tiger-mastiff, German mastiff, boar-hound, great + Dane? Turk's all of them together." + </p> + <p> + "Well," said the ferryman, "you're a pretty smart little fellow, and got + lots of grit. You ought to make your mark in the world. But right now you + had better get into some dry clothes." And on the invitation of the + ferryman, Will and the limping dog got into the boat, and were taken back + to camp. + </p> + <p> + Turk played so conspicuous and important a part in our early lives that he + deserves a brief description. He was a large and powerful animal of the + breed of dogs anciently used in Germany in hunting the wild boars. Later + the dogs were imported into England, where they were particularly valued + by people desiring a strong, brave watch-dog. When specially trained, they + are more fierce and active than the English mastiff. Naturally they are + not as fond of the water as the spaniel, the stag-hound, or the + Newfoundland, though they are the king of dogs on land. Not alone Will, + but the rest of the family, regarded Turk as the best of his kind, and he + well deserved the veneration he inspired. His fidelity and almost human + intelligence were time and again the means of saving life and property; + ever faithful, loyal, and ready to lay down his life, if need be, in our + service. + </p> + <p> + Outlaws and desperadoes were always to be met with on Western trails in + those rugged days, and more than once Turk's constant vigilance warned + father in time to prevent attacks from suspicious night prowlers. The + attachment which had grown up between Turk and his young master was but + the natural love of boys for their dogs intensified. Will at that time + estimated dogs as in later years he did men, the qualities which he found + to admire in Turk being vigilance, strength, courage, and constancy. With + men, as with dogs, he is not lavishly demonstrative; rarely pats them on + the back. But deeds of merit do not escape his notice or want his + appreciation. The patience, unselfishness, and true nobility observed in + this faithful canine friend of his boyhood days have many times proved to + be lacking in creatures endowed with a soul; yet he has never lost faith + in mankind, or in the ultimate destiny of his race. This I conceive to be + a characteristic of all great men. + </p> + <p> + This trip was memorable for all of us, perhaps especially so for brother + Will, for it comprehended not only his first deer, but his first negro. + </p> + <p> + As we drew near the Missouri line we came upon a comfortable farm-house, + at which father made inquiry concerning a lodging for the night. A widow + lived there, and the information that father was brother to Elijah Cody, + of Platte County, Missouri, won us a cordial welcome and the hospitality + of her home. + </p> + <p> + We were yet in the road, waiting father's report, when our startled vision + and childish imagination took in a seeming apparition, which glided from + the bushes by the wayside. + </p> + <p> + It proved a full-blooded African, with thick lips, woolly hair, enormous + feet, and scant attire. To all except mother this was a new revelation of + humanity, and we stared in wild-eyed wonder; even Turk was surprised into + silence. At this point father rejoined us, to share in mother's amusement, + and to break the spell for us by pleasantly addressing the negro, who + returned a respectful answer, accompanied by an ample grin. He was a slave + on the widow's plantation. + </p> + <p> + Reassured by the grin, Will offered his hand, and tasted the joy of being + addressed as "Massa" in the talk that followed. It was with difficulty + that we prevailed upon "Masse" to come to supper. + </p> + <p> + After a refreshing night's sleep we went on our way, and in a few days + reached my uncle's home. A rest was welcome, as the journey had been long + and toilsome, despite the fact that it had been enlivened by many + interesting incidents, and was thoroughly enjoyed by all of the family. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. — WILL'S FIRST INDIAN. + </h2> + <p> + MY uncle's home was in Weston, Platte County, Missouri, at that time the + large city of the West. As father desired to get settled again as soon as + possible, he left us at Weston, and crossed the Missouri River on a + prospecting tour, accompanied by Will and a guide. More than one day went + by in the quest for a desirable location, and one morning Will, wearied in + the reconnoissance, was left asleep at the night's camping-place, while + father and the guide rode away for the day's exploring. + </p> + <p> + When Will opened his eyes they fell upon the most interesting object that + the world just then could offer him—an Indian! + </p> + <p> + The "noble red man," as he has been poetically termed by people who have + but known him from afar, was in the act of mounting Will's horse, while + near by stood his own, a miserable, scrawny beast. + </p> + <p> + Will's boyish dreams were now a reality; he looked upon his first Indian. + Here, too, was a "buck"—not a graceful, vanishing deer, but a dirty + redskin, who seemingly was in some hurry to be gone. Without a trace of + "buck fever," Will jumped up, rifle in hand, and demanded: + </p> + <p> + "Here, what are you doing with my horse?" + </p> + <p> + The Indian regarded the lad with contemptuous composure. + </p> + <p> + "Me swap horses with paleface boy," said he. + </p> + <p> + The red man was fully armed, and Will did not know whether his father and + the guide were within call or not; but to suffer the Indian to ride away + with Uncle Elijah's fine horse was to forfeit his father's confidence and + shake his mother's and sisters' belief in the family hero; so he put a + bold face upon the matter, and remarked carelessly, as if discussing a + genuine transaction: + </p> + <p> + "No; I won't swap." + </p> + <p> + "Paleface boy fool!" returned the Indian, serenely. + </p> + <p> + Now this was scarcely the main point at issue, so Will contented himself + with replying, quietly but firmly: + </p> + <p> + "You cannot take my horse." + </p> + <p> + The Indian condescended to temporize. "Paleface horse no good," said he. + </p> + <p> + "Good enough for me," replied Will, smiling despite the gravity of the + situation. The Indian shone rather as a liar than a judge of horseflesh. + "Good enough for me; so you can take your old rack of bones and go." + </p> + <p> + Much to Will's surprise, the red man dropped the rein, flung himself upon + his own pony, and made off. And down fell "Lo the poor Indian" from the + exalted niche that he had filled in Will's esteem, for while it was bad in + a copper hero to steal horses, it was worse to flee from a boy not yet in + his teens. But a few moments later Lo went back to his lofty pedestal, for + Will heard the guide's voice, and realized that it was the sight of a man, + and not the threats of a boy, that had sent the Indian about his business—if + he had any. + </p> + <p> + The guide had returned to escort Will to the spot which father, after a + search of nearly a week, had discovered, and where he had decided to + locate our home. It was in Salt Creek Valley, a fertile blue-grass region, + sheltered by an amphitheater range of hills. The old Salt Lake trail + traversed this valley. There were at this time two great highways of + Western travel, the Santa Fe and the Salt Lake trails; later the Oregon + trail came into prominence. Of these the oldest and most historic was the + Santa Fe trail, the route followed by explorers three hundred years ago. + It had been used by Indian tribes from time, to white men, immemorial. At + the beginning of this century it was first used as an artery of commerce. + Over it Zebulon Pike made his well-known Western trip, and from it + radiated his explorations. The trail lay some distance south of + Leavenworth. It ran westward, dipping slightly to the south until the + Arkansas River was reached; then, following the course of this stream to + Bent's Fort, it crossed the river and turned sharply to the south. It went + through Raton Pass, and below Las Vegas it turned west to Santa Fe. + </p> + <p> + Exploration along the line of the Salt Lake trail began also with this + century. It became a beaten highway at the time of the Mormon exodus from + Nauvoo to their present place of abode. The trail crossed the Missouri + River at Leavenworth, and ran northerly to the Platte, touching that + stream at Fort Kearny. With a few variations it paralleled the Platte to + its junction with the Sweetwater, and left this river valley to run + through South Pass to big Sandy Creek, turning south to follow this little + stream. At Fort Bridger it turned westward again, passed Echo Canon, and a + few miles farther on ran into Salt Lake City. Over this trail journeyed + thousands of gold-hunters toward California, hopeful and high-spirited on + the westerly way, disappointed and depressed, the large majority of them, + on the back track. Freighting outfits, cattle trains, emigrants—nearly + all the western travel—followed this track across the new land. A + man named Rively, with the gift of grasping the advantage of location, had + obtained permission to establish a trading-post on this trail three miles + beyond the Missouri, and as proximity to this depot of supplies was a + manifest convenience, father's selection of a claim only two miles distant + was a wise one. + </p> + <p> + The Kansas-Nebraska Bill, which provided for the organizing of those two + territories and opened them for settlement, was passed in May. 1854. This + bill directly opposed the Missouri Compromise, which restricted slavery to + all territory south of 36'0 30" north latitude. A clause in the new bill + provided that the settlers should decide for themselves whether the new + territories were to be free or slave states. Already hundreds of settlers + were camped upon the banks of the Missouri, waiting the passage of the + bill before entering and acquiring possession of the land. Across the + curtain of the night ran a broad ribbon of dancing camp-fires, stretching + for miles along the bank of the river. + </p> + <p> + None too soon had father fixed upon his claim. The act allowing settlers + to enter was passed in less than a week afterward. Besides the pioneers + intending actual settlement, a great rush was made into the territories by + members of both political parties. These became the gladiators, with + Kansas the arena, for a bitter, bloody contest between those desiring and + those opposing the extension of slave territory. + </p> + <p> + Having already decided upon his location, father was among the first, + after the bill was passed, to file a claim and procure the necessary + papers, and shortly afterward he had a transient abiding-place prepared + for us. Whatever mother may have thought of the one-roomed cabin, whose + chinks let in the sun by day and the moon and stars by night, and whose + carpet was nature's greenest velvet, life in it was a perennial picnic for + the children. Meantime father was at work on our permanent home, and + before the summer fled we were domiciled in a large double-log house—rough + and primitive, but solid and comfort-breeding. + </p> + <p> + This same autumn held an episode so deeply graven in my memory that time + has not blurred a dine of it. Jane, our faithful maid of all work, who + went with us to our Western home, had little time to play the governess. + Household duties claimed her every waking hour, as mother was delicate, + and the family a large one; so Turk officiated as both guardian and + playmate of the children. + </p> + <p> + One golden September day Eliza and I set out after wild flowers, + accompanied by Turk and mother's caution not to stray too far, as wild + beasts, 'twas said, lurked in the neighboring forest; but the prettiest + flowers were always just beyond, and we wandered afield until we reached a + fringe of timber half a mile from the house, where we tarried under the + trees. Meantime mother grew alarmed, and Will was dispatched after the + absent tots. + </p> + <p> + Turk, as we recalled, had sought to put a check upon our wanderings, and + when we entered the woods his restlessness increased. Suddenly he began to + paw up the carpet of dry leaves, and a few moments later the shrill scream + of a panther echoed through the forest aisles. + </p> + <p> + Eliza was barely six years old, and I was not yet four. We clung to each + other in voiceless terror. Then from afar came a familiar whistle—Will's + call to his dog. That heartened us, babes as we were, for was not our + brother our reliance in every emergency? Rescue was at hand; but Turk + continued tearing up the leaves, after signaling his master with a loud + bark. Then, pulling at our dresses, he indicated the refuge he had dug for + us. Here we lay down, and the dog covered us with the leaves, dragging to + the heap, as a further screen, a large dead branch. Then, with the heart + of a lion, he put himself on guard. + </p> + <p> + From our leafy covert we could see the panther's tawny form come gliding + through the brush. He saw Turk, and crouched for a spring. This came as an + arrow, but Turk dodged it; and then, with a scream such as I never heard + from dog before or since, our defender hurled himself upon the foe. + </p> + <p> + Turk was powerful, and his courage was flawless, but he was no match for + the panther. In a few moments the faithful dog lay stunned and bleeding + from one stroke of the forest-rover's steel-shod paw. The cruel beast had + scented other prey, and dismissing Turk, he paced to and fro, seeking to + locate us. We scarcely dared to breathe, and every throb of our frightened + little hearts was a prayer that Will would come to us in time. + </p> + <p> + At last the panther's roving eyes rested upon our inadequate hiding-place, + and as he crouched for the deadly leap we hid our faces. + </p> + <p> + But Turk had arisen. Wounded as he was, he yet made one last heroic effort + to save us by again directing the panther's attention to himself. + </p> + <p> + The helpless, hopeless ordeal of agony was broken by a rifle's sharp + report. The panther fell, shot through the heart, and out from the screen + of leaves rushed two hysterical little girls, with pallid faces drowned in + tears, who clung about a brother's neck and were shielded in his arms. + </p> + <p> + Will, himself but a child, caressed and soothed us in a most paternal + fashion; and when the stone of sobs was passed we turned to Turk. Happily + his injuries were not fatal, and he whined feebly when his master reached + him. + </p> + <p> + "Bravo! Good dog!" cried Will. "You saved them, Turk! You saved them!" And + kneeling beside our faithful friend, he put his arms about the shaggy + neck. + </p> + <p> + Dear old Turk! If there be a land beyond the sky for such as thou, may the + snuggest corner and best of bones be thy reward! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. — THE SHADOW OF PARTISAN STRIFE. + </h2> + <p> + OWING to the conditions, already spoken of, under which Kansas was + settled, all classes were represented in its population. Honest, thrifty + farmers and well-to-do traders leavened a lump of shiftless + ne'er-do-wells, lawless adventurers, and vagabonds of all sorts and + conditions. If father at times questioned the wisdom of coming to this new + and untried land, he kept his own counsel, and set a brave face against + the future. + </p> + <p> + He had been prominent in political circles in Iowa, and had filled + positions of public trust; but he had no wish to become involved in the + partisan strife that raged in Kansas. He was a Free Soil man, and there + were but two others in that section who did not believe in slavery. For a + year he kept his political views to himself; but it became rumored about + that he was an able public speaker, and the pro-slavery men naturally + ascribed to him the same opinions as those held by his brother Elijah, a + pronounced pro-slavery man; so they regarded father as a promising leader + in their cause. He had avoided the issue, and had skillfully contrived to + escape declaring for one side or the other, but on the scroll of his + destiny it was written that he should be one of the first victims offered + on the sacrificial altar of the struggle for human liberty. + </p> + <p> + The post-trader's was a popular rendezvous for all the settlers round. It + was a day in the summer of '55 that father visited the store, accompanied, + as usual, by Will and Turk. Among the crowd, which was noisy and excited, + he noted a number of desperadoes in the pro-slavery faction, and noted, + too, that Uncle Elijah and our two Free Soil neighbors, Mr. Hathaway and + Mr. Lawrence, were present. + </p> + <p> + Father's appearance was greeted by a clamor for a speech. To speak before + that audience was to take his life in his hands; yet in spite of his + excuses he was forced to the chair. + </p> + <p> + It was written! There was no escape! Father walked steadily to the + dry-goods box which served as a rostrum. As he passed Mr. Hathaway, the + good old man plucked him by the sleeve and begged him to serve out + platitudes to the crowd, and to screen his real sentiments. + </p> + <p> + But father was not a man that dealt in platitudes. + </p> + <p> + "Friends," said he, quietly, as he faced his audience and drew himself to + his full height,—"friends, you are mistaken in your man. I am sorry + to disappoint you. I have no wish to quarrel with you. But you have forced + me to speak, and I can do no less than declare my real convictions. I am, + and always have been, opposed to slavery. It is an institution that not + only degrades the slave, but brutalizes the slave-holder, and I pledge you + my word that I shall use my best endeavors—yes, that I shall lay + down my life, if need be—to keep this curse from finding lodgment + upon Kansas soil. It is enough that the fairest portions of our land are + already infected with this blight. May it spread no farther. All my energy + and my ability shall swell the effort to bring in Kansas as a Free Soil + state." + </p> + <p> + Up to this point the crowd had been so dumfounded by his temerity that + they kept an astonished silence. Now the storm broke. The rumble of angry + voices swelled into a roar of fury. An angry mob surrounded the speaker. + Several desperadoes leaped forward with deadly intent, and one, Charles + Dunn by name, drove his knife to the hilt into the body of the brave man + who dared thus openly to avow his principles. + </p> + <p> + As father fell, Will sprang to him, and turning to the murderous + assailant, cried out in boyhood's fury: + </p> + <p> + "You have killed my father! When I'm a man I'll kill you!" + </p> + <p> + The crowd slunk away, believing father dead. The deed appalled them; they + were not yet hardened to the lawlessness that was so soon to put the state + to blush. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Hathaway and Will then carried father to a hiding-place in the long + grass by the wayside. The crowd dispersed so slowly that dusk came on + before the coast was clear. At length, supported by Will, father dragged + his way homeward, marking his tortured progress with a trail of blood. + </p> + <p> + This path was afterward referred to in the early history of Kansas as "The + Cody Bloody Trail." + </p> + <p> + It was such wild scenes as these that left their impress on the youth and + fashioned the Cody of later years—cool in emergency, fertile in + resource, swift in decision, dashing and intrepid when the time for action + came. + </p> + <p> + Our troubles were but begun. Father's convalescence was long and tedious; + he never recovered fully. His enemies believed him dead, and for a while + we kept the secret guarded; but as soon as he was able to be about + persecution began. + </p> + <p> + About a month after the tragedy at Rively's, Will ran in one evening with + the warning that a band of horsemen were approaching. Suspecting trouble, + mother put some of her own clothes about father, gave him a pail, and bade + him hide in the cornfield. He walked boldly from the house, and sheltered + by the gathering dusk, succeeded in passing the horsemen unchallenged. The + latter rode up to the house and dismounted. + </p> + <p> + "Where's Cody?" asked the leader. He was informed that father was not at + home. + </p> + <p> + "Lucky for him!" was the frankly brutal rejoinder. "We'll make sure work + of the killing next time." + </p> + <p> + Disappointed in their main intention, the marauders revenged themselves in + their own peculiar way by looting the house of every article that took + their fancy; then they sat down with the announced purpose of waiting the + return of their prospective victim. + </p> + <p> + Fearing the effect of the night air upon father, though it was yet summer, + mother made a sign to Will, who slipped from the room, and guided by Turk, + carried blankets to the cornfield, returning before his absence had been + remarked. The ruffians soon tired of waiting, and rode away, after warning + mother of the brave deed they purposed to perform. Father came in for the + night, returning to his covert with the dawn. + </p> + <p> + In expectation of some such raid, we had secreted a good stock of + provisions; but as soon as the day was up Will was dispatched to Rively's + store to reconnoiter, under pretext of buying groceries. Keeping eyes and + ears open, he learned that father's enemies were on the watch for him; so + the cornfield must remain his screen. After several days, the exposure and + anxiety told on his strength. He decided to leave home and go to Fort + Leavenworth, four miles distant. When night fell he returned to the house, + packed a few needed articles, and bade us farewell. Will urged that he + ride Prince, but he regarded his journey as safer afoot. It was a sad + parting. None of us knew whether we should ever again see our father. + </p> + <p> + "I hope," he said to mother, "that these clouds will soon pass away, and + that we may have a happy home once more." Then, placing his hands on + Will's head, "You will have to be the man of the house until my return," + he said. "But I know I can trust my boy to watch over his mother and + sisters." + </p> + <p> + With such responsibilities placed upon his shoulders, such confidence + reposed in him, small wonder that Will should grow a man in thought and + feeling before he grew to be one in years. + </p> + <p> + Father reached Fort Leavenworth in safety, but the quarrel between the + pro-slavery party and the Free Soilers waxed more bitter, and he decided + that security lay farther on; so he took passage on an up-river boat to + Doniphan, twenty miles distant. This was then a mere landing-place, but he + found a small band of men in camp cooking supper. They were part of + Colonel Jim Lane's command, some three hundred strong, on their way West + from Indiana. + </p> + <p> + Colonel Lane was an interesting character. He had been a friend to Elijah + Lovejoy, who was killed, in 1836, for maintaining an anti-slavery + newspaper in Illinois. The Kansas contest speedily developed the fact that + the actual settlers sent from the North by the emigrant-aid societies + would enable the Free State party to outnumber the ruffians sent in by the + Southerners; and when the pro-slavery men were driven to substituting + bullets for ballots, Colonel Lane recruited a band of hardy men to protect + the anti-slavery settlers, and incidentally to avenge the murder of + Lovejoy. + </p> + <p> + The meeting of father and Lane's men was a meeting of friends, and he + chose to cast his lot with theirs. Shortly afterward he took part in "The + Battle of Hickory Point," in which the pro-slavery men were defeated with + heavy loss; and thenceforward the name of Jim Lane was a terror to the + lawless and a wall of protection to our family. + </p> + <p> + The storm and stress of battle had drawn heavily on what little strength + was left to father, and relying for safety upon the proximity of Colonel + Lane and his men, he returned to us secretly by night, and was at once + prostrated on a bed of sickness. + </p> + <p> + This proved a serious strain upon our delicate mother, for during father's + absence a little brother had been added to our home, and not only had she, + in addition to the care of Baby Charlie, the nursing of a sick man, but + she was constantly harassed by apprehensions for his safety as well. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. — PERSECUTION CONTINUES. + </h2> + <p> + MOTHER'S fears were well grounded. A few days after father had returned + home, a man named Sharpe, who disgraced the small office of justice of the + peace, rode up to our house, very much the worse for liquor, and informed + mother that his errand was to "search the house for that abolition husband + of yours." The intoxicated ruffian then demanded something to eat. While + mother, with a show of hospitality, was preparing supper for him, the + amiable Mr. Sharpe killed time in sharpening his bowie-knife on the sole + of his shoe. + </p> + <p> + "That," said he to Will, who stood watching him, "that's to cut the heart + out of that Free State father of yours!" And he tested the edge with + brutally suggestive care. + </p> + <p> + Will's comment was to take down his rifle and place himself on the + staircase leading up to father's room. There was trouble in that quarter + for Mr. Sharpe, if he attempted to ascend those stairs. + </p> + <p> + But the justice, as mother surmised, had no notion that father was at + home, else he would not have come alone. He ate heartily of the supper, + which Will hoped would choke him, and passing from drowsiness to drunken + slumber, soon tumbled from his chair. This so confused him that he forgot + his pretended errand, and shambled out of the house. He was not so drunk + that he could not tell a good bit of horseflesh, and he straightway took a + fancy to Prince, the pet pony of the family. An unwritten plank in the + platform of the pro-slavery men was that the Free Soil party had no rights + they were bound to respect, and Sharpe remarked to Will, with a malicious + grin: + </p> + <p> + "That's a nice pony of yours, sonny. Guess I'll take him along with me." + And he proceeded to exchange the saddle from the back of his own horse to + that of Prince. + </p> + <p> + "You old coward!" muttered Will, bursting with wrath. "I'll get even with + you some day." + </p> + <p> + The justice was a tall, burly fellow, and he cut so ridiculous a figure as + he rode away on Prince's back, his heels almost touching the ground, that + Will laughed outright as he thought of a plan to save his pony. + </p> + <p> + A shrill whistle brought Turk to the scene, and receiving his cue, the dog + proceeded to give Sharpe a very bad five minutes. He would nip at one of + the dangling legs, spring back out of reach of the whip with a triumphant + bark, then repeat the performance with the other leg. This little comedy + had a delighted spectator in Will, who had followed at a safe distance. + Just as Sharpe made one extra effort to reach Turk, the boy whistled a + signal to Prince, who responded with a bound that dumped his rider in the + dust. Here Turk stood over him and showed his teeth. + </p> + <p> + "Call off your dog, bub!" the justice shouted to Will, "and you may keep + your little sheep, for he's no good, anyway." + </p> + <p> + "That's a bargain!" cried Will, restored to good humor; and helping the + vanquished foe upon his own steed, he assured him that he need not fear + Turk so long as he kept his word. Sharpe departed, but we were far from + being rid of him. + </p> + <p> + About a fortnight later we were enjoying an evening with father, who was + now able to come downstairs. He was seated in a big arm-chair before the + open fire, with his family gathered round him, by his side our frail, + beautiful mother, with Baby Charlie on her knee, Martha and Julia, with + their sewing, and Will, back of mother's chair, tenderly smoothing the + hair from her brow, while he related spiritedly some new escapade of Turk. + Suddenly he checked his narrative, listened for a space, and announced: + </p> + <p> + "There are some men riding on the road toward the house. We'd better be + ready for trouble." + </p> + <p> + Mother, equal to every emergency, hurriedly disposed her slender forces + for defense. Martha and Julia were directed to help father to bed; that + done, to repair to the unfurnished front room above stairs; Will was + instructed to call the hired man and Jane, who was almost as large and + quite as strong as the average man; and the three were armed and given + their cue. They were all handy with their weapons, but mother sought to + win by strategy, if possible. She bade the older girls don heavy boots, + and gave them further instructions. By this time the horsemen had reached + the gate. Their leader was the redoubtable Justice Sharpe. He rode up to + the door, and rapped with the but of his riding-whip. Mother threw up the + window overhead. + </p> + <p> + "Who's there? and what do you want?" she demanded. + </p> + <p> + "We want that old abolition husband of yours, and, dead or alive, we mean + to have him!" + </p> + <p> + "All right, Mr. Sharpe," was the steady answer. "I'll ask Colonel Lane and + his men to wait on you." + </p> + <p> + The hired man, who had served in the Mexican War, here gave a sharp word + of command, which was responded to by trampling of heavy boots upon the + bare floor. Then, calling a halt, the pretended Colonel Lane advanced to + the window, and shouted to the horsemen: + </p> + <p> + "Set foot inside that gate and my men will fire on you!" + </p> + <p> + Sharpe, an arrant coward, had retreated at the first sound of a man's + voice, and after a short parley with his nonplused companions, he led them + away—outwitted by a woman. + </p> + <p> + As a sort of consolation prize, Sharpe again made off with Prince; but + Will's sorrow in the morning was short-lived, for the sagacious little + creature slipped his halter and came flying home before the forenoon was + half spent. + </p> + <p> + After this experience, father decided that, for our sakes as well as for + his own, he must again leave home, and as soon as he recovered a measure + of his strength he went to Grasshopper Falls, thirty-five miles west of + Leavenworth. Here he erected a sawmill, and hoped that he had put so many + miles between him and his enemies that he might be allowed to pursue a + peaceful occupation. He made us occasional visits, so timing his journey + that he reached home after nightfall, and left again before the sun was + up. + </p> + <p> + One day when we were looking forward to one of these visits, our good + friend Mr. Hathaway made his appearance about eleven o'clock. + </p> + <p> + "It is too bad to be the bearer of ill tidings," said he, "but the news of + your husband's expected visit has been noised about in some way, and + another plot to kill him is afoot. Some of his enemies are camped at Big + Stranger's Creek, and intend to shoot him as he passes there." + </p> + <p> + Then followed a long and anxious consultation, which ended without any + plan of rescue. + </p> + <p> + All of which had been overheard by Will, who was confined to his bed with + an attack of ague. In him, he decided, lay the only hope for father's + safety; so, dressing, he presented his fever-flushed face to mother. As he + held out a handkerchief, "Tie it tight around my head, mother," said he; + "then it won't ache so hard." + </p> + <p> + A remonstrance against his getting out of bed brought out the fact that he + contemplated riding to Grasshopper Falls! + </p> + <p> + He was almost too weak to stand, a storm threatened, and thirty miles lay + between him and father; yet he was not to be dissuaded from his + undertaking. So Julia and Martha saddled Prince and helped the ague-racked + courier to his saddle. + </p> + <p> + The plunge into the open air and the excitement of the start encouraged + Will to believe that he could hold out. As he settled down to his long, + hard ride he reflected that it was not yet noon, and that father would not + set out until late in the day. Prince seemed to discern that something + extraordinary was afoot, and swung along at a swift, steady gait. + </p> + <p> + Big Stranger's Creek cut the road half-way to the Falls, and Will + approached it before the afternoon was half gone. The lowering sky + darkened the highway, and he hoped to pass the ambush unrecognized; but as + he came up to the stream he made out a camp and campers, one of whom + called out carelessly to him as he passed: + </p> + <p> + "Are you all right on the goose?"—the cant phrase of the pro-slavery + men. + </p> + <p> + "Never rode a goose in my life, gentlemen," was the reply. + </p> + <p> + "That's Cody's boy!" shouted another voice; and the word "Halt!" rang out + just as Will had galloped safely past the camp. + </p> + <p> + Will's answer was to drive the spurs into Prince and dart ahead, followed + by a rain of bullets. He was now well out of range, and the pony still + strong and fleet. + </p> + <p> + The chase was on, and in the thrill of it Will forgot his weakness. A new + strength came with the rush of air and the ring of hoofs, and "I'll reach + the Falls in time!" was his heartening thought, as pursurer and pursued + sped through the forests, clattered over bridges, and galloped up hill and + down. + </p> + <p> + Then broke the long-impending storm, and the hard road became the bed of a + muddy stream. The pursuit was abandoned, and this stimulus removed, Will + felt the chills and weakness coming on again. He was drenched to the skin, + and it was an effort to keep his saddle, but he set his teeth firmly in + his resolve to accomplish his heroic purpose. + </p> + <p> + At last! A welcome light gleamed between the crystal bars of the rain. His + mission was accomplished. + </p> + <p> + His ride had been longer by ten miles than that famous gallop of the + friend of his after years—Phil Sheridan. Like Sheridan, he reached + the goal in time, for father was just mounting his horse. + </p> + <p> + But the ride proved too much for his strength, and Will collapsed. Father + started with him, a few days later, for Topeka, which was headquarters for + the Free State party. + </p> + <p> + Father acquainted mother of their safety, and explained that he had gone + to Topeka because he feared his life was no longer safe at Grasshopper + Falls. + </p> + <p> + Party strife in Kansas was now at its height. Thousands came into the + territory from adjacent slave states simply to vote, and the pro-slavery + party elected a legislature, whose first meeting was held at Le Compton. + This election the Free Soilers declared illegal, because of fraudulent + voting, and assembling at Topeka in the winter of 1855-56, they framed a + constitution excluding slavery, and organized a rival government. Of this + first Free-Soil Legislature father was a member. + </p> + <p> + Thenceforth war was the order of the day, and in the fall of 1856 a + military governor was appointed, with full authority to maintain law and + order in Kansas. + </p> + <p> + Recognizing the good work effected by the emigrant-aid societies, and + realizing that in a still larger Northern emigration to Kansas lay the + only hope of its admission as a free state, father went to Ohio in the + following spring, to labor for the salvation of the territory he had + chosen for his home. Here his natural gift of oratory had free play, and + as the result of his work on the stump he brought back to Kansas sixty + families, the most of whom settled in the vicinity of Grasshopper Falls, + now Valley Falls. + </p> + <p> + This meant busy times for us, for with that magnificent disregard for + practical matters that characterizes many men of otherwise great gifts, + father had invited each separate family to make headquarters at his home + until other arrangements could be perfected. As a result, our house + overflowed, while the land about us was dotted with tents; but these + melted away, as one by one the families selected claims and put up cabins. + </p> + <p> + Among the other settlers was Judge Delahay, who, with his family, located + at Leavenworth, and began the publishing of the first abolition newspaper + in Kansas. The appointing of the military governor was the means of + restoring comparative tranquillity; but hundreds of outrages were + committed, and the judge and his newspaper came in for a share of + suffering. The printing-office was broken into, and the type and press + thrown into the Missouri River. Undaunted, the judge procured a new press, + and the paper continued. + </p> + <p> + A semi-quiet now reigned in the territory; father resumed work at the + sawmill, and we looked forward to a peaceful home and the joy of being + once more permanently united. But it was not to be. The knife wound had + injured father's lung. With care and nursing it might have healed, but + constant suffering attended on the life that persecution had led him, and + in the spring of '57 he again came home, and took to his bed for the last + time. + </p> + <p> + All that could be was done, but nothing availed. After a very short + illness he passed away—one of the first martyrs in the cause of + freedom in Kansas. + </p> + <p> + The land of his adoption became his last, long resting-place. His remains + now lie on Pilot Knob, which overlooks the beautiful city of Leavenworth. + His death was regretted even by his enemies, who could not help but grant + a tribute of respect to a man who had been upright, just, and generous to + friend and foe. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. — THE "BOY EXTRA." + </h2> + <p> + AT this sorrowful period mother was herself almost at death's door with + consumption, but far from sinking under the blow, she faced the new + conditions with a steadfast calm, realizing that should she, too, be + taken, her children would be left without a protector, and at the mercy of + the enemies whose malignity had brought their father to an untimely end. + Her indomitable will opposed her bodily weakness. "I will not die," she + told herself, "until the welfare of my children is assured." She was + needed, for our persecution continued. + </p> + <p> + Hardly was the funeral over when a trumped-up claim for a thousand + dollars, for lumber and supplies, was entered against our estate. Mother + knew the claim was fictitious, as all the bills had been settled, but the + business had been transacted through the agency of Uncle Elijah, and + father had neglected to secure the receipts. In those bitter, troublous + days it too often happened that brother turned against brother, and Elijah + retained his fealty to his party at the expense of his dead brother's + family. + </p> + <p> + This fresh affliction but added fuel to the flame of mother's energy. Our + home was paid for, but father's business had been made so broken and + irregular that our financial resources were of the slenderest, and should + this unjust claim for a thousand dollars be allowed, we would be homeless. + </p> + <p> + The result of mother's study of the situation was, "If I had the ready + money, I should fight the claim." + </p> + <p> + "You fight the claim, and I'll get the money," Will replied. + </p> + <p> + Mother smiled, but Will continued: + </p> + <p> + "Russell, Majors & Waddell will give me work. Jim Willis says I am + capable of filling the position of 'extra.' If you'll go with me and ask + Mr. Majors for a job, I'm sure he'll give me one." + </p> + <p> + Russell, Majors & Waddell were overland freighters and contractors, + with headquarters at Leavenworth. To Will's suggestion mother entered a + demurrer, but finally yielded before his insistence. Mr. Majors had known + father, and was more than willing to aid us, but Will's youth was an + objection not lightly overridden. + </p> + <p> + "What can a boy of your age do?" he asked, kindly. + </p> + <p> + "I can ride, shoot, and herd cattle," said Will; "but I'd rather be an + 'extra' on one of your trains.' + </p> + <p> + "But that is a man's work, and is dangerous besides." Mr. Majors + hesitated. "But I'll let you try it one trip, and if you do a man's work, + I'll give you a man's pay." + </p> + <p> + So Will's name was put on the company roll, and he signed a pledge that + illustrates better than a description the character and disposition of Mr. + Majors. + </p> + <p> + "I, William F. Cody," it read, "do hereby solemnly swear, before the great + and living God, that during my engagement with, and while I am in the + employ of, Russell, Majors & Waddell, I will, under no circumstances, + use profane language, that I will not quarrel or fight with any other + employee of the firm, and that in every respect I will conduct myself + honestly, be faithful to my duties, and so direct all my acts as to win + the confidence of my employers. So help me God!" + </p> + <p> + Mr Majors employed many wild and reckless men, but the language of the + pledge penetrated to the better nature of them all. They endeavored, with + varying success, to live up to its conditions, although most of them held + that driving a bull-team constituted extenuating circumstances for an + occasional expletive. + </p> + <p> + The pledge lightened mother's heart; she knew that Will would keep his + word; she felt, too, that a man that required such a pledge of his + employees was worthy of their confidence and esteem. + </p> + <p> + The train was to start in a day, and all of us were busy with the + preparations for Will's two months' trip. The moment of parting came, and + it was a trying ordeal for mother, so recently bereaved of husband. Will + sought to soothe her, but the younger sisters had better success, for with + tears in our eyes we crowded about him, imploring him to "run if he saw + any Indians." + </p> + <p> + 'Tis but a step from tears to smiles; the situation was relieved, and Will + launched his life bark amid adieus of hope and confidence and love. His + fortitude lasted only till he was out of sight of the house; but youth is + elastic, the plains lay before him, and mother and sisters were to be + helped; so he presented a cheerful face to his employers. + </p> + <p> + That night the bed of the "boy extra" was a blanket under a wagon; but he + slept soundly, and was ready when the train started with the dawn. + </p> + <p> + The "bull-train" took its name from the fact that each of the thirty-five + wagons making up a full train was hauled by several yoke of oxen, driven + by one man, known as a bullwhacker. This functionary's whip cracked like a + rifle, and could be heard about as far. The wagons resembled the ordinary + prairie-schooner, but were larger and more strongly built; they were + protected from the weather by a double covering of heavy canvas, and had a + freight capacity of seven thousand pounds. + </p> + <p> + Besides the bullwhackers there were cavallard drivers (who cared for the + loose cattle), night herders, and sundry extra hands, all under the charge + of a chief wagon-master, termed the wagon-boss, his lieutenants being the + boss of the cattle train and the assistant wagon-master. The men were + disposed in messes, each providing its own wood and water, doing its own + cooking, and washing up its own tin dinner service, while one man in each + division stood guard. Special duties were assigned to the "extras," and + Will's was to ride up and down the train delivering orders. This suited + his fancy to a dot, for the oxen were snail-gaited, and to plod at their + heels was dull work. Kipling tells us it is quite impossible to "hustle + the East"; it were as easy, as Will discovered, to hustle a bull-train. + </p> + <p> + From the outset the "boy extra" was a favorite with the men. They liked + his pluck in undertaking such work, and when it was seen that he took + pride in executing orders promptly, he became a favorite with the bosses + as well. In part his work was play to him; he welcomed an order as a break + in the monotony of the daily march, and hailed the opportunity of a gallop + on a good horse. + </p> + <p> + The world of Will's fancy was bounded by the hazy rim where plain and sky + converge, and when the first day's journey was done, and he had staked out + and cared for his horse, he watched with fascinated eyes the strange and + striking picture limned against the black hills and the sweeping stretch + of darkening prairie. Everything was animation; the bullwhackers + unhitching and disposing of their teams, the herders staking out the + cattle, and—not the least interesting—the mess cooks preparing + the evening meal at the crackling camp-fires, with the huge, + canvas-covered wagons encircling them like ghostly sentinels; the ponies + and oxen blinking stupidly as the flames stampeded the shadows in which + they were enveloped; and more weird than all, the buckskin-clad + bullwhackers, squatted around the fire, their beards glowing red in its + light, their faces drawn in strange black and yellow lines, while the + spiked grasses shot tall and sword-like over them. + </p> + <p> + It was wonderful—that first night of the "boy extra." + </p> + <p> + But Will discovered that life on the plains is not all a supper under the + stars when the sparks fly upward; it has its hardships and privations. + There were days, as the wagons dragged their slow lengths along, when the + clouds obscured the sky and the wind whistled dismally; days when torrents + fell and swelled the streams that must be crossed, and when the mud lay + ankle-deep; days when the cattle stampeded, and the round-up meant long, + extra hours of heavy work; and, hardest but most needed work of all, the + eternal vigil 'gainst an Indian attack. + </p> + <p> + Will did not share the anxiety of his companions. To him a brush with + Indians would prove that boyhood's dreams sometimes come true, and in + imagination he anticipated the glory of a first encounter with the "noble + red man," after the fashion of the heroes in the hair-lifting Western + tales he had read. He was soon to learn, as many another has learned, that + the Indian of real Life is vastly different from the Indian of fiction. He + refuses to "bite the dust" at sight of a paleface, and a dozen of them + have been known to hold their own against as many white men. + </p> + <p> + Some twenty miles west of Fort Kearny a halt was made for dinner at the + bank of a creek that emptied into the Platte River. No signs of Indians + had been observed, and there was no thought of special danger. + Nevertheless, three men were constantly on guard. Many of the trainmen + were asleep under the wagons while waiting dinner, and Will was watching + the maneuvers of the cook in his mess. Suddenly a score of shots rang out + from the direction of a neighboring thicket, succeeded by a chorus of + savage yells. + </p> + <p> + Will saw the three men on the lookout drop in their tracks, and saw the + Indians divide, one wing stampeding the cattle, the other charging down + upon the camp. + </p> + <p> + The trainmen were old frontiersmen, and although taken wholly by surprise, + they lined up swiftly in battle array behind the wagons, with the bosses, + Bill and Frank McCarthy, at their head, and the "boy extra" under the + direction of the wagon-master. + </p> + <p> + A well-placed volley of rifle-balls checked the Indians, and they wheeled + and rode away, after sending in a scattering cloud of arrows, which + wounded several of the trainmen. The decision of a hasty council of war + was, that a defensive stand would be useless, as the Indians outnumbered + the whites ten to one, and red reinforcements were constantly coming up, + until it seemed to Will as if the prairie were alive with them. The only + hope of safety lay in the shelter of the creek's high bank, so a run was + made for it. The Indians charged again, with the usual accompaniment of + whoops, yells, and flying arrows; but the trainmen had reached the creek, + and from behind its natural breastwork maintained a rifle fire that drove + the foe back out of range. + </p> + <p> + To follow the creek and river to Fort Kearny was not accounted much of a + chance for escape, but it was the only avenue that lay open; so, with a + parting volley to deceive the besiegers into thinking that the fort was + still held, the perilous and difficult journey was begun. + </p> + <p> + The Indians quickly penetrated the ruse, and another charge had to be + repulsed. Besides the tiresome work of wading, there were wounded men to + help along, and a ceaseless watch to keep against another rush of the + reds. It was a trying ordeal for a man, doubly so for a boy like Will; but + he was encouraged to coolness and endurance by a few words from Frank + McCarthy, who remarked, admiringly, "Well, Billy, you didn't scare worth a + cent." + </p> + <p> + After a few miles of wading the little party issued out upon the Platte + River. By this time the wounded men were so exhausted that a halt was + called to improvise a raft. On this the sufferers were placed, and three + or four men detailed to shove it before them. In consideration of his + youth, Will was urged to get upon the raft, but he declined, saying that + he was not wounded, and that if the stream got too deep for him to wade, + he could swim. This was more than some of the men could do, and they, too, + had to be assisted over the deep places. + </p> + <p> + Thus wore the long and weary hours away, and though the men, who knew how + hard a trip it was, often asked, "How goes it, Billy?" he uttered no word + of complaint. + </p> + <p> + But half a day's wading, without rest or food, gradually weighted his + heels, and little by little he lagged behind his companions. The moon came + out and silvered tree and river, but the silent, plodding band had no eyes + for the glory of the landscape. + </p> + <p> + Will had fallen behind some twenty rods, but in a moment fatigue was + forgotten, the blood jumped in his veins, for just ahead of him the + moonlight fell upon the feathered head-dress of an Indian chief, who was + peering over the bank. Motionless, he watched the head, shoulders, and + body of the brave come into view. The Indian supposed the entire party + ahead, and Will made no move until the savage bent his bow. + </p> + <p> + Then he realized, with a thumping heart, that death must come to one of + his comrades or the Indian. + </p> + <p> + Even in direst necessity it is a fearful thing to deliberately take a + human life, but Will had no time for hesitation. There was a shot, and the + Indian rolled down the bank into the river. + </p> + <p> + His expiring yell was answered by others. The reds were not far away. + Frank McCarthy, missing Will, stationed guards, and ran back to look for + him. He found the lad hauling the dead warrior ashore, and seizing his + hand, cried out: "Well done, my boy; you've killed your first Indian, and + done it like a man!" + </p> + <p> + Will wanted to stop and bury the body, but being assured that it was not + only an uncustomary courtesy, but in this case quite impossible, he + hastened on. As they came up with the waiting group McCarthy called out: + </p> + <p> + "Pards, little Billy has killed his first redskin!" + </p> + <p> + The announcement was greeted with cheers, which grated on Will's ears, for + his heart was sick, and the cheers seemed strangely out of place. + </p> + <p> + Little time, however, was afforded for sentiment of any sort. Enraged at + the death of their scout, the Indians made a final charge, which was + repulsed, like the others, and after this Bill McCarthy took the lead, + with Frank at the rear, to prevent further straggling of the forces. + </p> + <p> + It was a haggard-faced band that came up to Fort Kearny with the dawn. The + wounded men were left at the post, while the others returned to the + wrecked bull-train under escort of a body of troops. They hoped to make + some salvage, but the cattle had either been driven away or had joined one + of the numerous herds of buffalo; the wagons and their freight had been + burned, and there was nothing to do but bury the three pickets, whose + scalped and mutilated bodies were stretched where they had fallen. + </p> + <p> + Then the troops and trainmen parted company, the former to undertake a + bootless quest for the red marauders, the latter to return to Leavenworth, + their occupation gone. The government held itself responsible for the + depredations of its wards, and the loss of the wagons and cattle was + assumed at Washington. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. — FAMILY DEFENDER AND HOUSEHOLD TEASE. + </h2> + <p> + THE fame to which Byron woke one historic morning was no more unexpected + to him than that which now greeted Will. The trainmen had not been + over-modest in their accounts of his pluck; and when a newspaper reporter + lent the magic of his imagination to the plain narrative, it became quite + a story, headed in display type, "The Boy Indian Slayer." + </p> + <p> + But Will was speedily concerned with other than his own affairs, for as + soon as his position with the freighters was assured, mother engaged a + lawyer to fight the claim against our estate. This legal light was John C. + Douglass, then unknown, unhonored, and unsung, but talented and + enterprising notwithstanding. He had just settled in Leavenworth, and he + could scarcely have found a better case with which to storm the heights of + fame—the dead father, the sick mother, the helpless children, and + relentless persecution, in one scale; in the other, an eleven-year-old boy + doing a man's work to earn the money needed to combat the family's + enemies. Douglass put his whole strength into the case. + </p> + <p> + He knew as well as we that our cause was weak; it hung by a single thread—a + missing witness, Mr. Barnhart. This man had acted as bookkeeper when the + bills were paid, but he had been sent away, and the prosecution—or + persecution—had thus far succeeded in keeping his where-abouts a + secret. To every place where he was likely to be Lawyer Douglass had + written; but we were as much in the dark as ever when the morning for the + trial of the suit arrived. + </p> + <p> + The case had excited much interest, and the court-room was crowded, many + persons having been drawn thither by a curiosity to look upon "The Boy + Indian Slayer." There was a cheerful unanimity of opinion upon the utter + hopelessness of the Cody side of the case. Not only were prominent and + wealthy men arrayed against us, but our young and inexperienced lawyer + faced the heaviest legal guns of the Leavenworth bar. Our only witnesses + were a frail woman and a girl of eighteen, though by their side, with his + head held high, was the family protector, our brave young brother. Against + us were might and malignity; upon our side, right and the high courage + with which Christianity steels the soul of a believer. Mother had faith + that the invisible forces of the universe were fighting for our cause. + </p> + <p> + She and Martha swore to the fact that all the bills had been settled; and + after the opposition had rested its case, Lawyer Douglass arose for the + defense. His was a magnificent plea for the rights of the widow and the + orphan, and was conceded to be one of the finest speeches ever heard in a + Kansas court-room; but though all were moved by our counsel's eloquence—some + unto tears by the pathos of it—though the justice of our cause was + freely admitted throughout the court-room, our best friends feared the + verdict. + </p> + <p> + But the climax was as stunning to our enemies as it was unexpected. As + Lawyer Douglass finished his last ringing period, the missing witness, Mr. + Barnhart, hurried into the court-room. He had started for Leavenworth upon + the first intimation that his presence there was needed, and had reached + it just in time. He took the stand, swore to his certain knowledge that + the bills in question had been paid, and the jury, without leaving their + seats, returned a verdict for the defense. + </p> + <p> + Then rose cheer upon cheer, as our friends crowded about us and offered + their congratulations. Our home was saved, and Lawyer Douglass had won a + reputation for eloquence and sterling worth that stood undimmed through + all his long and prosperous career. + </p> + <p> + The next ripple on the current of our lives was sister Martha's wedding + day. Possessed of remarkable beauty, she had become a belle, and as young + ladies were scarce in Kansas at that time, she was the toast of all our + country round. But her choice had fallen on a man unworthy of her. Of his + antecedents we knew nothing; of his present life little more, save that he + was fair in appearance and seemingly prosperous. In the sanction of the + union Will stood aloof. Joined to a native intuition were the sharpened + faculties of a lad that lived beyond his years. Almost unerring in his + insight, he disliked the object of our sister's choice so thoroughly that + he refused to be a witness of the nuptials. This dislike we attributed to + jealousy, as brother and sister worshiped each other, but the sequel + proved a sad corroboration of his views. + </p> + <p> + Nature seemed to join her protest to Will's silent antagonism. A terrific + thunder-storm came up with the noon hour of the wedding. So deep and + sullen were the clouds that we were obliged to light the candles. When the + wedding pair took their places before Hymen's altar, a crash of thunder + rocked the house and set the casements rattling. + </p> + <p> + The couple had their home awaiting them in Leavenworth, and departed + almost immediately after the ceremony. + </p> + <p> + The cares and responsibilities laid upon our brother's shoulders did not + quench his boyish spirits and love of fun. Not Buffalo Bill's! He gave us + a jack-o'-lantern scare once upon a time, which I don't believe any of us + will ever forget. We had never seen that weird species of pumpkin, and + Will embroidered a blood-and-thunder narrative. + </p> + <p> + "The pumpkins all rise up out of the ground," said he, "on fire, with the + devil's eyes, and their mouths open, like blood-red lions, and grab you, + and go under the earth. You better look out!" + </p> + <p> + "That ain't so!" all of us little girls cried; "you know it's a fib. Ain't + it, mother?" and we ran as usual to mother. + </p> + <p> + "Will, you mustn't tell the children such tales. Of course they're just + fibs," said mother. + </p> + <p> + "So there!" we cried, in triumph. But Will had a "so there" answer for us + a few nights later. We were coming home late one evening, and found the + gate guarded by mad-looking yellow things, all afire, and grinning + hideously like real live men in the moon dropped down from the sky. + </p> + <p> + "Jack-o'-lanterns!" screamed Eliza, grabbing May by the hand, and starting + to run. I began to say my prayers, of course, and cry for mother. All at + once the heads moved! Even Turk's tail shot between his legs, and he + howled in fright. We saw the devil's eyes, the blood-red lion's mouths, + and all the rest, and set up such a chorus of wild yells that the whole + household rushed to our rescue. While we were panting out our story, we + heard Will snickering behind the door. + </p> + <p> + "So there, smarties! You'll believe what I tell you next time. You bet—ter—had!" + </p> + <p> + But he liked best to invade our play-room and "work magic" on our dolls. + Mother had set aside one apartment in our large log house for a play-room, + and here each one of our doll families dwelt in peace and harmony, when + Will wasn't around. But there was tragedy whenever he came near. He would + scalp the mother dolls, and tie their babies to the bedposts, and would + storm into their pasteboard-box houses at night, after we had fixed them + all in order, and put the families to standing on their heads. He was a + dreadful tease. It was in this play-room that the germ of his Wild West + took life. He formed us into a regular little company—Turk and the + baby, too—and would start us in marching order for the woods. He + made us stick horses and wooden tomahawks, spears, and horsehair strings, + so that we could be cowboys, Indians, bullwhackers, and cavalrymen. All + the scenes of his first freighting trip were acted out in the woods of + Salt Creek Valley. We had stages, robbers, "hold-ups," and most ferocious + Indian battles. + </p> + <p> + Will was always the "principal scalper," however, and we had few of our + feathers left after he was on the warpath. We were so little we couldn't + reach his feathers. He always wore two long shiny ones, which had been the + special pride of our black rooster, and when he threw a piece of an old + blanket gotten from the Leavenworth barracks around his shoulders, we + considered him a very fine general indeed. + </p> + <p> + All of us were obedient to the letter on "show days," and scarcely ever + said "Now, stop," or "I'll tell mother on you!" But during one of these + exciting performances Will came to a short stop. + </p> + <p> + "I believe I'll run a show when I get to be a man," said he. + </p> + <p> + "That fortune lady said you'd got to be President of the United States," + said Eliza. + </p> + <p> + "How could ze presiman won a show?" asked May. + </p> + <p> + "How could that old fortune-teller know what I'm going to be?" Will would + answer, disdainfully. "I rather guess I can have a show, in spite of all + the fortune-tellers in the country. I'll tell you right now, girls, I + don't propose to be President, but I do mean to have a show!" + </p> + <p> + Such temerity in disputing one's destiny was appalling; and though our + ideas of destiny were rather vague, we could grasp one dreadful fact: Will + had refused to be President of the United States! So we ran crying to + mother, and burying our faces in her lap, sobbed out: "Oh, mother! Will + says he ain't going to be President. Don't he have to be?" + </p> + <p> + Still, in spite of Will's fine scorn of fortune-tellers, the prophecy + concerning his future must have been sometimes in his mind. This was shown + in an episode that the writer is in duty bound, as a veracious chronicler, + to set down. + </p> + <p> + Our neighbor, Mr. Hathaway, had a son, Eugene, of about Will's age, and + the two were fast friends. One day, when Will was visiting at Eugene's + house, the boys introduced themselves to a barrel of hard cider. + Temperance sentiment had not progressed far enough to bring hard cider + under the ban, and Mr. Hathaway had lately pressed out a quantity of the + old-fashioned beverage. The boys, supposing it a harmless drink, took all + they desired—much more than they could carry. They were in a + deplorable condition when Mr. Hathaway found them; and much distressed, + the good old man put Eugene to bed and brought Will home. + </p> + <p> + The family hero returned to us with a flourish of trumpets. He stood up in + the wagon and sang and shouted; and when Mr. Hathaway reproved him, "Don't + talk to me," was his lofty rejoinder. "You forget that I am to be + President of the United States." + </p> + <p> + There is compensation for everything. Will never touched cider again; and + never again could he lord it over his still admiring but no longer docile + sisters. If he undertook to boss or tease us more than to our fancy, we + would subdue him with an imitation of his grandiloquent, "You forget that + I am to be President of the United States." Indeed, so severe was this + retaliation that we seldom saw him the rest of the day. + </p> + <p> + But he got even with us when "preacher day" came around. + </p> + <p> + Like "Little Breeches" father, Will never did go in much on religion, and + when the ministers assembled for "quarterly meeting" at our house, we + never knew what to expect from him. Mother was a Methodist, and as our log + house was larger than the others in the valley, it fell to our lot to + entertain the preachers often. We kept our preparations on the quiet when + Will was home, but he always managed to find out what was up, and then + trouble began. His first move was to "sick" Turk on the yellow-legged + chickens. They were our best ones, and the only thing we had for the + ministers to eat. Then Will would come stalking in: + </p> + <p> + "Say, mother, just saw all the yellow-legged chickens a-scooting up the + road. Methodist preachers must be in the wind, for the old hens are flying + like sixty!" + </p> + <p> + "Now, Will, you call Turk off, and round up those chickens right away." + </p> + <p> + "Catch meself!" And Will would dance around and tease so he nearly drove + us all distracted. It was with the greatest difficulty that mother could + finally prevail upon him to round up the chickens. That done, he would tie + up the pump-handle, milk the cows dry, strew the path to the gate with + burrs and thistles, and stick up a sign, "Thorney is the path and stickery + the way that leedith unto the kingdom of heaven. Amen!" + </p> + <p> + Then when mother had put a nice clean valance, freshly starched and + ruffled, around the big four-poster bed in the sitting-room, Will would + daub it up with smearcase, and just before the preachers arrived, sneak in + under it, and wait for prayers. + </p> + <p> + Mother always desired us to file in quietly, but we couldn't pass the bed + without our legs being pinched; so we "hollered," but were afraid to tell + mother the reason before the ministers. We had to bear it, but we + snickered ourselves when the man Will called "Elder Green Persimmon," + because when he prayed his mouth went inside out, came mincing into the + room, and as he passed the valance and got a pinch, jerked out a + sour-grape sneeze: + </p> + <p> + "Mercy on us! I thought I was bitten by that fierce dog of yours, Mrs. + Cody; but it must have been a burr." + </p> + <p> + Then the "experiences" would begin. Will always listened quietly, until + the folks began telling how wicked they had been before they got religion; + then he would burst in with a vigorous "Amen!" + </p> + <p> + The elders did not know Will's voice; so they would get warmed up by + degree as the amens came thicker and faster. When he had worked them all + up to a red-hot pitch, Will would start that awful snort of his that + always made us double up with giggles, and with a loud cockle-doodle-doo! + would bolt from the bed like a lightning flash and make for the window. + </p> + <p> + So "preacher day," as Will always called it, became the torment of our + lives. + </p> + <p> + To tell the truth, Will always was teasing us, but if he crooked his + finger at us we would bawl. We bawled and squalled from morning till + night. Yet we fairly worshiped him, and cried harder when he went away + than when he was home. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII. — INDIAN ENCOUNTER AND SCHOOL-DAY INCIDENTS. + </h2> + <p> + WILL was not long at home. The Mormons, who were settled in Utah, rebelled + when the government, objecting to the quality of justice meted out by + Brigham Young, sent a federal judge to the territory. Troops, under the + command of General Albert Sidney Johnston, were dispatched to quell the + insurrection, and Russell, Majors & Waddell contracted to transport + stores and beef cattle to the army massing against the Mormons in the fall + of 1857. The train was a large one, better prepared against such an attack + as routed the McCarthy brothers earlier in the summer; yet its fate was + the same. + </p> + <p> + Will was assigned to duty as "extra" under Lew Simpson, an experienced + wagon-master, and was subject to his orders only. There was the double + danger of Mormons and Indians, so the pay was good. Forty dollars a month + in gold looked like a large sum to an eleven-year-old. + </p> + <p> + Will's second departure was quite as tragic as the first. We girls, as + before, were loud in our wailings, and offered to forgive him the + depredations in the doll-house and all his teasings, if only he would not + go away and be scalped by the Indians. Mother said little, but her anxious + look, as she recalled the perils of the former trip, spoke volumes. He + carried with him the memory of the open-mouthed admiration of little + Charlie, to whom "Brother Will" was the greatest hero in the world. Turk's + grief at the parting was not a whit less than ours, and the faithful old + fellow seemed to realize that in Will's absence the duty of the family + protector devolved on him; so he made no attempt to follow Will beyond the + gate. + </p> + <p> + The train made good progress, and more than half the journey to Fort + Bridger was accomplished without a setback. When the Rockies were reached, + a noon halt was made near Green River, and here the men were surrounded + and overcome by a large force of Danites, the "Avenging Angels" of the + Mormon Church, who had "stolen the livery of the court of heaven to serve + the devil in." These were responsible for the atrocious Mountain Meadow + Massacre, in June of this same year, though the wily "Saints" had planned + to place the odium of an unprovoked murder of innocent women and children + upon the Indians, who had enough to answer for, and in this instance were + but the tools of the Mormon Church. Brigham Young repudiated his + accomplice, and allowed John D. Lee to become the scapegoat. The dying + statement of this man is as pathetic as Cardinal Wolsey's arraignment of + Henry VIII. + </p> + <p> + "A victim must be had," said he, "and I am that victim. For thirty years I + studied to make Brigham Young's will my law. See now what I have come to + this day. I have been sacrificed in a cowardly, dastardly manner. I do not + fear death. I cannot go to a worse place than I am now in." + </p> + <p> + John D. Lee deserved his fate, but Brigham Young was none the less a + coward. + </p> + <p> + The Danites spared the lives of the trainmen, but they made sad havoc of + the supplies. These they knew to be intended for the use of the army + opposed to Brigham Young. They carried off all the stores they could + handle, drove with them or stampeded the cattle, and burned the wagons. + The trainmen were permitted to retain one wagon and team, with just enough + supplies to last them to army headquarters. + </p> + <p> + It was a disheartened, discomfited band that reached Fort Bridger. The + information that two other trains had been destroyed added to their + discouragement, for that meant that they, in common with the other + trainmen and the soldiers at the fort, must subsist on short rations for + the winter. There were nearly four hundred of these trainmen, and it was + so late in the season that they had no choice but to remain where they + were until spring opened. + </p> + <p> + It was an irksome winter. The men at the fort hauled their firewood two + miles; as the provisions dwindled, one by one the oxen were slaughtered, + and when this food supply was exhausted, starvation reared its gaunt form. + Happily the freighters got word of the situation, and a relief team + reached the fort before the spring was fairly opened. + </p> + <p> + As soon as practicable the return journey was undertaken. At Fort Laramie + two large trains were put in charge of Lew Simpson, as brigade + wagon-master, and Will was installed as courier between the two caravans, + which traveled twenty miles apart—plenty of elbow room for camping + and foraging. + </p> + <p> + One morning, Simpson, George Woods, and Will, who were in the rear train, + set out for the forward one, mounted upon mules, and armed, as the + trainmen always were, with rifle, knife, and a brace of revolvers. About + half of the twenty miles had been told off when the trio saw a band of + Indians emerge from a clump of trees half a mile away and sweep toward + them. Flight with the mules was useless; resistance promised hardly more + success, as the Indians numbered a full half-hundred: but surrender was + death and mutilation. + </p> + <p> + "Shoot the mules, boys!" ordered Simpson, and five minutes later two men + and a boy looked grimly over a still palpitating barricade. + </p> + <p> + The defense was simple; rifles at range, revolvers for close quarters, + knives at the last. The chief, easily distinguished by his feathered + head-dress, was assigned to Will. Already his close shooting was the pride + of the frontiersmen. Simpson's coolness steadied the lad, who realized + that the situation was desperate. + </p> + <p> + The Indians came on with the rush and scream of the March wind. "Fire!" + said Simpson, and three ponies galloped riderless as the smoke curled from + three rifle barrels. + </p> + <p> + Dismayed by the fall of their chief, the redskins wheeled and rode out of + range. Will gave a sigh of relief. + </p> + <p> + "Load up again, Billy!" smiled Simpson. "They'll soon be back." + </p> + <p> + "They've only three or four rifles," said Woods. There had been little + lead in the cloud of arrows. + </p> + <p> + "Here they come!" warned Simpson, and the trio ran their rifles out over + the dead mules. + </p> + <p> + Three more riderless ponies; but the Indians kept on, supposing they had + drawn the total fire of the whites. A revolver fusillade undeceived them, + and the charging column wavered and broke for cover. + </p> + <p> + Simpson patted Will on the shoulder as they reloaded. "You're a game one, + Billy!" said he. + </p> + <p> + "You bet he is," echoed Woods, coolly drawing an arrow from his shoulder. + "How is that, Lew—poisoned?" + </p> + <p> + Will waited breathless for the decision, and his relief was as great as + Woods's when Simpson, after a critical scrutiny, answered "No." + </p> + <p> + The wound was hastily dressed, and the little company gave an undivided + attention to the foe, who were circling around their quarry, hanging to + the off sides of their ponies and firing under them. With a touch of the + grim humor that plain life breeds, Will declared that the mules were + veritable pincushions, so full of arrows were they stuck. + </p> + <p> + The besieged maintained a return fire, dropping pony after pony, and + occasionally a rider. This proved expensive sport to the Indians, and the + whole party finally withdrew from range. + </p> + <p> + There was a long breathing spell, which the trio improved by strengthening + their defense, digging up the dirt with their knives and piling it upon + the mules. It was tedious work, but preferable to inactivity and cramped + quarters. + </p> + <p> + Two hours went by, and the plan of the enemy was disclosed. A light breeze + arose, and the Indians fired the prairie. Luckily the grass near the trail + was short, and though the heat was intense and the smoke stifling, the + barricade held off the flame. Simpson had kept a close watch, and + presently gave the order to fire. A volley went through the smoke and + blaze, and the yell that followed proved that it was not wasted. This last + ruse failing, the Indians settled down to their favorite game—waiting. + </p> + <p> + A thin line of them circled out of range; ponies were picketed and tents + pitched; night fell, and the stars shot out. + </p> + <p> + As Woods was wounded, he was excused from guard duty, Will and Simpson + keeping watch in turn. Will took the first vigil, and, tired though he + was, experienced no difficulty in keeping awake, but he went soundly to + sleep the moment he was relieved. He was wakened by a dream that Turk was + barking to him, and vaguely alarmed, he sat up to find Simpson sleeping + across his rifle. + </p> + <p> + The midnight hush was unbroken, and the darkness lay thick upon the plain, + but shapes blacker than night hovered near, and Will laid his hand on + Simpson's shoulder. + </p> + <p> + The latter was instantly alive, and Woods was wakened. A faint click went + away on the night breeze, and a moment later three jets of flame carried + warning to the up-creeping foe that the whites were both alive and on the + alert. + </p> + <p> + There was no more sleep within the barricade. The dawn grew into day, and + anxious eyes scanned the trail for reinforcements—coming surely, but + on what heavy and slow-turning wheels! + </p> + <p> + Noon came and passed. The anxious eyes questioned one another. Had the + rear train been overcome by a larger band of savages? But suddenly half a + dozen of the Indians were seen to spring up with gestures of excitement, + and spread the alarm around the circle. + </p> + <p> + "They hear the cracking of the bull-whips," said Simpson. + </p> + <p> + The Indians who had seen the first team pass, and had assumed that Simpson + and his companions were straggling members of it, did not expect another + train so soon. There was "mounting in hot haste," and the Indians rode + away in one bunch for the distant foothills, just as the first ox-team + broke into view. + </p> + <p> + And never was there fairer picture to more appreciative eyes than those + same lumbering, clumsy animals, and never sweeter music than the harsh + staccato of the bullwhips. + </p> + <p> + When hunger was appeased, and Woods's wound properly dressed, Will, for + the second time, found himself a hero among the plainsmen. His nerve and + coolness were dwelt upon by Simpson, and to the dream that waked him in + season was ascribed the continued life on earth of the little company. + Will, however, was disposed to allow Turk the full credit for the service. + </p> + <p> + The remainder of the trip was devoid of special incident, and as Will + neared home he hurried on in advance of the train. His heart beat high as + he thought of the dear faces awaiting him, unconscious that he was so + near. + </p> + <p> + But the home toward which he was hastening with beating heart and winged + heels was shadowed by a great grief. Sister Martha's married life, though + brief, had amply justified her brother's estimate of the man into whose + hands she had given her life. She was taken suddenly ill, and it was not + until several months later that Will learned that the cause of her + sickness was the knowledge that had come to her of the faithless nature of + her husband. The revelation was made through the visit of one of Mr. C——'s + creditors, who, angered at a refusal to liquidate a debt, accused Mr. C——of + being a bigamist, and threatened to set the law upon him. The blow was + fatal to one of Martha's pure and affectionate nature, already crushed by + neglect and cruelty. All that night she was delirious, and her one thought + was "Willie," and the danger he was in—not alone the physical + danger, but the moral and spiritual peril that she feared lay in + association with rough and reckless men. She moaned and tossed, and + uttered incoherent cries; but as the morning broke the storm went down, + and the anxious watchers fancied that she slept. Suddenly she sat up, the + light of reason again shining in her eyes, and with a joyous cry, "Tell + mother Willie's saved! Willie's saved!" she fell back on her pillow, and + her spirit passed away. On her face was the peace that the world can + neither give nor take away. The veil of the Unknown had been drawn aside + for a space. She had "sent her soul through the Invisible," and it had + found the light that lit the last weary steps through the Valley of the + Shadow. + </p> + <p> + Mr. C—— had moved from Leavenworth to Johnson County, + twenty-five miles away, and as there were neither telegraph nor mail + facilities, he had the body sent home, himself accompanying it. Thus our + first knowledge of Martha's sickness came when her lifeless clay was borne + across our threshold, the threshold that, less than a year before, she had + crossed a bright and bonny bride. Dazed by the shock, we longed for Will's + return before we must lay his idolized sister forever in her narrow cell. + </p> + <p> + All of the family, Mr. C—— included, were gathered in the + sitting-room, sad and silent, when Turk suddenly raised his head, listened + a second, and bounded out of doors. + </p> + <p> + "Will is coming!" cried mother, and we all ran to the door. Turk was + racing up the long hill, at the top of which was a moving speck that the + dog knew to be his master. His keen ears had caught the familiar whistle + half a mile away. + </p> + <p> + When Turk had manifested his joy at the meeting, he prepared Will for the + bereavement that awaited him; he put his head down and emitted a long and + repeated wail. Will's first thought was for mother, and he fairly ran down + the hill. The girls met him some distance from the house, and sobbed out + the sad news. + </p> + <p> + And when he had listened, the lad that had passed unflinching through two + Indian fights, broke down, and sobbed with the rest of us. + </p> + <p> + "Did that rascal, C——, have anything to do with her death?" he + asked, when the first passion of grief was over. + </p> + <p> + Julia, who knew no better at the time, replied that Mr. C——was + the kindest of husbands, and was crushed with sorrow at his loss; but + spite of the assurance, Will, when he reached the house, had neither look + nor word for him. He just put his arms about mother's neck, and mingled + his grief with her words of sympathy and love. + </p> + <p> + Martha was shortly after laid by father's side, and as we stood weeping in + that awful moment when the last spadeful of earth completes the sepulture, + Will, no longer master of himself, stepped up before Mr. C——: + </p> + <p> + "Murderer," he said, "one day you shall answer to me for the death of her + who lies there!" + </p> + <p> + When Will next presented himself at Mr. Majors's office, he was told that + his services had been wholly satisfactory, and that he could have work at + any time he desired. This was gratifying, but a sweeter pleasure was to + lay his winter's wages in mother's lap. Through his help, and her business + ability, our pecuniary affairs were in good condition. We were comfortably + situated, and as Salt Creek Valley now boasted of a schoolhouse, mother + wished Will to enter school. He was so young when he came West that his + school-days had been few; nor was the prospect of adding to their number + alluring. After the excitement of life on the plains, going to school was + dull work; but Will realized that there was a world beyond the prairie's + horizon, and he entered school, determined to do honest work. + </p> + <p> + Our first teacher was of the good, old-fashioned sort. He taught because + he had to live. He had no love for his work, and knew nothing of children. + The one motto he lived up to was, "Spare the rod and spoil the child." As + Will was a regular Tartar in the schoolroom, he, more than all the other + scholars, made him put his smarting theory into practice. Almost every + afternoon was attended with the dramatic attempt to switch Will. The + schoolroom was separated into two grand divisions, "the boys on teacher's + side," and those "on the Cody side." The teacher would send his pets out + to get switches, and part of our division—we girls, of course—would + begin to weep; while those who had spunk would spit on their hands, clench + their fists, and "dare 'em to bring them switches in!" Those were hot + times in old Salt Creek Valley! + </p> + <p> + One morning Turk, too, was seized with educational ambition, and + accompanied Will to school. We tried to drive him home, but he followed at + a distance, and as we entered the schoolhouse, he emerged from the + shrubbery by the roadside and crept under the building. + </p> + <p> + Alas for the scholars, and alas for the school! Another ambitious dog + reposed beneath the temple of learning. + </p> + <p> + Will, about that time, was having a bad quarter of an hour. An examination + into his knowledge, or lack of it, was under way, and he was hard pressed. + Had he been asked how to strike a trail, locate water, or pitch a tent, + his replies would have been full and accurate, but the teacher's queries + seemed as foolish as the "Reeling and Writhing, Ambition, Distraction, + Uglification, and Derision" of the Mock Turtle in "Alice in Wonderland." + </p> + <p> + Turk effected an unexpected rescue. Snarls were heard beneath the + schoolhouse; then savage growls and yelps, while the floor resounded with + the whacks of the canine combatants. With a whoop that would not have + disgraced an Indian, Will was out of doors, shouting, "Eat him up, Turk! + Eat him up!" + </p> + <p> + The owner of the opposing dog was one Steve Gobel. 'Twixt him and Will a + good-sized feud existed. Steve was also on the scene, with a defiant, "Sic + 'em, Nigger!" and the rest of the school followed in his wake. + </p> + <p> + Of the twisting, yelping bundle of dog-flesh that rolled from under the + schoolhouse it was difficult to say which was Turk and which Nigger. Eliza + and I called to Turk, and wept because he would not hear. The teacher + ordered the children back to their studies, but they were as deaf as Turk; + whereat the enraged pedagogue hopped wildly about, flourishing a stick and + whacking every boy that strayed within reach of it. + </p> + <p> + Nigger soon had enough of the fight, and striking his tail-colors, fled + yelping from the battle-ground. His master, Steve Gobel, a large youth of + nineteen or twenty years, pulled off his coat to avenge upon Will the + dog's defeat, but the teacher effected a Solomon-like compromise by + whipping both boys for bringing their dogs to school, after which the + interrupted session was resumed. + </p> + <p> + But Gobel nursed his wrath, and displayed his enmity in a thousand small + ways. Will paid no attention to him, but buckled down to his school work. + Will was a born "lady's man," and when Miss Mary Hyatt complicated the + feud 'twixt him and Steve, it hurried to its climax. Mary was older than + Will, but she plainly showed her preference for him over Master Gobel. + Steve had never distinguished himself in an Indian fight; he was not a + hero, but just a plain boy. + </p> + <p> + Now, indeed, was Will's life unendurable; "patience had had its perfect + work." He knew that a boy of twelve, however strong and sinewy, was not a + match for an almost full-grown man; so, to balance matters, he secreted on + his person an old bowie-knife. When next he met Steve, the latter climaxed + his bullying tactics by striking the object of his resentment; but he was + unprepared for the sudden leap that bore him backward to the earth. Size + and strength told swiftly in the struggle that succeeded, but Will, with a + dextrous thrust, put the point of the bowie into the fleshy part of + Steve's lower leg, a spot where he knew the cut would not be serious. + </p> + <p> + The stricken bully shrieked that he was killed; the children gathered + round, and screamed loudly at the sight of blood. "Will Cody has killed + Steve Gobel!" was the wailing cry, and Will, though he knew Steve was but + pinked, began to realize that frontier styles of combat were not esteemed + in communities given up to the soberer pursuits of spelling, arithmetic, + and history. Steve, he knew, was more frightened than hurt; but the + picture of the prostrate, ensanguined youth, and the group of awestricken + children, bore in upon his mind the truth that his act was an infraction + of the civil code; that even in self-defense, he had no right to use a + knife unless his life was threatened. + </p> + <p> + The irate pedagogue was hastening to the scene, and after one glance at + him, Will incontinently fled. At the road he came upon a wagon train, and + with a shout of joy recognized in the "boss" John Willis, a wagon-master + employed by Russell, Majors & Waddell, and a great friend of the "boy + extra." Will climbed up behind Willis on his horse, and related his + escapade to a close and sympathetic listener. + </p> + <p> + "If you say so, Billy," was his comment, "I'll go over and lick the whole + outfit, and stampede the school." + </p> + <p> + "No, let the school alone," replied Will; "but I guess I'll graduate, if + you'll let me go along with you this trip." + </p> + <p> + Willis readily agreed, but insisted upon returning to the schoolhouse. "I + m not going," said he, "to let you be beaten by a bully of a boy, and a + Yankee school-teacher, with a little learning, but not a bit of sand." His + idea of equalizing forces was that he and "Little Billy" should fight + against the pedagogue and Steve. + </p> + <p> + Will consented, and they rode back to the schoolhouse, on the door of + which Willis pounded with his revolver butt, and when the door was opened + he invited Gobel and the "grammar man" to come forth and do battle. But + Steve had gone home, and the teacher, on seeing the two gladiators, fled, + while the scholars, dismissing themselves, ran home in a fright. + </p> + <p> + That night mother received a note from the teacher. + </p> + <p> + He was not hired, he wrote, to teach desperadoes; therefore Will was + dismissed. But Will had already dismissed himself, and had rejoined the + larger school whose walls are the blue bowl called the sky. And long after + was his name used by the pedagogue to conjure up obedience in his pupils; + unless they kissed the rod, they, too, might go to the bad, and follow in + Will Cody's erring footsteps. + </p> + <p> + Willis and Will had gone but a piece on the road when horsemen were seen + approaching. + </p> + <p> + "Mr. Gobel and the officers are after me," said Will. + </p> + <p> + "Being after you and gittin' you are two different things," said the + wagon-master. "Lie low, and I'll settle the men." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Gobel and his party rode up with the information that they had come to + arrest Will; but they got no satisfaction from Willis. He would not allow + them to search the wagons, and they finally rode away. That night, when + the camp was pitched, the wagon-master gave Will a mule, and accompanied + him home. We were rejoiced to see him, especially mother, who was much + concerned over his escapade. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, Will, how could you do such a thing?" she said, sorrowfully. "It is a + dreadful act to use a knife on any one." + </p> + <p> + Will disavowed any homicidal intentions; but his explanations made little + headway against mother's disapproval and her disappointment over the + interruption of his school career. As it seemed the best thing to do, she + consented to his going with the wagon train under the care of John Willis, + and the remainder of the night was passed in preparations for the journey. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII. — DEATH AND BURIAL OF TURK. + </h2> + <p> + THIS trip of Will's covered only two months, and was succeeded by another + expedition, to the new post at Fort Wallace, at Cheyenne Pass. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile mother had decided to improve the opportunity afforded by her + geographical position, and under her supervision "The Valley Grove House" + was going up. + </p> + <p> + The hotel commanded a magnificent prospect. Below lay the beautiful Salt + Creek Valley. It derived its name from the saline properties of the little + stream that rushed along its pebbly bed to empty its clear waters into the + muddy Missouri. From the vantage-ground of our location Salt Creek looked + like a silver thread, winding its way through the rich verdure of the + valley. The region was dotted with fertile farms; from east to west ran + the government road, known as the Old Salt Lake Trail, and back of us was + Cody Hill, named for my father. Our house stood on the side hill, just + above the military road, and between us and the hilltop lay the grove that + gave the hotel its name. Government hill, which broke the eastern + sky-line, hid Leavenworth and the Missouri River, culminating to the south + in Pilot Knob, the eminence on which my father was buried, also beyond our + view. + </p> + <p> + Mother's business sagacity was justified in the hotel venture. The trail + began its half-mile ascent of Cody Hill just below our house, and at this + point the expedient known as "doubling" was employed. Two teams hauled a + wagon up the steep incline, the double team returning for the wagon left + behind. Thus the progress of a wagon train, always slow, became a very + snail's pace, and the hotel was insured a full quota of hungry trainmen. + </p> + <p> + Will found that his wages were of considerable aid to mother in the large + expense incurred by the building of the hotel; and the winter drawing on, + forbidding further freighting trips, he planned an expedition with a party + of trappers. More money was to be made at this business during the winter + than at any other time. + </p> + <p> + The trip was successful, and contained only one adventure spiced with + danger, which, as was so often the case, Will twisted to his own advantage + by coolness and presence of mind. + </p> + <p> + One morning, as he was making the round of his traps, three Indians + appeared on the trail, each leading a pony laden with pelts. One had a + gun; the others carried bows and arrows. The odds were three to one, and + the brave with the gun was the most to be feared. + </p> + <p> + This Indian dropped his bridle-rein and threw up his rifle; but before it + was at his shoulder Will had fired, and he fell forward on his face. His + companions bent their bows, one arrow passing through Will's hat and + another piercing his arm—the first wound he ever received. Will + swung his cap about his head. + </p> + <p> + "This way! Here they are!" he shouted to an imaginary party of friends at + his back. Then with his revolver he wounded another of the Indians, who, + believing reinforcements were at hand, left their ponies and fled. + </p> + <p> + Will took the ponies on the double-quick back to camp, and the trappers + decided to pull up stakes at once. It had been a profitable season, and + the few more pelts to be had were not worth the risk of an attack by + avenging Indians; so they packed their outfit, and proceeded to Fort + Laramie. Will realized a handsome sum from the sale of his captured furs, + besides those of the animals he had himself trapped. + </p> + <p> + At the fort were two men bound east, and impatient to set out, and Will, + in his haste to reach home, joined forces with them. Rather than wait for + an uncertain wagon train, they decided to chance the dangers of the road. + They bought three ponies and a pack-mule for the camp outfit, and sallied + forth in high spirits. + </p> + <p> + Although the youngest of the party, Will was the most experienced + plainsman, and was constantly on the alert. They reached the Little Blue + River without sign of Indians, but across the stream Will espied a band of + them. The redskins were as keen of eye, and straightway exchanged the + pleasures of the chase for the more exciting pursuit of human game. But + they had the river to cross; and this gave the white men a good start. The + pursuit was hot, and grew hotter, but the kindly darkness fell, and under + cover of it the trio got safely away. That night they camped in a little + ravine that afforded shelter from both Indians and weather. + </p> + <p> + A look over the ravine disclosed a cave that promised a snug harbor, and + therein Will and one of his companions spread their blankets and fell + asleep. The third man, whose duty it was to prepare the supper, kindled a + fire just inside the cave, and returned outside for a supply of fuel. When + he again entered the cave the whole interior was revealed by the bright + firelight, and after one look he gave a yell of terror, dropped his + firewood, and fled. + </p> + <p> + Will and the other chap were on their knees instantly, groping for their + rifles, in the belief that the Indians were upon them; but the sight that + met their eyes was more terror-breeding than a thousand Indians. A dozen + bleached and ghastly skeletons were gathered with them around the + camp-fire, and seemed to nod and sway, and thrust their long-chilled bones + toward the cheery blaze. + </p> + <p> + Ghastly as it was within the cave, Will found it more unpleasant in the + open. The night was cold, and a storm threatened. + </p> + <p> + "Well," said he to his companions, "we know the worst that's in there now. + Those old dead bones won't hurt us. Let's go back." + </p> + <p> + "Not if I know myself, sonny," returned one of the men decidedly, and the + other heartily agreed with him, swearing that as it was, he should not be + able to close his eyes for a week. So, after a hurried lunch upon the cold + provisions, the party mounted their ponies and pushed on. The promised + snowstorm materialized, and shortly became a young blizzard, and obliged + to dismount and camp in the open prairie, they made a miserable night of + it. + </p> + <p> + But it had an end, as all things have, and with the morning they resumed + the trail, reaching Marysville, on the Big Blue, after many trials and + privations. + </p> + <p> + From here the trail was easier, as the country was pretty well settled, + and Will reached home without further adventure or misadventure. Here + there was compensation for hardship in the joy of handing over to mother + all his money, realizing that it would lighten her burdens—burdens + borne that she might leave her children provided for when she could no + longer repel the dread messenger, that in all those years seemed to hover + so near that even our childish hearts felt its presence ere it actually + crossed the threshold. + </p> + <p> + It was early in March when Will returned from his trapping expedition. + Mother's business was flourishing, though she herself grew frailer with + the passing of each day. The summer that came on was a sad one for us all, + for it marked Turk's last days on earth. One evening he was lying in the + yard, when a strange dog came up the road, bounded in, gave Turk a vicious + bite, and went on. We dressed the wound, and thought little of it, until + some horsemen rode up, with the inquiry, "Have you seen a dog pass here?" + </p> + <p> + We answered indignantly that a strange dog had passed, and had bitten our + dog. + </p> + <p> + "Better look out for him, then," warned the men as they rode away. "The + dog is mad." + </p> + <p> + Consternation seized us. It was dreadful to think of Turk going mad—he + who had been our playmate from infancy, and who, through childhood's + years, had grown more dear to us than many human beings could; but mother + knew the matter was serious, and issued her commands. Turk must be shut + up, and we must not even visit him for a certain space. And so we shut him + up, hoping for the best; but it speedily became plain that the poison was + working in his veins, and that the greatest kindness we could do him was + to kill him. + </p> + <p> + That was a frightful alternative. Will utterly refused to shoot him, and + the execution was delegated to the hired man, Will stipulating that none + of his weapons should be used, and that he be allowed to get out of + ear-shot. + </p> + <p> + Late that afternoon, just before sunset, we assembled in melancholy + silence for the funeral. A grave had been dug on the highest point of the + eastern extremity of Cody Hill, and decorated in black ribbons, we slowly + filed up the steep path, carrying Turk's body on a pine board softened + with moss. Will led the procession with his hat in his hand, and every now + and then his fist went savagely at his eyes. When we reached the grave, we + formed around it in a tearful circle, and Will, who always called me "the + little preacher," told me to say the Lord's Prayer. The sun was setting, + and the brilliant western clouds were shining round about us. There was a + sighing in the treetops far below us, and the sounds in the valley were + muffled and indistinct. + </p> + <p> + "Our Father which art in heaven," I whispered softly, as all the children + bent their heads, "Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be + done in earth as it is in heaven." I paused, and the other children said + the rest in chorus. The next day Will procured a large block of red + bloodstone, which abounds in that country, squared it off, carved the name + of Turk upon it in large letters, and we placed it at the head of the + grave. + </p> + <p> + To us there had been no incongruity in the funeral ceremonials and burial. + Turk had given us all that dog could give; we, for our part, gave him + Christian sepulture. Our sorrow was sincere. We had lost an honest, loyal + friend. For many succeeding days his grave was garlanded with fresh + flowers, placed there by loving hands. Vale Turk! Would that our friends + of the higher evolution were all as stanch as thou! + </p> + <p> + THE BURIAL OF TURK. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Only a dog! but the tears fall fast. + As we lay him to rest underneath the green sod, + Where bountiful nature, the sweet summer through, + Will deck him with daisies and bright goldenrod. + + The loving thought of a boyish heart + Marks the old dog's grave with a bloodstone red; + The name, carved in letters rough and rude, + Keeps his memory green, though his life be sped. + For the daring young hero of wood and plain, + + Like all who are generous, strong, and brave, + Has a heart that is loyal and kind and true, + And shames not to weep o'er his old friend's grave. + + Only a dog, do you say? but I deem + A dog who with faithfulness fills his trust, + More worthy than many a man to be given + A tribute of love, when but ashes and dust. +</pre> + <p> + An unusually good teacher now presided at the schoolhouse in our + neighborhood, and Will was again persuaded into educational paths. He put + in a hard winter's work; but with the coming of spring and its unrest, the + swelling of buds and the springing of grass, the return of the birds and + the twittering from myriad nests, the Spirits of the Plains beckoned to + him, and he joined a party of gold-hunters on the long trail to Pike's + Peak. + </p> + <p> + The gold excitement was at its apogee in 1860. By our house had passed the + historic wagon bearing on its side the classic motto, "Pike's Peak or + Bust!" Afterward, stranded by the wayside, a whole history of failure and + disappointment, borne with grim humor, was told by the addition of the + eloquent word, "Busted!" + </p> + <p> + For all his adventures, Will was only fourteen, and although tall for his + age, he had not the physical strength that might have been expected from + his hardy life. It was not strange that he should take the gold fever; + less so that mother should dread to see him again leave home to face + unknown perils; and it is not at all remarkable that upon reaching + Auraria, now Denver, he should find that fortunes were not lying around + much more promiscuously in a gold country than in any other. + </p> + <p> + Recent events have confirmed a belief that under the excitement of a gold + craze men exercise less judgment than at any other time. Except in placer + mining, which almost any one can learn, gold mining is a science. Now and + again a nugget worth a fortune is picked up, but the average mortal can + get a better livelihood, with half the work, in almost any other field of + effort. To become rich a knowledge of ores and mining methods is + indispensable. + </p> + <p> + But Will never reached the gold-fields. Almost the first person he met on + the streets of Julesberg was George Chrisman, who had been chief + wagon-master for Russell, Majors & Waddell. Will had become well + acquainted with Chrisman on the various expeditions he had made for the + firm. + </p> + <p> + This man was located at Julesberg as agent for the Pony Express line, + which was in process of formation. This line was an enterprise of Russell, + Majors & Waddell. Mr. Russell met in Washington the Senator from + California. This gentleman knew that the Western firm of contractors was + running a daily stagecoach from the Missouri River to Sacramento, and he + urged upon Mr. Russell the desirability of operating a pony express line + along the same route. There was already a line known as the "Butterfield + Route," but this was circuitous; the fastest time ever made on it was + twenty-one days. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Russell laid the matter before his partners. They were opposed to it, + as they were sure it would be a losing venture; but the senior member + urged the matter so strongly that they consented to try it, for the good + of the country, with no expectation of profit. They utilized the + stagecoach stations already established, and only about two months were + required to put the Pony Express line in running order. + </p> + <p> + Riders received from a hundred and twenty to a hundred and twenty-five + dollars a month, but they earned it. In order to stand the life great + physical strength and endurance were necessary; in addition, riders must + be cool, brave, and resourceful. Their lives were in constant peril, and + they were obliged to do double duty in case the comrade that was to + relieve them had been disabled by outlaws or Indians. + </p> + <p> + Two hundred and fifty miles was the daily distance that must be made; this + constituted an average of a little over ten miles an hour. In the + exceedingly rough country this average could not be kept up; to balance + it, there were a few places in the route where the rider was expected to + cover twenty-five miles an hour. + </p> + <p> + In making such a run, it is hardly necessary to say that no extra weight + was carried. Letters were written on the finest tissue paper; the charge + was at the rate of five dollars for half an ounce. A hundred of these + letters would make a bulk not much larger than an ordinary writing-tablet. + </p> + <p> + The mail-pouches were never to carry more than twenty pounds. They were + leather bags, impervious to moisture; the letters, as a further + protection, were wrapped in oiled silk. The pouches were locked, sealed, + and strapped to the rider's side. They were not unlocked during the + journey from St. Joseph to Sacramento. + </p> + <p> + The first trip was made in ten days; this was a saving of eleven days over + the best time ever made by the "Butterfield Route." Sometimes the time was + shortened to eight days; but an average trip was made in nine. The + distance covered in this time was nineteen hundred and sixty-six miles. + </p> + <p> + President Buchanan's last presidential message was carried in December, + 1860, in a few hours over eight days. President Lincoln's inaugural, the + following March, was transmitted in seven days and seventeen hours. This + was the quickest trip ever made. + </p> + <p> + The Pony Express line made its worth at once felt. It would have become a + financial success but that a telegraph line was put into operation over + the same stretch of territory, under the direction of Mr. Edward + Creighton. The first message was sent over the wires the 24th of October, + 1861. The Pony Express line had outlived its usefulness, and was at once + discontinued. But it had accomplished its main purpose, which was to + determine whether the route by which it went could be made a permanent + track for travel the year through. The cars of the Union Pacific road now + travel nearly the same old trails as those followed by the daring riders + of frontier days. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Chrisman gave Will a cordial greeting. He explained the business of + the express line to his young friend, and stated that the company had + nearly perfected its arrangements. It was now buying ponies and putting + them into good condition, preparatory to beginning operations. He added, + jokingly: + </p> + <p> + "It's a pity you're not a few years older, Billy. I would give you a job + as Pony Express rider. There's good pay in it." + </p> + <p> + Will was at once greatly taken with the idea, and begged so hard to be + given a trial that Mr. Chrisman consented to give him work for a month. If + the life proved too hard for him, he was to be laid off at the end of that + time. He had a short run of forty-five miles; there were three relay + stations, and he was expected to make fifteen miles an hour. + </p> + <p> + The 3d of April, 1860, Mr. Russell stood ready to receive the mail from a + fast New York train at St. Joseph. He adjusted the letter-pouch on the + pony in the presence of an excited crowd. Besides the letters, several + large New York papers printed special editions on tissue paper for this + inaugural trip. The crowd plucked hairs from the tail of the first animal + to start on the novel journey, and preserved these hairs as talismans. The + rider mounted, the moment for starting came, the signal was given, and off + he dashed. + </p> + <p> + At the same moment Sacramento witnessed a similar scene; the rider of that + region started on the two thousand mile ride eastward as the other started + westward. All the way along the road the several other riders were ready + for their initial gallop. + </p> + <p> + Will looked forward eagerly to the day when the express line should be set + in motion, and when the hour came it found him ready, standing beside his + horse, and waiting for the rider whom he was to relieve. There was a + clatter of hoofs, and a horseman dashed up and flung him the saddlebags. + Will threw them upon the waiting pony, vaulted into the saddle, and was + off like the wind. + </p> + <p> + The first relay station was reached on time, and Will changed with hardly + a second's loss of time, while the panting, reeking animal he had ridden + was left to the care of the stock-tender. This was repeated at the end of + the second fifteen miles, and the last station was reached a few minutes + ahead of time. The return trip was made in good order, and then Will wrote + to us of his new position, and told us that he was in love with the life. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX. — WILL AS PONY EXPRESS RIDER. + </h2> + <p> + AFTER being pounded against a saddle three dashes daily for three months, + to the tune of fifteen miles an hour, Will began to feel a little loose in + his joints, and weary withal, but he was determined to "stick it out." + Besides the daily pounding, the track of the Pony Express rider was strewn + with perils. A wayfarer through that wild land was more likely to run + across outlaws and Indians than to pass unmolested, and as it was known + that packages of value were frequently dispatched by the Pony Express + line, the route was punctuated by ambuscades. + </p> + <p> + Will had an eye out every trip for a hold-up, but three months went by + before he added that novelty to his other experiences. One day, as he flew + around a bend in a narrow pass, he confronted a huge revolver in the grasp + of a man who manifestly meant business, and whose salutation was: + </p> + <p> + "Halt! Throw up your hands!" + </p> + <p> + Most people do, and Will's hands were raised reluctantly. The highwayman + advanced, saying, not unkindly: + </p> + <p> + "I don't want to hurt you, boy, but I do want them bags." + </p> + <p> + Money packages were in the saddlebags, and Will was minded to save them if + he could, so, as the outlaw reached for the booty, Will touched the pony + with his foot, and the upshot was satisfactory to an unexpected degree. + The plunge upset the robber, and as the pony swept over him he got a + vicious blow from one hoof. Will wheeled for a revolver duel, but the foe + was prostrate, stunned, and bleeding at the head. Will disarmed the + fellow, and pinioned his arms behind him, and then tied up his broken + head. Will surmised that the prisoner must have a horse hidden hard by, + and a bit of a search disclosed it. When he returned with the animal, its + owner had opened his eyes and was beginning to remember a few things. Will + helped him to mount, and out of pure kindness tied him on; then he + straddled his own pony, and towed the dismal outfit along with him. + </p> + <p> + It was the first time that he had been behind on his run, but by way of + excuse he offered to Mr. Chrisman a broken-headed and dejected gentleman + tied to a horse's back; and Chrisman, with a grin, locked the excuse up + for future reference. + </p> + <p> + A few days after this episode Will received a letter from Julia, telling + him that mother was ill, and asking him to come home. He at once sought + out Mr. Chrisman, and giving his reason, asked to be relieved. + </p> + <p> + "I'm sorry your mother is sick," was the answer, "but I'm glad something + has occurred to make you quit this life. It's wearing you out, Billy, and + you're too gritty to give it up without a good reason." + </p> + <p> + Will reached home to find mother slightly improved. For three weeks was he + content to remain idly at home; then (it was November of 1860) his unquiet + spirit bore him away on another trapping expedition, this time with a + young friend named David Phillips. + </p> + <p> + They bought an ox-team and wagon to transport the traps, camp outfit, and + provisions, and took along a large supply of ammunition, besides extra + rifles. Their destination was the Republican River. It coursed more than a + hundred miles from Leavenworth, but the country about it was reputed rich + in beaver. Will acted as scout on the journey, going ahead to pick out + trails, locate camping grounds, and look out for breakers. The information + concerning the beaver proved correct; the game was indeed so plentiful + that they concluded to pitch a permanent camp and see the winter out. + </p> + <p> + They chose a hollow in a sidehill, and enlarged it to the dimensions of a + decent-sized room. A floor of logs was put in, and a chimney fashioned of + stones, the open lower part doing double duty as cook-stove and heater; + the bed was spread in the rear, and the wagon sheltered the entrance. A + corral of poles was built for the oxen, and one corner of it protected by + boughs. Altogether, they accounted their winter quarters thoroughly + satisfactory and agreeable. + </p> + <p> + The boys had seen no Indians on their trip out, and were not concerned in + that quarter, though they were too good plainsmen to relax their + vigilance. There were other foes, as they discovered the first night in + their new quarters. They were aroused by a commotion in the corral where + the oxen were confined, and hurrying out with their rifles, they found a + huge bear intent upon a feast of beef. The oxen were bellowing in terror, + one of them dashing crazily about the inclosure, and the other so badly + hurt that it could not get up. + </p> + <p> + Phillips, who was in the lead, fired first, but succeeded only in wounding + the bear. Pain was now added to the savagery of hunger, and the infuriated + monster rushed upon Phillips. Dave leaped back, but his foot slipped on a + bit of ice, and he went down with a thud, his rifle flying from his hand + as he struck. + </p> + <p> + But there was a cool young head and a steady hand behind him. A ball from + Will's rifle entered the distended mouth of the onrushing bear and pierced + the brain, and the huge mass fell lifeless almost across Dave's body. + </p> + <p> + Phillips's nerves loosened with a snap, and he laughed for very relief as + he seized Will's hands. + </p> + <p> + "That's the time you saved my life, old fellow!" said he. "Perhaps I can + do as much for you sometime." + </p> + <p> + "That's the first bear I ever killed," said Will, more interested in that + topic than in the one Dave held forth on. + </p> + <p> + One of the oxen was found to be mortally hurt, and a bullet ended its + misery. Will then took his first lesson in the gentle art of skinning a + bear. + </p> + <p> + Dave's chance to square his account with Will came a fortnight later. They + were chasing a bunch of elk, when Will fell, and discovered that he could + not rise. + </p> + <p> + "I'm afraid I've broken my leg," said he, as Dave ran to him. + </p> + <p> + Phillips had once been a medical student, and he examined the leg with a + professional eye. "You're right, Billy; the leg's broken," he reported. + </p> + <p> + Then he went to work to improvise splints and bind up the leg; and this + done, he took Will on his back and bore him to the dugout. Here the leg + was stripped, and set in carefully prepared splints, and the whole bound + up securely. + </p> + <p> + The outlook was unpleasant, cheerfully as one might regard it. Living in + the scoop of a sidehill when one is strong and able to get about and keep + the blood coursing is one thing; living there pent up through a tedious + winter is quite another. Dave meditated as he worked away at the pair of + crutches. + </p> + <p> + "Tell you what I think I'd better do," said he. "The nearest settlement is + some hundred miles away, and I can get there and back in twenty days. + Suppose I make the trip, get a team for our wagon, and come back for you?" + </p> + <p> + The idea of being left alone and well-nigh helpless struck dismay to + Will's heart, but there was no help for it, and he assented. Dave put + matters into shipshape, piled wood in the dugout, cooked a quantity of + food and put it where Will could reach it without rising, and fetched + several days' supply of water. Mother, ever mindful of Will's education, + had put some school-books in the wagon, and Dave placed these beside the + food and water. When Phillips finally set out, driving the surviving ox + before him, he left behind a very lonely and homesick boy. + </p> + <p> + During the first day of his confinement Will felt too desolate to eat, + much less to read; but as he grew accustomed to solitude he derived real + pleasure from the companionship of books. Perhaps in all his life he never + extracted so much benefit from study as during that brief period of + enforced idleness, when it was his sole means of making the dragging hours + endurable. Dave, he knew, could not return in less than twenty days, and + one daily task, never neglected, was to cut a notch in the stick that + marked the humdrum passage of the days. Within the week he could hobble + about on his crutches for a short distance; after that he felt more + secure. + </p> + <p> + A fortnight passed. And one day, weary with his studies, he fell asleep + over his books. Some one touched his shoulder, and looking up, he saw an + Indian in war paint and feathers. + </p> + <p> + "How?" said Will, with a show of friendliness, though he knew the brave + was on the war-path. + </p> + <p> + Half a score of bucks followed at the heels of the first, squeezing into + the little dugout until there was barely room for them to sit down. + </p> + <p> + With a sinking heart Will watched them enter, but he plucked up spirit + again when the last, a chief, pushed in, for in this warrior he recognized + an Indian that he had once done a good turn. + </p> + <p> + Whatever Lo's faults, he never forgets a kindness any more than he forgets + an injury. The chief, who went by the name of Rain-in-the-Face, at once + recognized Will, and asked him what he was doing in that place. Will + displayed his bandages, and related the mishap that had made them + necessary, and refreshed the chief's memory of a certain occasion when a + blanket and provisions had drifted his way. Rain-in-the-Face replied, with + proper gravity, that he and his chums were out after scalps, and confessed + to designs upon Will's, but in consideration of Auld Lang Syne he would + spare the paleface boy. + </p> + <p> + Auld Lang Syne, however, did not save the blankets and provisions, and the + bedizened crew stripped the dugout almost bare of supplies; but Will was + thankful enough to see the back of the last of them. + </p> + <p> + Two days later a blizzard set in. Will took an inventory, and found that, + economy considered, he had food for a week; but as the storm would surely + delay Dave, he put himself on half rations. + </p> + <p> + Three weeks were now gone, and he looked for Dave momentarily; but as + night followed day, and day grew into night again, he was given over to + keen anxiety. Had Phillips lost his way? Had he failed to locate the + snow-covered dugout? Had he perished in the storm? Had he fallen victim to + Indians? These and like questions haunted the poor lad continually. Study + became impossible, and he lost his appetite for what food there was left; + but the tally on the stick was kept. + </p> + <p> + The twenty-ninth day dawned. Starvation stalked into the dugout. The wood, + too, was nigh gone. But great as was Will's physical suffering, his mental + distress was greater. He sat before a handful of fire, shivering and + hungry, wretched and despondent. + </p> + <p> + Hark! Was that his name? Choking with emotion, unable to articulate, he + listened intently. Yes; it was his name, and Dave's familiar voice, and + with all his remaining energy he made an answering call. + </p> + <p> + His voice enabled Phillips to locate the dugout, and a passage was cleared + through the snow. And when Will saw the door open, the tension on his + nerves let go, and he wept—"like a girl," as he afterward told us. + </p> + <p> + "God bless you, Dave!" he cried, as he clasped his friend around the neck. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X. — ECHOES FROM SUMTER. + </h2> + <p> + THE guns that opened on Fort Sumter set the country all ablaze. In Kansas, + where blood had already been shed, the excitement reached an extraordinary + pitch. Will desired to enlist, but mother would not listen to the idea. + </p> + <p> + My brother had never forgotten the vow made in the post-trader's, and now + with the coming of war his opportunity seemed ripe and lawful; he could at + least take up arms against father's old-time enemies, and at the same time + serve his country. This aspect of the case was presented to mother in + glowing colors, backed by most eloquent pleading; but she remained + obdurate. + </p> + <p> + "You are too young to enlist, Willie," she said. "They would not accept + you, and if they did, I could not endure it. I have only a little time to + live; for my sake, then, wait till I am no more before you enter the + army." + </p> + <p> + This request was not to be disregarded, and Will promised that he would + not enlist while mother lived. + </p> + <p> + Kansas had long been the scene of bitter strife between the two parties, + and though there was a preponderance of the Free-Soil element when it was + admitted to the Union in 1861, we were fated to see some of the horrors of + slavery. Suffering makes one wondrous kind; mother had suffered so much + herself that the misery of others ever vibrated a chord of sympathy in her + breast, and our house became a station on "the underground railway." Many + a fugitive slave did we shelter, many here received food and clothing, + and, aided by mother, a great number reached safe harbors. + </p> + <p> + One old man, named Uncle Tom, became so much attached to us that he + refused to go on. We kept him as help about the hotel. He was with us + several months, and we children grew very fond of him. Every evening when + supper was over, he sat before the kitchen fire and told a breathless + audience strange stories of the days of slavery. And one evening, never to + be forgotten, Uncle Tom was sitting in his accustomed place, surrounded by + his juvenile listeners, when he suddenly sprang to his feet with a cry of + terror. Some men had entered the hotel sitting-room, and the sound of + their voices drove Uncle Tom to his own little room, and under the bed. + </p> + <p> + "Mrs. Cody," said the unwelcome visitors, "we understand that you are + harboring our runaway slaves. We propose to search the premises; and if we + find our property, you cannot object to our removing it." + </p> + <p> + Mother was sorely distressed for the unhappy Uncle Tom, but she knew + objection would be futile. She could only hope that the old colored man + had made good his escape. + </p> + <p> + But no! Uncle Tom lay quaking under his bed, and there his brutal master + found him. It is not impossible that there were slaveholders kind and + humane, but the bitter curse of slavery was the open door it left for + brutality and inhumanity; and never shall I forget the barbarity displayed + by the owner of Uncle Tom before our horrified eyes. The poor slave was so + old that his hair was wholly white; yet a rope was tied to it, and, + despite our pleadings, he was dragged from the house, every cry he uttered + evoking only a savage kick from a heavy riding-boot. When he was out of + sight, and his screams out of hearing, we wept bitterly on mother's loving + breast. + </p> + <p> + Uncle Tom again escaped, and made his way to our house, but he reached it + only to die. We sorrowed for the poor old slave, but thanked God that he + had passed beyond the inhumanity of man. + </p> + <p> + Debarred from serving his country as a soldier, Will decided to do so in + some other capacity, and accordingly took service with a United States + freight caravan, transporting supplies to Fort Laramie. On this trip his + frontier training and skill as a marksman were the means of saving a life. + </p> + <p> + In Western travel the perils from outlaws and Indians were so real that + emigrants usually sought the protection of a large wagon-train. Several + families of emigrants journeyed under the wing of the caravan to which + Will was attached. + </p> + <p> + When in camp one day upon the bank of the Platte River, and the members of + the company were busied with preparations for the night's rest and the + next day's journey, Mamie Perkins, a little girl from one of the emigrant + families, was sent to the river for a pail of water. A moment later a + monster buffalo was seen rushing upon the camp. A chorus of yells and a + fusillade from rifles and revolvers neither checked nor swerved him. + Straight through the camp he swept, like a cyclone, leaping ropes and + boxes, overturning wagons, and smashing things generally. + </p> + <p> + Mamie, the little water-bearer, had filled her pail and was returning in + the track selected by the buffalo. Too terrified to move, she watched, + with white face and parted lips, the maddened animal sweep toward her, + head down and tail up, its hoofs beating a thunderous tattoo on the plain. + </p> + <p> + Will had been asleep, but the commotion brought him to his feet, and + snatching up his rifle, he ran toward the little girl, aimed and fired at + the buffalo. The huge animal lurched, staggered a few yards farther, then + dropped within a dozen feet of the terrified child. + </p> + <p> + A shout of relief went up, and while a crowd of praising men gathered + about the embryo buffalo-hunter, Mamie was taken to her mother. Will never + relished hearing his praises sung, and as the camp was determined to + pedestal him as a hero, he ran away and hid in his tent. + </p> + <p> + Upon reaching Fort Laramie, Will's first business was to look up Alf + Slade, agent of the Pony Express line, whose headquarters were at + Horseshoe Station, twenty miles from the fort. He carried a letter of + recommendation from Mr. Russell, but Slade demurred. + </p> + <p> + "You're too young for a Pony Express rider," said he. + </p> + <p> + "I rode three months a year ago, sir, and I'm much stronger now," said + Will. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, are you the boy rider that was on Chrisman's division?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, sir." + </p> + <p> + "All right; I'll try you. If you can't stand it, I 'll give you something + easier." + </p> + <p> + Will's run was from Red Buttes, on the North Platte, to Three Crossings, + on the Sweetwater—seventy-six miles. + </p> + <p> + The wilderness was of the kind that is supposed to howl, and no person + fond of excitement had reason to complain of lack of it. One day Will + arrived at his last station to find that the rider on the next run had + been mortally hurt by Indians. There being no one else to do it, he + volunteered to ride the eighty-five miles for the wounded man. He + accomplished it, and made his own return trip on time—a continuous + ride of three hundred and twenty-two miles. There was no rest for the + rider, but twenty-one horses were used on the run—the longest ever + made by a Pony Express rider. + </p> + <p> + Shortly afterward Will fell in with California Joe, a remarkable frontier + character. He was standing beside a group of bowlders that edged the trail + when Will first clapped eyes on him, and the Pony Express man instantly + reached for his revolver. The stranger as quickly dropped his rifle, and + held up his hands in token of friendliness. Will drew rein, and ran an + interested eye over the man, who was clad in buckskin. + </p> + <p> + California Joe, who was made famous in General Custer's book, entitled + "Life on the Plains," was a man of wonderful physique, straight and stout + as a pine. His red-brown hair hung in curls below his shoulders; he wore a + full beard, and his keen, sparkling eyes were of the brightest hue. He + came from an Eastern family, and possessed a good education, somewhat + rusty from disuse. + </p> + <p> + "Hain't you the boy rider I has heard of—the youngest rider on the + trail?" he queried, in the border dialect. Will made an affirmative + answer, and gave his name. + </p> + <p> + "Waal," said Joe, "I guess you've got some money on this trip. I was + strikin' fer the Big Horn, and I found them two stiffs up yonder layin' + fer ye. We had a little misunderstandin', and now I has 'em to plant." + </p> + <p> + Will thanked him warmly, and begged him not to risk the perils of the Big + Horn; but California Joe only laughed, and told him to push ahead. + </p> + <p> + When Will reached his station he related his adventure, and the + stock-tender said it was "good by, California Joe" But Will had conceived + a better opinion of his new friend, and he predicted his safe return. + </p> + <p> + This confidence was justified by the appearance of California Joe, three + months later, in the camp of the Pony Riders on the Overland trail. He + received a cordial greeting, and was assured by the men that they had not + expected to see him alive again. In return he told them his story, and a + very interesting story it was. + </p> + <p> + "Some time ago," said he (I shall not attempt to reproduce his dialect), + "a big gang of gold-hunters went into the Big Horn country. They never + returned, and the general sent me to see if I could get any trace of them. + The country is full of Indians, and I kept my eye skinned for them, but I + wasn't looking for trouble from white men. I happened to leave my revolver + where I ate dinner one day, and soon after discovering the loss I went + back after the gun. Just as I picked it up I saw a white man on my trail. + I smelled trouble, but turned and jogged along as if I hadn't seen + anything. That night I doubled back over my trail until I came to the camp + where the stranger belonged. As I expected, he was one of a party of + three, but they had five horses. I'll bet odds, Pard Billy"—this to + Will—"that the two pilgrims laying for you belonged to this outfit. + </p> + <p> + "They thought I'd found gold, and were going to follow me until I struck + the mine, then do me up and take possession. + </p> + <p> + "The gold is there, too, lots of it. There's silver, iron, copper, and + coal, too, but no one will look at them so long as gold is to be had; but + those that go for gold will, many of them, leave their scalps behind. + </p> + <p> + "We kept the trail day after day; the men stuck right to me, the chap + ahead keeping me in sight and marking out the trail for his pard. When we + got into the heart of the Indian country I had to use every caution; I + steered clear of every smoke that showed a village or camp, and didn't use + my rifle on game, depending on the rations I had with me. + </p> + <p> + "At last I came to a spot that showed signs of a battle. Skulls and bones + were strewn around, and after a look about I was satisfied beyond doubt + that white men had been of the company. The purpose of my trip was + accomplished; I could safely report that the party of whites had been + exterminated by Indians. + </p> + <p> + "The question now was, could I return without running into Indians? The + first thing was to give my white pursuers the slip. + </p> + <p> + "That night I crept down the bed of a small stream, passed their camp, and + struck the trail a half mile or so below. + </p> + <p> + "It was the luckiest move I ever made. I had ridden but a short distance + when I heard the familiar war-whoop, and knew that the Indians had + surprised my unpleasant acquaintances and taken their scalps. I should + have shared the same fate if I hadn't moved. + </p> + <p> + "But, boys, it is a grand and beautiful country, full of towering + mountains, lovely valleys, and mighty trees." + </p> + <p> + About the middle of September the Indians became very troublesome along + the Sweetwater. Will was ambushed one day, but fortunately he was mounted + on one of the fleetest of the company's horses, and lying flat on the + animal's back, he distanced the redskins. At the relay station he found + the stock-tender dead, and as the horses had been driven off, he was + unable to get a fresh mount; so he rode the same horse to Plontz Station, + twelve miles farther. + </p> + <p> + A few days later the station boss of the line hailed Will with the + information: + </p> + <p> + "There's Injun signs about; so keep your eyes open." + </p> + <p> + "I'm on the watch, boss," was Will's answer, as he exchanged ponies and + dashed away. + </p> + <p> + The trail ran through a grim wild. It was darkened by mountains, overhung + with cliffs, and fringed with monster pines. The young rider's every sense + had been sharpened by frontier dangers. Each dusky rock and tree was + scanned for signs of lurking foes as he clattered down the twilight track. + </p> + <p> + One large bowlder lay in plain view far down the valley, and for a second + he saw a dark object appear above it. + </p> + <p> + He kept his course until within rifle-shot, and then suddenly swerved away + in an oblique line. The ambush had failed, and a puff of smoke issued from + behind the bowlder. Two braves, in gorgeous war paint, sprang up, and at + the same time a score of whooping Indians rode out of timber on the other + side of the valley. + </p> + <p> + Before Will the mountains sloped to a narrow pass; could he reach that he + would be comparatively safe. The Indians at the bowlder were unmounted, + and though they were fleet of foot, he easily left them behind. The + mounted reds were those to be feared, and the chief rode a very fleet + pony. As they neared the pass Will saw that it was life against life. He + drew his revolver, and the chief, for his part, fitted an arrow to his + bow. + </p> + <p> + Will was a shade the quicker. His revolver cracked, and the warrior + pitched dead from his saddle. His fall was the signal for a shower of + arrows, one of which wounded the pony slightly; but the station was + reached on time. + </p> + <p> + The Indians were now in evidence all the time. Between Split Rock and + Three Crossings they robbed a stage, killed the driver and two passengers, + and wounded Lieutenant Flowers, the assistant division agent. They drove + the stock from the stations, and continually harassed the Pony Express + riders and stage-drivers. So bold did the reds become that the Pony riders + were laid off for six weeks, though stages were to make occasional runs if + the business were urgent. A force was organized to search for missing + stock. There were forty men in the party—stage-drivers, + express-riders, stock-tenders, and ranchmen; and they were captained by a + plainsman named Wild Bill, who was a good friend of Will for many years. + </p> + <p> + He had not earned the sobriquet through lawlessness. It merely denoted his + dashing and daring. Physically he was well-nigh faultless—tall, + straight, and symmetrical, with broad shoulders and splendid chest. He was + handsome of face, with a clear blue eye, firm and well-shaped mouth, + aquiline nose, and brown, curling hair, worn long upon his shoulders. Born + of a refined and cultured family, he, like Will, seemingly inherited from + some remote ancestor his passion for the wild, free life of the plains. + </p> + <p> + At this time Wild Bill was a well-known scout, and in this capacity served + the United States to good purpose during the war. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI. — A SHORT BUT DASHING INDIAN CAMPAIGN. + </h2> + <p> + AS Will was one of the laid-off riders, he was allowed to join the + expedition against the Indian depredators, though he was the youngest + member of the company. + </p> + <p> + The campaign was short and sharp. The Indian trail was followed to Powder + River, and thence along the banks of the stream the party traveled to + within forty miles of the spot where old Fort Reno now stands; from here + the trail ran westerly, at the foot of the mountains, and was crossed by + Crazy Woman's Fork, a tributary of the Powder. + </p> + <p> + Originally this branch stream went by the name of the Big Beard, because + of a peculiar grass that fringed it. On its bank had stood a village of + the Crow Indians, and here a half-breed trader had settled. He bought the + red man's furs, and gave him in return bright-colored beads and pieces of + calico, paints, and blankets. In a short time he had all the furs in the + village; he packed them on ponies, and said good by to his Indian friends. + They were sorry to see him go, but he told them he would soon return from + the land of the paleface, bringing many gifts. Months passed; one day the + Indian sentinels reported the approach of a strange object. The village + was alarmed, for the Crows had never seen ox, horse, or wagon; but the + excitement was allayed when it was found that the strange outfit was the + property of the half-breed trader. + </p> + <p> + He had brought with him his wife, a white woman; she, too, was an object + of much curiosity to the Indians. + </p> + <p> + The trader built a lodge of wood and stones, and exposed all his goods for + sale. He had brought beads, ribbons, and brass rings as gifts for all the + tribe. + </p> + <p> + One day the big chief visited the store; the trader led him into a back + room, swore him to secrecy, and gave him a drink of black water. The chief + felt strangely happy. Usually he was very dignified and stately; but under + the influence of the strange liquid he sang and danced on the streets, and + finally fell into a deep sleep, from which he could not be wakened. This + performance was repeated day after day, until the Indians called a council + of war. They said the trader had bewitched their chief, and it must be + stopped, or they would kill the intruder. A warrior was sent to convey + this intelligence to the trader; he laughed, took the warrior into the + back room, swore him to secrecy, and gave him a drink of the black water. + The young Indian, in his turn, went upon the street, and laughed and sang + and danced, just as the chief had done. Surprised, his companions gathered + around him and asked him what was the matter. "Oh, go to the trader and + get some of the black water!" said he. + </p> + <p> + They asked for the strange beverage. The trader denied having any, and + gave them a drink of ordinary water, which had no effect. When the young + warrior awoke, they again questioned him. He said he must have been sick, + and have spoken loosely. + </p> + <p> + After this the chief and warrior were both drunk every day, and all the + tribe were sorely perplexed. Another council of war was held, and a young + chief arose, saying that he had made a hole in the wall of the trader's + house, and had watched; and it was true the trader gave their friends + black water. The half-breed and the two unhappy Indians were brought + before the council, and the young chief repeated his accusation, saying + that if it were not true, they might fight him. The second victim of the + black water yet denied the story, and said the young chief lied; but the + trader had maneuvered into the position he desired, and he confessed. They + bade him bring the water, that they might taste it; but before he departed + the young chief challenged to combat the warrior that had said he lied. + This warrior was the best spearsman of the tribe, and all expected the + death of the young chief; but the black water had palsied the warrior's + arm, his trembling hand could not fling true, he was pierced to the heart + at the first thrust. The tribe then repaired to the trader's lodge, and he + gave them all a drink of the black water. They danced and sang, and then + lay upon the ground and slept. + </p> + <p> + After two or three days the half-breed declined to provide black water + free; if the warriors wanted it, they must pay for it. At first he gave + them a "sleep," as they called it, for one robe or skin, but as the stock + of black water diminished, two, then three, then many robes were demanded. + At last he said he had none left except what he himself desired. The + Indians offered their ponies, until the trader had all the robes and all + the ponies of the tribe. + </p> + <p> + Now, he said, he would go back to the land of the paleface and procure + more of the black water. Some of the warriors were willing he should do + this; others asserted that he had plenty of black water left, and was + going to trade with their enemy, the Sioux. The devil had awakened in the + tribe. The trader's stores and packs were searched, but no black water was + found. 'Twas hidden, then, said the Indians. The trader must produce it, + or they would kill him. Of course he could not do this. He had sowed the + wind; he reaped the whirlwind. He was scalped before the eyes of his + horrified wife, and his body mutilated and mangled. The poor woman + attempted to escape; a warrior struck her with his tomahawk, and she fell + as if dead. The Indians fired the lodge. As they did so, a Crow squaw saw + that the white woman was not dead. She took the wounded creature to her + own lodge, bound up her wounds, and nursed her back to strength. But the + unfortunate woman's brain was crazed, and could not bear the sight of a + warrior. + </p> + <p> + As soon as she could get around she ran away. The squaws went out to look + for her, and found her crooning on the banks of the Big Beard. She would + talk with the squaws, but if a warrior appeared, she hid herself till he + was gone. The squaws took her food, and she lived in a covert on the bank + of the stream for many months. One day a warrior, out hunting, chanced + upon her. Thinking she was lost, he sought to catch her, to take her back + to the village, as all Indian tribes have a veneration for the insane; but + she fled into the hills, and was never seen afterward. The stream became + known as the "Place of the Crazy Woman," or Crazy Woman's Fork, and has + retained the name to this day. + </p> + <p> + At this point, to return to my narrative, the signs indicated that + reinforcements had reached the original body of Indians. The plainsmen + were now in the heart of the Indian country, the utmost caution was + required, and a sharp lookout was maintained. When Clear Creek, another + tributary of the Powder, was come up with, an Indian camp, some three + miles distant, was discovered on the farther bank. + </p> + <p> + A council of war was held. Never before had the white man followed the red + so far into his domain, and 'twas plain the Indian was off his guard; not + a scout was posted. + </p> + <p> + At Wild Bill's suggestion, the attack waited upon nightfall. Veiled by + darkness, the company was to surprise the Indian camp and stampede the + horses. + </p> + <p> + The plan was carried out without a hitch. The Indians outnumbered the + white men three to one, but when the latter rushed cyclonically through + the camp, no effort was made to repel them, and by the time the Indians + had recovered from their surprise the plainsmen had driven off all the + horses—those belonging to the reds as well as those that had been + stolen. A few shots were fired, but the whites rode scathless away, and + unpursued. + </p> + <p> + The line of march was now taken up for Sweetwater Bridge, and here, four + days later, the plainsmen brought up, with their own horses and about a + hundred Indian ponies. + </p> + <p> + This successful sadly repressed the hostilities for a space. The recovered + horses were put back on the road, and the stage-drivers and express-riders + resumed their interrupted activity. + </p> + <p> + "Billy," said Mr. Slade, who had taken a great fancy to Will—"Billy, + this is a hard life, and you're too young to stand it. You've done good + service, and in consideration of it I'll make you a supernumerary. You'll + have to ride only when it's absolutely necessary." + </p> + <p> + There followed for Will a period of <i>dolce far niente</i>; days when he + might lie on his back and watch the clouds drift across the sky; when he + might have an eye to the beauty of the woodland and the sweep of the + plain, without the nervous strain of studying every tree and knoll that + might conceal a lurking redskin. Winter closed in, and with it came the + memories of the trapping season of 1860-61, when he had laid low his first + and last bear. But there were other bears to be killed—the mountains + were full of them; and one bracing morning he turned his horse's head + toward the hills that lay down the Horseshoe Valley. Antelope and deer fed + in the valley, the sage-hen and the jack-rabbit started up under his + horse's hoofs, but such small game went by unnoticed. + </p> + <p> + Two o'clock passed without a sign of bear, save some tracks in the snow. + The wintry air had put a keen edge on Will's appetite, and hitching his + tired horse, he shot one of the lately scorned sage-hens, and broiled it + over a fire that invited a longer stay than an industrious bear-hunter + could afford. But nightfall found him and his quarry still many miles + asunder, and as he did not relish the prospect of a chaffing from the men + at the station, he cast about for a camping-place, finding one in an open + spot on the bank of a little stream. Two more sage-hens were added to the + larder, and he was preparing to kindle a fire when the whinnying of a + horse caught his ear. He ran to his own horse to check the certain + response, resaddled him, and disposed everything for flight, should it be + necessary. Then, taking his rifle, he put forth on a reconnoissance. + </p> + <p> + He shortly came upon a bunch of horses, a dozen or more, around a crook of + the stream. Above them, on the farther bank, shone a light. Drawing + nearer, he saw that it came from a dugout, and he heard his own language + spoken. Reassured, he walked boldly up to the door and rapped. + </p> + <p> + Silence—followed by a hurried whispering, and the demand: + </p> + <p> + "Who's there?" + </p> + <p> + "Friend and white man," answered Will. + </p> + <p> + The door opened reluctantly, and an ugly-looking customer bade him enter. + The invitation was not responded to with alacrity, for eight such + villainous-looking faces as the dugout held it would have been hard to + match. Too late to retreat, there was nothing for it but a determined + front, and let wit point the way of escape. Two of the men Will recognized + as discharged teamsters from Lew Simpson's train, and from his knowledge + of their longstanding weakness he assumed, correctly, that he had thrust + his head into a den of horsethieves. + </p> + <p> + "Who's with you?" was the first query; and this answered, with sundry + other information esteemed essential, "Where's your horse?" demanded the + most striking portrait in the rogues' gallery. + </p> + <p> + "Down by the creek," said Will. + </p> + <p> + "All right, sonny; we'll go down and get him," was the obliging rejoinder. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, don't trouble yourself," said Will. "I'll fetch him and put up here + over night, with your permission. I'll leave my gun here till I get back." + </p> + <p> + "That's right; leave your gun, you won't need it," said the leader of the + gang, with a grin that was as near amiability as his rough, stern calling + permitted him. "Jim and I will go down with you after the horse." + </p> + <p> + This offer compelled an acquiescence, Will consoling himself with the + reflection that it is easier to escape from two men than from eight. + </p> + <p> + When the horse was reached, one of the outlaws obligingly volunteered to + lead it. + </p> + <p> + "All right," said Will, carelessly. "I shot a couple of sage-hens here; + I'll take them along. Lead away!" + </p> + <p> + He followed with the birds, the second horsethief bringing up the rear. As + the dugout was neared he let fall one of the hens, and asked the chap + following to pick it up, and as the obliging rear guard stopped, Will + knocked him senseless with the butt of his revolver. The man ahead heard + the blow, and turned, with his hand on his gun, but Will dropped him with + a shot, leaped on his horse, and dashed off. + </p> + <p> + The sextet in the dugout sprang to arms, and came running down the bank, + and likely getting the particulars of the escape from the ruffian by the + sage-hen, who was probably only stunned for the moment, they buckled + warmly to the chase. The mountain-side was steep and rough, and men on + foot were better than on horseback; accordingly Will dismounted, and + clapping his pony soundly on the flank, sent him clattering on down the + declivity, and himself stepped aside behind a large pine. The pursuing + party rushed past him, and when they were safely gone, he climbed back + over the mountain, and made his way as best he could to the Horseshoe. It + was a twenty-five mile plod, and he reached the station early in the + morning, weary and footsore. + </p> + <p> + He woke the plainsmen, and related his adventure, and Mr. Slade at once + organized a party to hunt out the bandits of the dugout. Twenty well-armed + stock-tenders, stage-drivers, and ranchmen rode away at sunrise, and, + notwithstanding his fatigue, Will accompanied them as guide. + </p> + <p> + But the ill-favored birds had flown; the dugout was deserted. + </p> + <p> + Will soon tired of this nondescript service, and gladly accepted a + position as assistant wagon-master under Wild Bill, who had taken a + contract to fetch a load of government freight from Rolla, Missouri. + </p> + <p> + He returned with a wagon-train to Springfield, in that state, and thence + came home on a visit. It was a brief one, however, for the air was too + full of war for him to endure inaction. Contented only when at work, he + continued to help on government freight contracts, until he received word + that mother was dangerously ill. Then he resigned his position and + hastened home. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII. — THE MOTHER'S LAST ILLNESS. + </h2> + <p> + IT was now the autumn of 1863, and Will was a well-grown young man, tall, + strong, and athletic, though not yet quite eighteen years old. Our oldest + sister, Julia, had been married, the spring preceding, to Mr. J. A. + Goodman. + </p> + <p> + Mother had been growing weaker from day to day; being with her constantly, + we had not remarked the change for the worse; but Will was much shocked by + the transformation which a few months had wrought. Only an indomitable + will power had enabled her to overcome the infirmities of the body, and + now it seemed to us as if her flesh had been refined away, leaving only + the sweet and beautiful spirit. + </p> + <p> + Will reached home none too soon, for only three weeks after his return the + doctor told mother that only a few hours were left to her, and if she had + any last messages, it were best that she communicate them at once. That + evening the children were called in, one by one, to receive her blessing + and farewell. Mother was an earnest Christian character, but at that time + I alone of all the children appeared religiously disposed. Young as I was, + the solemnity of the hour when she charged me with the spiritual welfare + of the family has remained with me through all the years that have gone. + Calling me to her side, she sought to impress upon my childish mind, not + the sorrow of death, but the glory of the resurrection. Then, as if she + were setting forth upon a pleasant journey, she bade me good by, and I + kissed her for the last time in life. When next I saw her face it was cold + and quiet. The beautiful soul had forsaken its dwelling-place of clay, and + passed on through the Invisible, to wait, a glorified spirit, on the + farther shore for the coming of the loved ones whose life-story was as yet + unfinished. + </p> + <p> + Julia and Will remained with her throughout the night. Just before death + there came to her a brief season of long-lost animation, the last flicker + of the torch before darkness. She talked to them almost continuously until + the dawn. Into their hands was given the task of educating the others of + the family, and on their hearts and consciences the charge was graven. + Charlie, who was born during the early Kansas troubles, had ever been a + delicate child, and he lay an especial burden on her mind. + </p> + <p> + "If," she said, "it be possible for the dead to call the living, I shall + call Charlie to me." + </p> + <p> + Within the space of a year, Charlie, too, was gone; and who shall say that + the yearning of a mother's heart for her child was not stronger than the + influences of the material world? + </p> + <p> + Upon Will mother sought to impress the responsibilities of his destiny. + She reminded him of the prediction of the fortune-teller, that "his name + would be known the world over." + </p> + <p> + "But," said she, "only the names of them that are upright, brave, + temperate, and true can be honorably known. Remember always that 'he that + overcometh his own soul is greater than he who taketh a city.' Already you + have shown great abilities, but remember that they carry with them grave + responsibilities. You have been a good son to me. In the hour of need you + have always aided me so that I can die now feeling that my children are + not unprovided for. I have not wished you to enlist in the war, partly + because I knew you were too young, partly because my life was drawing near + its close. But now you are nearly eighteen, and if when I am gone your + country needs you in the strife of which we in Kansas know the bitterness, + I bid you go as soldier in behalf of the cause for which your father gave + his life." + </p> + <p> + She talked until sleep followed exhaustion. When she awoke she tried to + raise herself in bed. Will sprang to aid her, and with the upward look of + one that sees ineffable things, she passed away, resting in his arms. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Oh, the glory and the gladness + Of a life without a fear; + Of a death like nature fading + In the autumn of the year; + Of a sweet and dreamless slumber, + In a faith triumphant borne, + Till the bells of Easter wake her + On the resurrection morn! + + Ah, for such a blessed falling + Into quiet sleep at last, + When the ripening grain is garnered, + And the toil and trial past; + When the red and gold of sunset + Slowly changes into gray; + Ah, for such a quiet passing, + Through the night into the day! +</pre> + <p> + The morning of the 22d day of November, 1863, began the saddest day of our + lives. We rode in a rough lumber wagon to Pilot Knob Cemetery, a long, + cold, hard ride; but we wished our parents to be united in death as they + had been in life, so buried mother in a grave next to father's. + </p> + <p> + The road leading from the cemetery forked a short distance outside of + Leavenworth, one branch running to that city, the other winding homeward + along Government Hill. When we were returning, and reached this fork, Will + jumped out of the wagon. + </p> + <p> + "I can't go home when I know mother is no longer there," said he. "I am + going to Leavenworth to see Eugene Hathaway. I shall stay with him + to-night." + </p> + <p> + We, pitied Will—he and mother had been so much to each other—and + raised no objection, as we should have done had we known the real purpose + of his visit. + </p> + <p> + The next morning, therefore, we were much surprised to see him and Eugene + ride into the yard, both clothed in, the blue uniforms of United States + soldiers. Overwhelmed with grief over mother's death, it seemed more than + we could bear to see our big brother ride off to war. We threatened to + inform the recruiting officers that he was not yet eighteen; but he was + too thoroughly in earnest to be moved by our objections. The regiment in + which he had enlisted was already ordered to the front, and he had come + home to say good by. He then rode away to the hardships, dangers, and + privations of a soldier's life. The joy of action balanced the account for + him, while we were obliged to accept the usual lot of girlhood and + womanhood—the weary, anxious waiting, when the heart is torn with + uncertainty and suspense over the fate of the loved ones who bear the + brunt and burden of the day. + </p> + <p> + The order sending Will's regiment to the front was countermanded, and he + remained for a time in Fort Leavenworth. His Western experiences were well + known there, and probably for this reason he was selected as a bearer of + military dispatches to Fort Larned. Some of our old pro-slavery enemies, + who were upon the point of joining the Confederate army, learned of Will's + mission, which they thought afforded them an excellent chance to gratify + their ancient grudge against the father by murdering the son. The killing + could be justified on the plea of service rendered to their cause. + Accordingly a plan was made to waylay Will and capture his dispatches at a + creek he was obliged to ford. + </p> + <p> + He received warning of this plot. On such a mission the utmost vigilance + was demanded at all times, and with an ambuscade ahead of him, he was + alertness itself. His knowledge of Indian warfare stood him in good stead + now. Not a tree, rock, or hillock escaped his keen glance. When he neared + the creek at which the attack was expected, he left the road, and + attempted to ford the stream four or five hundred yards above the common + crossing, but found it so swollen by recent rains that he was unable to + cross; so he cautiously picked his way back to the trail. + </p> + <p> + The assassins' camp was two or three hundred feet away from the creek. + Darkness was coming on, and he took advantage of the shelter afforded by + the bank, screening himself behind every clump of bushes. His enemies + would look for his approach from the other direction, and he hoped to give + them the slip and pass by unseen. + </p> + <p> + When he reached the point where he could see the little cabin where the + men were probably hiding, he ran upon a thicket in which five + saddle-horses were concealed. + </p> + <p> + "Five to one! I don't stand much show if they see me," he decided as he + rode quietly and slowly along, his carbine in his hand ready for use. + </p> + <p> + "There he goes, boys! he's at the ford!" came a sudden shout from the + camp, followed by the crack of a rifle. Two or three more shots rang out, + and from the bound his horse gave Will knew one bullet had reached a mark. + He rode into the water, then turned in his saddle and aimed like a flash + at a man within range. The fellow staggered and fell, and Will put spurs + to his horse, turning again only when the stream was crossed. The men were + running toward the ford, firing as they came, and getting a warm return + fire. As Will was already two or three hundred yards in advance, pursuers + on foot were not to be feared, and he knew that before they could reach + and mount their horses he would be beyond danger. Much depended on his + horse. Would the gallant beast, wounded as he was, be able to long + maintain the fierce pace he had set? Mile upon mile was put behind before + the stricken creature fell. Will shouldered the saddle and bridle and + continued on foot. He soon reached a ranch where a fresh mount might be + procured, and was shortly at Fort Larned. + </p> + <p> + After a few hours' breathing-spell, he left for Fort Leavenworth with + return dispatches. As he drew near the ford, he resumed his sharp lookout, + though scarcely expecting trouble. The planners of the ambuscade had been + so certain that five men could easily make away with one boy that there + had been no effort at disguise, and Will had recognized several of them. + He, for his part, felt certain that they would get out of that part of the + country with all dispatch; but he employed none the less caution in + crossing the creek, and his carbine was ready for business as he + approached the camp. + </p> + <p> + The fall of his horse's hoofs evoked a faint call from one of the + buildings. It was not repeated; instead there issued hollow moans. + </p> + <p> + It might be a trap; again, a fellow-creature might be at death's door. + Will rode a bit nearer the cabin entrance. + </p> + <p> + "Who's there?" he called. + </p> + <p> + "Come in, for the love of God! I am dying here alone!" was the reply. + </p> + <p> + "Who are you?" + </p> + <p> + "Ed Norcross." + </p> + <p> + Will jumped from his horse. This was the man at whom he had fired. He + entered the cabin. + </p> + <p> + "What is the matter?" he asked. + </p> + <p> + "I was wounded by a bullet," moaned Norcross, "and my comrades deserted + me." + </p> + <p> + Will was now within range of the poor fellow lying on the floor. + </p> + <p> + "Will Cody!" he cried. + </p> + <p> + Will dropped on his knee beside the dying man, choking with the emotion + that the memory of long years of friendship had raised. + </p> + <p> + "My poor Ed!" he murmured. "And it was my bullet that struck you." + </p> + <p> + "It was in defense of your own life, Will," said Norcross. "God knows, I + don't blame you. Don't think too hard of me. I did everything I could to + save you. It was I who sent you warning. I hoped you might find some other + trail." + </p> + <p> + "I didn't shoot with the others," continued Norcross, after a short + silence. "They deserted me. They said they would send help back, but they + haven't." + </p> + <p> + Will filled the empty canteen lying on the floor, and rearranged the + blanket that served as a pillow; then he offered to dress the neglected + wound. But the gray of death was already upon the face of Norcross. + </p> + <p> + "Never mind, Will," he whispered; "it's not worth while. Just stay with me + till I die." + </p> + <p> + It was not a long vigil. Will sat beside his old friend, moistening his + pallid lips with water. In a very short time the end came. Will disposed + the stiffening limbs, crossing the hands over the heart, and with a last + backward look went out of the cabin. + </p> + <p> + It was his first experience in the bitterness and savagery of war, and he + set a grave and downcast face against the remainder of his journey. + </p> + <p> + As he neared Leavenworth he met the friend who had conveyed the dead man's + warning message, and to him he committed the task of bringing home the + body. His heaviness of spirit was scarcely mitigated by the + congratulations of the commander of Fort Leavenworth upon his pluck and + resources, which had saved both his life and the dispatches. + </p> + <p> + There followed another period of inaction, always irritating to a lad of + Will's restless temperament. Meantime, we at home were having our own + experiences. + </p> + <p> + We were rejoiced in great measure when sister Julia decided that we had + learned as much as might be hoped for in the country school, and must + thereafter attend the winter and spring terms of the school at + Leavenworth. The dresses she cut for us, however, still followed the + country fashion, which has regard rather to wear than to appearance, and + we had not been a day in the city school before we discovered that our + apparel had stamped "provincial" upon us in plain, large characters. In + addition to this, our brother-in-law, in his endeavor to administer the + estate economically, bought each of us a pair of coarse calfskin shoes. To + these we were quite unused, mother having accustomed us to serviceable but + pretty ones. The author of our "extreme" mortification, totally ignorant + of the shy and sensitive nature of girls, only laughed at our protests, + and in justice to him it may be said that he really had no conception of + the torture he inflicted upon us. + </p> + <p> + We turned to Will. In every emergency he was our first thought, and here + was an emergency that taxed his powers to an extent we did not dream of. + He made answer to our letter that he was no longer an opulent trainman, + but drew only the slender income of a soldier, and even that pittance was + in arrears. Disappointment was swallowed up in remorse. Had we reflected + how keenly he must feel his inability to help us, we would not have sent + him the letter, which, at worst, contained only a sly suggestion of a fine + opportunity to relieve sisterly distress. All his life he had responded to + our every demand; now allegiance was due his country first. But, as was + always the way with him, he made the best of a bad matter, and we were + much comforted by the receipt of the following letter: + </p> + <p> + "MY DEAR SISTERS: + </p> + <p> + "I am sorry that I cannot help you and furnish you with such clothes as + you wish. At this writing I am so short of funds myself that if an entire + Mississippi steamer could be bought for ten cents I couldn't purchase the + smokestack. I will soon draw my pay, and I will send it, every cent, to + you. So brave it out, girls, a little longer. In the mean time I will + write to Al. + </p> + <p> + "Lovingly, + </p> + <p> + "WILL." + </p> + <p> + We were comforted, yes; but my last hope was gone, and I grew desperate. I + had never worn the obnoxious shoes purchased by my guardian, and I + proceeded to dispose of them forever. I struck what I regarded as a famous + bargain with an accommodating Hebrew, and came into possession of a pair + of shiny morocco shoes, worth perhaps a third of what mine had cost. One + would say they were designed for shoes, and they certainly looked like + shoes, but as certainly they were not wearable. Still they were of + service, for the transaction convinced my guardian that the truest economy + did not lie in the pur-chasing of calfskin shoes for at least one of his + charges. A little later he received a letter from Will, presenting our + grievances and advocating our cause. Will also sent us the whole of his + next month's pay as soon as he drew it. + </p> + <p> + In February, 1864, Sherman began his march through Mississippi. The + Seventh Kansas regiment, known as "Jennison's Jayhawkers," was reorganized + at Fort Leavenworth as veterans, and sent to Memphis, Tenn., to join + General A. J. Smith's command, which was to operate against General + Forrest and cover the retreat of General Sturgis, who had been so badly + whipped by Forrest at Cross-Roads. Will was exceedingly desirous of + engaging in a great battle, and through some officers with whom he was + acquainted preferred a petition to be transferred to this regiment. The + request was granted, and his delight knew no bounds. He wrote to us that + his great desire was about to be gratified, that he should soon know what + a real battle was like. + </p> + <p> + He was well versed in Indian warfare; now he was ambitious to learn, from + experience, the superiority of civilized strife—rather, I should + say, of strife between civilized people. + </p> + <p> + General Smith had acquainted himself with the record made by the young + scout of the plains, and shortly after reaching Memphis he ordered Will to + report to headquarters for special service. + </p> + <p> + "I am anxious," said the general, "to gain reliable information concerning + the enemy's movements and position. This can only be done by entering the + Confederate camp. You possess the needed qualities—nerve, coolness, + resource—and I believe you could do it." + </p> + <p> + "You mean," answered Will, quietly, "that you wish me to go as a spy into + the rebel camp." + </p> + <p> + "Exactly. But you must understand the risk you run. If you are captured, + you will be hanged." + </p> + <p> + "I am ready to take the chances, sir," said Will; "ready to go at once, if + you wish." + </p> + <p> + General Smith's stern face softened into a smile at the prompt response. + </p> + <p> + "I am sure, Cody," said he, kindly, "that if any one can go through + safely, you will. Dodging Indians on the plains was good training for the + work in hand, which demands quick intelligence and ceaseless vigilance. I + never require such service of any one, but since you volunteer to go, take + these maps of the country to your quarters and study them carefully. + Return this evening for full instructions." + </p> + <p> + During the few days his regiment had been in camp, Will had been on one or + two scouting expeditions, and was somewhat familiar with the immediate + environments of the Union forces. The maps were unusually accurate, + showing every lake, river, creek, and highway, and even the by-paths from + plantation to plantation. + </p> + <p> + Only the day before, while on a reconnoissance, Will had captured a + Confederate soldier, who proved to be an old acquaintance named Nat + Golden. Will had served with Nat on one of Russell, Majors & Waddell's + freight trains, and at one time had saved the young man's life, and + thereby earned his enduring friendship. Nat was born in the East, became + infected with Western fever, and ran away from home in order to become a + plainsman. + </p> + <p> + "Well, this is too bad," said Will, when he recognized his old friend. "I + would rather have captured a whole regiment than you. I don't like to take + you in as a prisoner. What did you enlist on the wrong side for, anyway?" + </p> + <p> + "The fortunes of war, Billy, my boy," laughed Nat. "Friend shall be turned + against friend, and brother against brother, you know. You wouldn't have + had me for a prisoner, either, if my rifle hadn't snapped; but I'm glad it + did, for I shouldn't want to be the one that shot you." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I don't want to see you strung up," said Will; "so hand me over + those papers you have, and I will turn you in as an ordinary prisoner." + </p> + <p> + Nat's face paled as he asked, "Do you think I'm a spy, Billy?" + </p> + <p> + "I know it." + </p> + <p> + "Well," was the reply, "I've risked my life to obtain these papers, but I + suppose they will be taken from me anyway; so I might as well give them up + now, and save my neck." + </p> + <p> + Examination showed them to be accurate maps of the location and position + of the Union army; and besides the maps, there were papers containing much + valuable information concerning the number of soldiers and officers and + their intended movements. Will had not destroyed these papers, and he now + saw a way to use them to his own advantage. When he reported for final + instructions, therefore, at General Smith's tent, in the evening, Will + said to him: + </p> + <p> + "I gathered from a statement dropped by the prisoner captured yesterday, + that a Confederate spy has succeeded in making out and carrying to the + enemy a complete map of the position of our regiment, together with some + idea of the projected plan of campaign." + </p> + <p> + "Ah," said the general; "I am glad that you have put me on my guard. I + will at once change my position, so that the information will be of no + value to them." + </p> + <p> + Then followed full instructions as to the duty required of the volunteer. + </p> + <p> + "When will you set out?" asked the general. + </p> + <p> + "To-night, sir. I have procured my uniform, and have everything prepared + for an early start." + </p> + <p> + "Going to change your colors, eh?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, for the time being, but not my principles." + </p> + <p> + The general looked at Will approvingly. "You will need all the wit, pluck, + nerve, and caution of which you are possessed to come through this ordeal + safely," said he. "I believe you can accomplish it, and I rely upon you + fully. Good by, and success go with you!" + </p> + <p> + After a warm hand-clasp, Will returned to his tent, and lay down for a few + hours' rest. By four o'clock he was in the saddle, riding toward the + Confederate lines. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII. — IN THE SECRET-SERVICE. + </h2> + <p> + IN common walks of life to play the spy is an ignoble role; yet the work + has to be done, and there must be men to do it. There always are such men—nervy + fellows who swing themselves into the saddle when their commander lifts + his hand, and ride a mad race, with Death at the horse's flank every mile + of the way. They are the unknown heroes of every war. + </p> + <p> + It was with a full realization of the dangers confronting him that Will + cantered away from the Union lines, his borrowed uniform under his arm. As + soon as he had put the outposts behind him, he dismounted and exchanged + the blue clothes for the gray. Life on the plains had bronzed his face. + For aught his complexion could tell, the ardent Southern sun might have + kissed it to its present hue. Then, if ever, his face was his fortune in + good part; but there was, too, a stout heart under his jacket, and the + light of confidence in his eyes. + </p> + <p> + The dawn had come up when he sighted the Confederate outposts. What lay + beyond only time could reveal; but with a last reassuring touch of the + papers in his pocket, he spurred his horse up to the first of the outlying + sentinels. Promptly the customary challenge greeted him: + </p> + <p> + "Halt! Who goes there?" + </p> + <p> + "Friend." + </p> + <p> + "Dismount, friend! Advance and give the countersign!" + </p> + <p> + "Haven't the countersign," said Will, dropping from his horse, "but I have + important information for General Forrest. Take me to him at once." + </p> + <p> + "Are you a Confederate soldier?" + </p> + <p> + "Not exactly. But I have some valuable news about the Yanks, I reckon. + Better let me see the general." + </p> + <p> + "Thus far," he added to himself, "I have played the part. The combination + of 'Yank' and 'I reckon' ought to establish me as a promising candidate + for Confederate honors." + </p> + <p> + His story was not only plausible, but plainly and fairly told; but caution + is a child of war, and the sentinel knew his business. The + pseudo-Confederate was disarmed as a necessary preliminary, and marched + between two guards to headquarters, many curious eyes (the camp being now + astir) following the trio. + </p> + <p> + When Forrest heard the report, he ordered the prisoner brought before him. + One glance at the general's handsome but harsh face, and the young man + steeled his nerves for the encounter. There was no mercy in those cold, + piercing eyes. This first duel of wits was the one to be most dreaded. + Unless confidence were established, his after work must be done at a + disadvantage. + </p> + <p> + The general's penetrating gaze searched the young face before him for + several seconds. + </p> + <p> + "Well, sir," said he, "what do you want with me?" + </p> + <p> + Yankee-like, the reply was another question: + </p> + <p> + "You sent a man named Nat Golden into the Union lines, did you not, sir?" + </p> + <p> + "And if I did, what then?" + </p> + <p> + "He is an old friend of mine. He tried for the Union camp to verify + information that he had received, but before he started he left certain + papers with me in case he should be captured." + </p> + <p> + "Ah!" said Forrest, coldly. "And he was captured?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, sir; but, as I happen to know, he wasn't hanged, for these weren't + on him." + </p> + <p> + As he spoke, Will took from his pocket the papers he had obtained from + Golden, and passed them over with the remark, "Golden asked me to take + them to you." + </p> + <p> + General Forrest was familiar with the hapless Golden's handwriting, and + the documents were manifestly genuine. His suspicion was not aroused. + </p> + <p> + "These are important papers," said he, when he had run his eye over them. + "They contain valuable information, but we may not be able to use it, as + we are about to change our location. Do you know what these papers + contain?" + </p> + <p> + "Every word," was the truthful reply. "I studied them, so that in case + they were destroyed you would still have the information from me." + </p> + <p> + "A wise thing to do," said Forrest, approvingly. "Are you a soldier?" + </p> + <p> + "I have not as yet joined the army, but I am pretty well acquainted with + this section, and perhaps could serve you as a scout." + </p> + <p> + "Um!" said the general, looking the now easy-minded young man over. "You + wear our uniform." + </p> + <p> + "It's Golden's," was the second truthful answer. "He left it with me when + he put on the blue." + </p> + <p> + "And what is your name?" + </p> + <p> + "Frederick Williams." + </p> + <p> + Pretty near the truth. Only a final "s" and a rearrangement of his given + names. + </p> + <p> + "Very well," said the general, ending the audience; "you may remain in + camp. If I need you, I'll send for you." + </p> + <p> + He summoned an orderly, and bade him make the volunteer scout comfortable + at the couriers' camp. Will breathed a sigh of relief as he followed at + the orderly's heels. The ordeal was successfully passed. The rest was + action. + </p> + <p> + Two days went by. In them Will picked up valuable information here and + there, drew maps, and was prepared to depart at the first favorable + opportunity. It was about time, he figured, that General Forrest found + some scouting work for him. That was a passport beyond the lines, and he + promised himself the outposts should see the cleanest pair of heels that + ever left unwelcome society in the rear. But evidently scouting was a drug + in the general's market, for the close of another day found Will + impatiently awaiting orders in the couriers' quarters. This sort of + inactivity was harder on the nerves than more tangible perils, and he + about made up his mind that when he left camp it would be without orders, + but with a hatful of bullets singing after him. And he was quite sure that + his exit lay that way when, strolling past headquarters, he clapped eyes + on the very last person that he expected or wished to see—Nat + Golden. + </p> + <p> + And Nat was talking to an adjutant-general! + </p> + <p> + There were just two things to do, knock Golden on the head, or cut and + run. Nat would not betray him knowingly, but unwittingly was certain to do + so the moment General Forrest questioned him. There could be no choice + between the two courses open; it was cut and run, and as a preliminary + Will cut for his tent. First concealing his papers, he saddled his horse + and rode toward the outposts with a serene countenance. + </p> + <p> + {illust. caption = "NOW RIDE FOR YOUR LIVES!"} + </p> + <p> + The same sergeant that greeted him when he entered the lines chanced to be + on duty, and of him Will asked an unimportant question concerning the + outer-flung lines. Yet as he rode along he could not forbear throwing an + apprehensive glance behind. No pursuit was making, and the farthest + picket-line was passed by a good fifty yards. Ahead was a stretch of + timber. Suddenly a dull tattoo of horses' hoofs caught his ear, and he + turned to see a small cavalcade bearing down upon him at a gallop. He sank + the spurs into his horse's side and plunged into the timber. It was out of + the frying-pan into the fire. He ran plump into a half-dozen Confederate + cavalrymen, guarding two Union prisoners. "Men, a Union spy is escaping!" + shouted Will. "Scatter at once, and head him off. I'll look after your + prisoners." There was a ring of authority in the command; it came at least + from a petty officer; and without thought of challenging it, the + cavalrymen hurried right and left in search of the fugitive. "Come," said + Will, in a hurried but smiling whisper to the dejected pair of Union men. + "I'm the spy! There!" cutting the ropes that bound their wrists. "Now ride + for your lives!" Off dashed the trio, and not a minute too soon. Will's + halt had been brief, but it had been of advantage to his pursuers, who, + with Nat Golden at their head, came on in full cry, not a hundred yards + behind. Here was a race with Death at the horse's flanks. The timber + stopped a share of the singing bullets, but there were plenty that got by + the trees, one of them finding lodgment in the arm of one of the fleeing + Union soldiers. Capture meant certain death for Will; for his companions + it meant Andersonville or Libby, at the worst, which was perhaps as bad as + death; but Will would not leave them, though his horse was fresh, and he + could easily have distanced them. Of course, if it became necessary, he + was prepared to cut their acquaintance, but for the present he made one of + the triplicate targets on which the galloping marksmen were endeavoring to + score a bull's-eye. The edge of the wood was shortly reached, and beyond—inspiring + sight!—lay the outposts of the Union army. The pickets, at sight of + the fugitives, sounded the alarm, and a body of blue-coats responded. Will + would have gladly tarried for the skirmish that ensued, but he esteemed it + his first duty to deliver the papers he had risked his life to obtain; so, + leaving friend and foe to settle the dispute as best they might, he put + for the clump of trees where he had hidden his uniform, and exchanged it + for the gray, that had served its purpose and was no longer endurable. + Under his true colors he rode into camp. General Forrest almost + immediately withdrew from that neighborhood, and after the atrocious + massacre at Fort Pillow, on the 12th of April, left the state. General + Smith was recalled, and Will was transferred, with the commission of guide + and scout for the Ninth Kansas Regiment. The Indians were giving so much + trouble along the line of the old Santa Fe trail that troops were needed + to protect the stagecoaches, emigrants, and caravans traveling that great + highway. Like nearly all our Indian wars, this trouble was precipitated by + the injustice of the white man's government of certain of the native + tribes. In 1860 Colonel A. G. Boone, a worthy grandson of the immortal + Daniel, made a treaty with the Comanches, Kiowas, Cheyennes, and + Arapahoes, and at their request he was made agent. During his wise, just, + and humane administration all of these savage nations were quiet, and held + the kindliest feelings toward the whites. Any one could cross the plains + without fear of molestation. In 1861 a charge of disloyalty was made + against Colonel Boone by Judge Wright, of Indiana, and he succeeded in + having the right man removed from the right place. Russell, Majors & + Waddell, recognizing his influence over the Indians, gave him fourteen + hundred acres of land near Pueblo, Colorado. Colonel Boone moved there, + and the place was named Booneville. Fifty chieftains from the tribes + referred to visited Colonel Boone in the fall of 1862, and implored him to + return to them. He told them that the President had sent him away. They + offered to raise money, by selling their horses, to send him to + Washington, to tell the Great Father what their agent was doing—that + he stole their goods and sold them back again; and they bade the colonel + say that there would be trouble unless some one were put in the dishonest + man's place. With the innate logic for which the Indian is noted, they + declared that they had as much right to steal from passing caravans as the + agent had to steal from them. No notice was taken of so trifling a matter + as an injustice to the Indian. The administration had its hands more than + full in the attempt to right the wrongs of the negro. In the fall of 1863 + a caravan passed along the trail. It was a small one, but the Indians had + been quiet for so long a time that travelers were beginning to lose fear + of them. A band of warriors rode up to the wagon-train and asked for + something to eat. The teamsters thought they would be doing humanity a + service if they killed a redskin, on the ancient principle that "the only + good Indian is a dead one." Accordingly, a friendly, inoffensive Indian + was shot. The bullet that reached his heart touched that of every warrior + in these nations. Every man but one in the wagon-train was slain, the + animals driven off, and the wagons burned. The fires of discontent that + had been smoldering for two years in the red man's breast now burst forth + with volcanic fury. Hundreds of atrocious murders followed, with wholesale + destruction of property. The Ninth Kansas Regiment, under the command of + Colonel Clark, was detailed to protect the old trail between Fort Lyon and + Fort Larned, and as guide and scout Will felt wholly at home. He knew the + Indian and his ways, and had no fear of him. His fine horse and glittering + trappings were an innocent delight to him; and who will not pardon in him + the touch of pride—say vanity—that thrilled him as he led his + regiment down the Arkansas River? During the summer there were sundry + skirmishes with the Indians. The same old vigilance, learned in earlier + days on the frontier, was in constant demand, and there was many a rough + and rapid ride to drive the hostiles from the trail. Whatever Colonel + Clark's men may have had to complain of, there was no lack of excitement, + no dull days, in that summer. In the autumn the Seventh Kansas was again + ordered to the front, and at the request of its officers Will was detailed + for duty with his old regiment. General Smith's orders were that he should + go to Nashville. Rosecrans was then in command of the Union forces in + Missouri. His army was very small, numbering only about 6,500 men, while + the Confederate General Price was on the point of entering the state with + 20,000. This superiority of numbers was so great that General Smith + received an order countermanding the other, and remained in Missouri, + joining forces with Rosecrans to oppose Price. Rosecrans's entire force + still numbered only 11,000, and he deemed it prudent to concentrate his + army around St. Louis. General Ewing's forces and a portion of General + Smith's command occupied Pilot Knob. On Monday, the 24th of September, + 1864, Price advanced against this position, but was repulsed with heavy + losses. An adjacent fort in the neighborhood of Ironton was assaulted, but + the Confederate forces again sustained a severe loss. This fort held a + commanding lookout on Shepard Mountain, which the Confederates occupied, + and their wall-directed fire obliged General Ewing to fall back to + Harrison Station, where he made a stand, and some sharp fighting followed. + General Ewing again fell back, and succeeded in reaching General McNeill, + at Rolla, with the main body of his troops. This was Will's first serious + battle, and it so chanced that he found himself opposed at one point by a + body of Missouri troops numbering many of the men who had been his + father's enemies and persecutors nine years before. In the heat of the + conflict he recognized more than one of them, and with the recognition + came the memory of his boyhood's vow to avenge his father's death. Three + of those men fell in that battle; and whether or not it was he who laid + them low, from that day on he accounted himself freed of his melancholy + obligation. After several hard-fought battles, Price withdrew from + Missouri with the remnant of his command—seven thousand where there + had been twenty. During this campaign Will received honorable mention "for + most conspicuous bravery and valuable service upon the field," and he was + shortly brought into favorable notice in many quarters. The worth of the + tried veterans was known, but none of the older men was in more demand + than Will. His was seemingly a charmed life. Often was he detailed to bear + dispatches across the battlefield, and though horses were shot under him—riddled + by bullets or torn by shells—he himself went scathless. During this + campaign, too, he ran across his old friend of the plains, Wild Bill. + Stopping at a farm-house one day to obtain a meal, he was not a little + surprised to hear the salutation: "Well, Billy, my boy, how are you?" He + looked around to see a hand outstretched from a coat-sleeve of Confederate + gray, and as he knew Wild Bill to be a stanch Unionist, he surmised that + he was engaged upon an enterprise similar to his own. There was an + exchange of chaffing about gray uniforms and blue, but more serious talk + followed. "Take these papers, Billy," said Wild Bill, passing over a + package. "Take 'em to General McNeill, and tell him I'm picking up too + much good news to keep away from the Confederate camp." "Don't take too + many chances," cautioned Will, well knowing that the only chances the + other would not take would be the sort that were not visible. Colonel + Hickok, to give him his real name, replied, with a laugh: "Practice what + you preach, my son. Your neck is of more value than mine. You have a + future, but mine is mostly past. I'm getting old." At this point the good + woman of the house punctuated the colloquy with a savory meal, which the + pair discussed with good appetite and easy conscience, in spite of their + hostess's refusal to take pay from Confederate soldiers. "As long as I + have a crust in the house," said she, "you boys are welcome to it." But + the pretended Confederates paid her for her kindness in better currency + than she was used to. They withheld information concerning a proposed + visit of her husband and son, of which, during one spell of loquacity, she + acquainted them. The bread she cast upon the waters returned to her + speedily. The two friends parted company, Will returning to the Union + lines, and Colonel Hickok to the opposing camp. A few days later, when the + Confederate forces were closing up around the Union lines, and a battle + was at hand, two horsemen were seen to dart out of the hostile camp and + ride at full speed for the Northern lines. For a space the audacity of the + escape seemed to paralyze the Confederates; but presently the bullets + followed thick and fast, and one of the saddles was empty before the + rescue party—of which Will was one—got fairly under way. As + the survivor drew near, Will shouted: "It's Wild Bill, the Union scout." A + cheer greeted the intrepid Colonel Hickok, and he rode into camp + surrounded by a party of admirers. The information he brought proved of + great value in the battle of Pilot Knob (already referred to), which + almost immediately followed. CHAPTER XIV. A RESCUE AND A BETROTHAL. AFTER + the battle of Pilot Knob Will was assigned, through the influence of + General Polk, to special service at military headquarters in St. Louis. + Mrs. Polk had been one of mother's school friends, and the two had + maintained a correspondence up to the time of mother's death. As soon as + Mrs. Polk learned that the son of her old friend was in the Union army, + she interested herself in obtaining a good position for him. But desk-work + is not a Pony Express rush, and Will found the St. Louis detail about as + much to his taste as clerking in a dry-goods store. His new duties + naturally became intolerable, lacking the excitement and danger-scent + which alone made his life worth while to him. One event, however, relieved + the dead-weight monotony of his existence; he met Louise Frederici, the + girl who became his wife. The courtship has been written far and wide with + blood-and-thunder pen, attended by lariat-throwing and runaway steeds. In + reality it was a romantic affair. More than once, while out for a morning + canter, Will had remarked a young woman of attractive face and figure, who + sat her horse with the grace of Diana Vernon. Now, few things catch Will's + eye more quickly than fine horsemanship. He desired to establish an + acquaintance with the young lady, but as none of his friends knew her, he + found it impossible. At length a chance came. Her bridle-rein broke one + morning; there was a runaway, a rescue, and then acquaintance was easy. + From war to love, or from love to war, is but a step, and Will lost no + time in taking it. He was somewhat better than an apprentice to Dan Cupid. + If the reader remembers, he went to school with Steve Gobel. True, his + opportunities to enjoy feminine society had not been many, which; perhaps, + accounts for the promptness with which he embraced them when they did + arise. He became the accepted suitor of Miss Louise Frederici before the + war closed and his regiment was mustered out. The spring of 1865 found him + not yet twenty, and he was sensible of the fact that before he could dance + at his own wedding he must place his worldly affairs upon a surer + financial basis than falls to the lot of a soldier; so, much as he would + have enjoyed remaining in St. Louis, fortune pointed to wider fields, and + he set forth in search of remunerative and congenial employment. First, + there was the visit home, where the warmest of welcomes awaited him. + During his absence the second sister, Eliza, had married a Mr. Myers, but + the rest of us were at the old place, and the eagerness with which we + awaited Will's home-coming was stimulated by the hope that he would remain + and take charge of the estate. Before we broached this subject, however, + he informed us of his engagement to Miss Frederici, which, far from + awakening jealousy, aroused our delight, Julia voicing the sentiment of + the family in the comment: "When you're married, Will, you will have to + stay at home." This led to the matter of his remaining with us to manage + the estate—and to the upsetting of our plans. The pay of a soldier + in the war was next to nothing, and as Will had been unable to put any + money by, he took the first chance that offered to better his fortunes. + This happened to be a job of driving horses from Leavenworth to Fort + Kearny, and almost the first man he met after reaching the fort was an old + plains friend, Bill Trotter. "You're just the chap I've been looking for," + said Trotter, when he learned that Will desired regular work. "I'm + division station agent here, but stage-driving is dangerous work, as the + route is infested with Indians and outlaws. Several drivers have been held + up and killed lately, so it's not a very enticing job, but the pay's good, + and you know the country. If any one can take the stage through, you can. + Do you want the job?" When a man is in love and the wedding-day has been + dreamed of, if not set, life takes on an added sweetness, and to stake it + against the marksmanship of Indian or outlaw is not, perhaps, the best use + to which it may be put. Will had come safely through so many perils that + it seemed folly to thrust his head into another batch of them, and + thinking of Louise and the coming wedding-day, his first thought was no. + But it was the old story, and there was Trotter at his elbow expressing + confidence in his ability as a frontiersman—an opinion Will fully + shared, for a man knows what he can do. The pay was good, and the sooner + earned the sooner would the wedding be, and Trotter received the answer he + expected. The stage line was another of the Western enterprises projected + by Russell, Majors & Waddell. When gold was discovered on Pike's Peak + there was no method of traversing the great Western plain except by + plodding ox-team, mule-pack, or stagecoach. A semi-monthly stage line ran + from St. Joseph to Salt Lake City, but it was poorly equipped and very + tedious, oftentimes twenty-one days being required to make the trip. The + senior member of the firm, in partnership with John S. Jones, of Missouri, + established a new line between the Missouri River and Denver, at that time + a straggling mining hamlet. One thousand Kentucky mules were bought, with + a sufficient number of coaches to insure a daily run each way. The trip + was made in six days, which necessitated travel at the rate of a hundred + miles a day. The first stage reached Denver on May 17, 1859. It was + accounted a remarkable achievement, and the line was pronounced a great + success. In one way it was; but the expense of equipping it had been + enormous, and the new line could not meet its obligations. To save the + credit of their senior partner, Russell, Majors & Waddell were obliged + to come to the rescue. They bought up all the outstanding obligations, and + also the rival stage line between St. Joseph and Salt Lake City. They + consolidated the two, and thereby hoped to put the Overland stage route on + a paying basis. St. Joseph now became the starting-point of the united + lines. From there the road went to Fort Kearny, and followed the old Salt + Lake trail, already described in these pages. After leaving Salt Lake it + passed through Camp Floyd, Ruby Valley, Carson City, Placerville, and + Folsom, and ended in Sacramento. The distance from St. Joseph to + Sacramento by this old stage route was nearly nineteen hundred miles. The + time required by mail contracts and the government schedule was nineteen + days. The trip was frequently made in fifteen, but there were so many + causes for detention that the limit was more often reached. Each two + hundred and fifty miles of road was designated a "division," and was in + charge of an agent, who had great authority in his own jurisdiction. He + was commonly a man of more than ordinary intelligence, and all matters + pertaining to his division were entirely under his control. He hired and + discharged employee, purchased horses, mules, harness, and food, and + attended to their distribution at the different stations. He superintended + the erection of all buildings, had charge of the water supply, and he was + the paymaster. There was also a man known as the conductor, whose route + was almost coincident with that of the agent. He sat with the driver, and + often rode the whole two hundred and fifty miles of his division without + any rest or sleep, except what he could catch sitting on the top of the + flying coach. The coach itself was a roomy, swaying vehicle, swung on + thorough-braces instead of springs. It always had a six-horse or six-mule + team to draw it, and the speed was nerve-breaking. Passengers were allowed + twenty-five pounds of baggage, and that, with the mail, express, and the + passengers themselves, was in charge of the conductor. The Overland + stagecoaches were operated at a loss until 1862. In March of that year + Russell, Majors & Waddell transferred the whole outfit to Ben + Holliday. Here was a typical frontiersman, of great individuality and + character. At the time he took charge of the route the United States mail + was given to it. This put the line on a sound financial basis, as the + government spent $800,000 yearly in transporting the mail to San + Francisco. Will reported for duty the morning after his talk with Trotter, + and when he mounted the stage-box and gathered the reins over the six + spirited horses, the passengers were assured of an expert driver. His run + was from Fort Kearny to Plum Creek. The country was sharply familiar. It + was the scene of his first encounter with Indians. A long and lonely ride + it was, and a dismal one when the weather turned cold; but it meant a + hundred and fifty dollars a month; and each pay day brought him nearer to + St. Louis. + </p> + <p> + Indian signs there had been right along, but they were only signs until + one bleak day in November. He pulled out of Plum Creek with a sharp + warning ringing in his ears. Indians were on the war-path, and trouble was + more likely than not ahead. Lieutenant Flowers, assistant division agent, + was on the box with him, and within the coach were six well-armed + passengers. + </p> + <p> + Half the run had been covered, when Will's experienced eye detected the + promised red men. Before him lay a stream which must be forded. The creek + was densely fringed with underbrush, and along this the Indians were + skulking, expecting to cut the stage off at the only possible crossing. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps this is a good place to say a word concerning the seemingly + extraordinary fortune that has stood by Will in his adventures. Not only + have his own many escapes been of the hairbreadth sort, but he has arrived + on the scene of danger at just the right moment to rescue others from + extinction. Of course, an element of luck has entered into these affairs, + but for the most part they simply proved the old saying that an ounce of + prevention is better than a pound of cure. Will had studied the plains as + an astronomer studies the heavens. The slightest disarrangement of the + natural order of things caught his eye. With the astronomer, it is a comet + or an asteroid appearing upon a field whose every object has long since + been placed and studied; with Will, it was a feathered headdress where + there should have been but tree, or rock, or grass; a moving figure where + nature should have been inanimate. + </p> + <p> + When seen, those things were calculated as the astronomer calculates the + motion of the objects that he studies. A planet will arrive at a given + place at a certain time; an Indian will reach a ford in a stream in about + so many minutes. If there be time to cross before him, it is a matter of + hard driving; if the odds are with the Indian, that is another matter. + </p> + <p> + A less experienced observer than Will would not have seen the skulking + redskins; a less skilled frontiersman would not have apprehended their + design; a less expert driver would not have taken the running chance for + life; a less accurate marksman would not have picked off an Indian with a + rifle while shooting from the top of a swinging, jerking stagecoach. + </p> + <p> + Will did not hesitate. A warning shout to the passengers, and the whip was + laid on, and off went the horses full speed. Seeing that they had been + discovered, the Indians came out into the open, and ran their ponies for + the ford, but the stage was there full five hundred yards before them. It + was characteristic of their driver that the horses were suffered to pause + at the creek long enough to get a swallow of water; then, refreshed, they + were off at full speed again. + </p> + <p> + The coach, creaking in every joint, rocked like a captive balloon, the + unhappy passengers were hurled from one side of the vehicle to the other, + flung into one another's laps, and occasionally, when some uncommon + obstacle sought to check the flying coach, their heads collided with its + roof. The Indians menaced them without, cracked skulls seemed their fate + within. + </p> + <p> + Will plied the whip relentlessly, and so nobly did the powerful horses + respond that the Indians gained but slowly on them. There were some fifty + redskins in the band, but Will assumed that if he could reach the relay + station, the two stock-tenders there, with himself, Lieutenant Flowers, + and the passengers, would be more than a match for the marauders. + </p> + <p> + When the pursuers drew within fair rifle range, Will handed the reins to + the lieutenant, swung round in his seat, and fired at the chief. + </p> + <p> + "There," shouted one of the passengers, "that fellow with the feathers is + shot!" and another fusillade from the coach interior drove holes in the + air. + </p> + <p> + The relay station was now hard by, and attracted by the firing, the + stock-tenders came forth to take a hand in the engagement. Disheartened by + the fall of their chief, the Indians weakened at the sign of + reinforcements, and gave up the pursuit. + </p> + <p> + Lieutenant Flowers and two of the passengers were wounded, but Will could + not repress a smile at the excited assurance of one of his fares that they + (the passengers) had "killed one Indian and driven the rest back." The + stock-tenders smiled also, but said nothing. It would have been too bad to + spoil such a good story. + </p> + <p> + The gravest fears for the safety of the coach had been expressed when it + was known that the reds were on the war-path; it was not thought possible + that it could get through unharmed, and troops were sent out to scour the + country. These, while too late to render service in the adventure just + related, did good work during the remainder of the winter. The Indians + were thoroughly subdued, and Will saw no more of them. + </p> + <p> + There was no other adventure of special note until February. Just before + Will started on his run, Trotter took him to one side and advised him that + a small fortune was going by the coach that day, and extra vigilance was + urged, as the existence of the treasure might have become known. + </p> + <p> + "I'll do the best I can," said Will; and he had scarcely driven away when + he suspected the two ill-favored passengers he carried. The sudden calling + away of the conductor, whereby he was left alone, was a suspicious + circumstance. He properly decided that it would be wiser for him to hold + up his passengers than to let them hold up him, and he proceeded to take + time by the forelock. He stopped the coach, jumped down, and examined the + harness as if something was wrong; then he stepped to the coach door and + asked his passengers to hand him a rope that was inside. As they complied, + they looked into the barrels of two cocked revolvers. + </p> + <p> + "Hands up!" said Will. + </p> + <p> + "What's the matter with you?" demanded one of the pair, as their arms were + raised. + </p> + <p> + "Thought I'd come in first—that's all," was the answer. + </p> + <p> + The other was not without appreciation of humor. + </p> + <p> + "You're a cute one, youngster," said he, "but you'll find more'n your + match down the road, or I miss my guess." + </p> + <p> + "I'll look after that when I get to it," said Will. "Will you oblige me by + tying your friend's hands? Thank you. Now throw out your guns. That all? + All right. Let me see your hands." + </p> + <p> + When both outlaws had been securely trussed up and proven to be disarmed, + the journey was resumed. The remark dropped by one of the pair was + evidence that they were part of the gang. He must reach the relay station + before the attack. If he could do that, he had a plan for farther on. + </p> + <p> + The relay station was not far away, and was safely reached. The prisoners + were turned over to the stock-tenders, and then Will disposed of the + treasure against future molestation. He cut open one of the cushions of + the coach, taking out part of the filling, and in the cavity thus made + stored everything of value, including his own watch and pocketbook; then + the filling was replaced and the hole smoothed to a natural appearance. + </p> + <p> + If there were more in the gang, he looked for them at the ford where the + Indians had sought to cut him off, and he was not disappointed. As he drew + near the growth of willows that bordered the road, half a dozen men with + menacing rifles stepped out. + </p> + <p> + "Halt, or you're a dead man!" was the conventional salutation, in this + case graciously received. + </p> + <p> + "Well, what do you want?" asked Will. + </p> + <p> + "The boodle you carry. Fork it over!" + </p> + <p> + "Gentlemen," said Will, smiling, "this is a case where it takes a thief to + catch a thief." + </p> + <p> + "What's that?" cried one of the outlaws, his feelings outraged by the + frank description. + </p> + <p> + "Not that I'm the thief," continued Will, "but your pals were one too many + for you this time." + </p> + <p> + "Did they rob you?" howled the gang in chorus, shocked by such depravity + on the part of their comrades. + </p> + <p> + "If there's anything left in the coach worth having, don't hesitate to + take it," offered Will, pleasantly. + </p> + <p> + "Where's your strong-box?" demanded the outlaws, loath to believe there + was no honor among thieves. + </p> + <p> + Will drew it forth and exposed its melancholy emptiness. The profanity + that ensued was positively shocking. + </p> + <p> + "Where did they hold you up?" demanded the leader of the gang. + </p> + <p> + "Eight or nine miles back. You'll find some straw in the road. You can + have that, too." + </p> + <p> + "Were there horses to meet them?" + </p> + <p> + "On foot the last I saw them." + </p> + <p> + "Then we can catch 'em, boys," shouted the leader, hope upspringing in his + breast. "Come, let's be off!" + </p> + <p> + They started for the willows on the jump, and presently returned, spurring + their horses. + </p> + <p> + "Give them my regards!" shouted Will. But only the thud! thud! of + horsehoofs answered him. Retribution was sweeping like a hawk upon its + prey. + </p> + <p> + Will pushed along to the end of his run, and handed over his trust + undisturbed. Fearing that his ruse might have been discovered, he put the + "extra vigilance" urged by Trotter into the return trip, but the trail was + deserted. He picked up the prisoners at the relay station and carried them + to Fort Kearny. If their companions were to discover the sorry trick + played upon them, they would have demanded his life as a sacrifice. + </p> + <p> + At the end of this exciting trip he found a letter from Miss Frederici + awaiting him. She urged him to give up the wild life he was leading, + return East, and find another calling. This was precisely what Will + himself had in mind, and persuasion was not needed. In his reply he asked + that the wedding-day be set, and then he handed Trotter his resignation + from the lofty perch of a stage-driver. + </p> + <p> + "I don't like to let you go," objected Trotter. + </p> + <p> + "But," said Will, "I took the job only in order to save enough money to + get married on." + </p> + <p> + "In that case," said Trotter, "I have nothing to do but wish you joy." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XV. — WILL AS A BENEDICT. + </h2> + <p> + WHEN Will reached home, he found another letter from Miss Frederici, who, + agreeably to his request, had fixed the wedding-day, March 6, 1866. + </p> + <p> + The wedding ceremony was quietly performed at the home of the bride, and + the large number of friends that witnessed it united in declaring that no + handsomer couple ever bowed for Hymen's benediction. + </p> + <p> + The bridal journey was a trip to Leavenworth on a Missouri steamer. At + that time there was much travel by these boats, and their equipment was + first-class. They were sumptuously fitted out, the table was excellent, + and except when sectional animosities disturbed the serenity of their + decks, a trip on one of them was a very pleasant excursion. + </p> + <p> + The young benedict soon discovered, however, that in war times the "trail + of the serpent" is liable to be over all things; even a wedding journey is + not exempt from the baneful influence of sectional animosity. A party of + excursionists on board the steamer manifested so extreme an interest in + the bridal couple that Louise retired to a stateroom to escape their + rudeness. After her withdrawal, Will entered into conversation with a + gentleman from Indiana, who had been very polite to him, and asked him if + he knew the reason for the insolence of the excursion party. The gentleman + hesitated a moment, and then answered: + </p> + <p> + "To tell the truth, Mr. Cody, these men are Missourians, and say they + recognize you as one of Jennison's Jayhawkers; that you were an enemy of + the South, and are, therefore, an enemy of theirs." + </p> + <p> + Will answered, steadily: "I was a soldier during the war, and a scout in + the Union army, but I had some experience of Southern chivalry before that + time." And he related to the Indianian some of the incidents of the early + Kansas border warfare, in which he and his father had played so prominent + a part. + </p> + <p> + The next day the insolent behavior was continued. Will was much inclined + to resent it, but his wife pleaded so earnestly with him to take no notice + of it that he ignored it. + </p> + <p> + In the afternoon, when the boat landed at a lonely spot to wood up, the + Missourians seemed greatly excited, and all gathered on the guards and + anxiously scanned the riverbank. + </p> + <p> + The roustabouts were just about to make the boat fast, when a party of + armed horsemen dashed out of the woods and galloped toward the landing. + The captain thought the boat was to be attacked, and hastily gave orders + to back out, calling the crew on board at the same time. These orders the + negroes lost no time in obeying, as they often suffered severely at the + hands of these reckless marauders. The leader of the horsemen rode rapidly + up, firing at random. As he neared the steamer he called out, "Where is + that Kansas Jayhawker? We have come for him." The other men caught sight + of Will, and one of them cried, "We know you, Bill Cody." But they were + too late. Already the steamer was backing away from the shore, dragging + her gang-plank through the water; the negro roustabouts were too much + terrified to pull it in. When the attacking party saw their plans were + frustrated, and that they were balked of their prey, they gave vent to + their disappointment in yells of rage. A random volley was fired at the + retreating steamer, but it soon got out of range, and continued on its way + up the river. + </p> + <p> + Will had prepared himself for the worst; he stood, revolver in hand, at + the head of the steps, ready to dispute the way with his foes. + </p> + <p> + There was also a party of old soldiers on board, six or eight in number; + they were dressed in civilians' garb, and Will knew nothing of them; but + when they heard of their comrade's predicament, they hastily prepared to + back up the young scout. Happily the danger was averted, and their + services were not called into requisition. The remainder of the trip was + made without unpleasant incident. + </p> + <p> + It was afterward learned that as soon as the Missourians became aware of + the presence of the Union scout on board, they telegraphed ahead to the + James and Younger brothers that Will was aboard the boat, and asked to + have a party meet it at this secluded landing, and capture and carry off + the young soldier. Will feared that Louise might be somewhat disheartened + by such an occurrence on the bridal trip, but the welcome accorded the + young couple on their arrival at Leavenworth was flattering enough to make + amends for all unpleasant incidents. The young wife found that her husband + numbered his friends by the score in his own home; and in the grand + reception tendered them he was the lion of the hour. + </p> + <p> + Entreated by Louise to abandon the plains and pursue a vocation along more + peaceful paths, Will conceived the idea of taking up the business in which + mother had won financial success—that of landlord. The house she had + built was purchased after her death by Dr. Crook, a surgeon in the Seventh + Kansas Regiment. It was now for rent, which fact no doubt decided Will in + his choice of an occupation. It was good to live again under the roof that + had sheltered his mother in her last days; it was good to see the young + wife amid the old scenes. So Will turned boniface, and invited May and me + to make our home with him. + </p> + <p> + There was a baby in Julia's home, and it had so wound itself around May's + heartstrings that she could not be enticed away; but there was never + anybody who could supplant Will in my heart; so I gladly accepted his + invitation. + </p> + <p> + Thoreau has somewhere drawn a sympathetic portrait of the Landlord, who is + supposed to radiate hospitality as the sun throws off heat—as its + own reward—and who feeds and lodges men purely from a love of the + creatures. Yet even such a landlord, if he is to continue long in + business, must have an eye to profit, and make up in one corner what he + parts with in another. Now, Will radiated hospitality, and his reputation + as a lover of his fellowman got so widely abroad that travelers without + money and without price would go miles out of their way to put up at his + tavern. Socially, he was an irreproachable landlord; financially, his + shortcomings were deplorable. + </p> + <p> + And then the life of an innkeeper, while not without its joys and + opportunities to love one's fellowman, is somewhat prosaic, and our guests + oftentimes remarked an absent, far-away expression in the eyes of Landlord + Cody. He was thinking of the plains. Louise also remarked that expression, + and the sympathy she felt for his yearnings was accentuated by an + examination of the books of the hostelry at the close of the first six + months' business. Half smiling, half tearful, she consented to his return + to his Western life. + </p> + <p> + Will disposed of the house and settled his affairs, and when all the bills + were paid, and Sister Lou and I cozily ensconced in a little home at + Leavenworth, we found that Will's generous thought for our comfort through + the winter had left him on the beach financially. He had planned a + freighting trip on his own account, but the acquiring of a team, wagon, + and the rest of the outfit presented a knotty problem when he counted over + the few dollars left on hand. + </p> + <p> + For the first time I saw disappointment and discouragement written on his + face, and I was sorely distressed, for he had never denied me a desire + that he could gratify, and it was partly on my account that he was not in + better financial condition. I was not yet sixteen; it would be two years + more before I could have a say as to the disposition of my own money, yet + something must be done at once. + </p> + <p> + I decided to lay the matter before Lawyer Douglass. Surely he could + suggest some plan whereby I might assist my brother. I had a half-matured + plan of my own, but I was assured that Will would not listen to it. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Douglass had been the legal adviser of the family since he won our + first lawsuit, years before. We considered the problem from every side, + and the lawyer suggested that Mr. Buckley, an old friend of the family, + had a team and wagon for sale; they were strong and serviceable, and just + the thing that Will would likely want. I was a minor, but if Mr. Buckley + was willing to accept me as security for the property, there would be no + difficulty in making the transfer. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Buckley proved entirely agreeable to the proposition. Will could have + the outfit in return for his note with my indorsement. + </p> + <p> + That disposed of, the question of freight to put into the wagon arose. I + thought of another old friend of the family, M. E. Albright, a wholesale + grocer in Leavenworth. Would he trust Will for a load of supplies? He + would. + </p> + <p> + Thus everything was arranged satisfactorily, and I hastened home to not + the easiest task—to prevail upon Will to accept assistance at the + hands of the little sister who, not so long ago, had employed his aid in + the matter of a pair of shoes. + </p> + <p> + But Will could really do nothing save accept, and proud and happy, he + sallied forth one day as an individual freighter, though not a very + formidable rival of Russell, Majors & Waddell. + </p> + <p> + Alas for enterprises started on borrowed capital! How many of them end in + disaster, leaving their projectors not only penniless, but in debt. Our + young frontiersman, whose life had been spent in protecting the property + of others, was powerless to save his own. Wagon, horses, and freight were + all captured by Indians, and their owner barely escaped with his life. + From a safe covert he watched the redskins plunge him into bankruptcy. It + took him several years to recover, and he has often remarked that the + responsibility of his first business venture on borrowed capital aged him + prematurely. + </p> + <p> + The nearest station to the scene of this disaster was Junction City, and + thither he tramped, in the hope of retrieving his fortunes. There he met + Colonel Hickok, and in the pleasure of the greeting forgot his business + ruin for a space. The story of his marriage and his stirring adventures as + a landlord and lover of his fellowman were first to be related, and when + these were commented upon, and his old friend had learned, too, of the + wreck of the freighting enterprise, there came the usual inquiry: + </p> + <p> + "And now, do you know of a job with some money in it?" + </p> + <p> + "There isn't exactly a fortune in it," said Wild Bill, "but I'm scouting + for Uncle Sam at Fort Ellsworth. The commandant needs more scouts, and I + can vouch for you as a good one." + </p> + <p> + "All right," said Will, always quick in decision; "I'll go along with you, + and apply for a job at once." + </p> + <p> + He was pleased to have Colonel Hickok's recommendation, but it turned out + that he did not need it, as his own reputation had preceded him. The + commandant of the fort was glad to add him to the force. The territory he + had to scout over lay between Forts Ellsworth and Fletcher, and he + alternated between those points throughout the winter. + </p> + <p> + It was at Fort Fletcher, in the spring of 1867, that he fell in with the + dashing General Custer, and the friendship established between them was + ended only by the death of the general at the head of his gallant three + hundred. + </p> + <p> + This spring was an exceedingly wet one, and the fort, which lay upon the + bank of Big Creek, was so damaged by floods that it was abandoned. A new + fort was erected, some distance to the westward, on the south fork of the + creek, and was named Fort Hayes. + </p> + <p> + Returning one day from an extended scouting trip, Will discovered signs + indicating that Indians in considerable force were in the neighborhood. He + at once pushed forward at all speed to report the news, when a second + discovery took the wind out of his sails; the hostiles were between him + and the fort. + </p> + <p> + At that moment a party of horsemen broke into view, and seeing they were + white men, Will waited their approach. The little band proved to be + General Custer and an escort of ten, en route from Fort Ellsworth to Fort + Hayes. + </p> + <p> + Informed by Will that they were cut off by Indians, and that the only hope + of escape lay in a rapid flank movement, Custer's reply was a terse: + </p> + <p> + "Lead on, scout, and we'll follow." + </p> + <p> + Will wheeled, clapped spurs to his horse, and dashed away, with the others + close behind. All hands were sufficiently versed in Indian warfare to + appreciate the seriousness of their position. They pursued a roundabout + trail, and reached the fort without seeing a hostile, but learned from the + reports of others that their escape had been a narrow one. + </p> + <p> + Custer was on his way to Larned, sixty miles distant, and he needed a + guide. He requested that Will be assigned to the position, so pleased was + he by the service already rendered. + </p> + <p> + "The very man I proposed to send with you, General," said the commandant, + who knew well the keen desire of the Indians to get at "Yellow Hair," as + they called Custer. "Cody knows this part of the country like a book; he + is up to all the Indian games, and he is as full of resources as a nut is + of meat." + </p> + <p> + At daybreak the start was made, and it was planned to cover the sixty + miles before nightfall. Will was mounted on a mouse-colored mule, to which + he was much attached, and in which he had every confidence. Custer, + however, was disposed to regard the lowly steed in some disdain. + </p> + <p> + "Do you think, Cody, that mule can set the pace to reach Larned in a day?" + he asked. + </p> + <p> + "When you get to Larned, General," smiled Will, "the mule and I will be + with you." + </p> + <p> + Custer said no more for a while, but the pace he set was eloquent, and the + mouse-colored mule had to run under "forced draught" to keep up with the + procession. It was a killing pace, too, for the horses, which did not + possess the staying power of the mule. Will was half regretting that he + had ridden the animal, and was wondering how he could crowd on another + pound or two of steam, when, suddenly glancing at Custer, he caught a + gleam of mischief in the general's eye. Plainly the latter was seeking to + compel an acknowledgment of error, but Will only patted the mouse-colored + flanks. + </p> + <p> + Fifteen miles were told off; Custer's thoroughbred horse was still in fine + fettle, but the mule had got the second of its three or four winds, and + was ready for a century run. + </p> + <p> + "Can you push along a little faster, General?" asked Will, slyly. + </p> + <p> + "If that mule of yours can stand it, go ahead," was the reply. + </p> + <p> + To the general's surprise, the long-eared animal did go ahead, and when + the party got into the hills, and the traveling grew heavy, it set a pace + that seriously annoyed the general's thoroughbred. + </p> + <p> + Fifteen miles more were pounded out, and a halt was called for luncheon. + The horses needed the rest, but the mouse-colored mule wore an impatient + expression. Having got its third wind, it wanted to use it. + </p> + <p> + "Well, General," said Will, when they swung off on the trail again, "what + do you think of my mount?" + </p> + <p> + Custer laughed. "It's not very handsome," said he, "but it seems to know + what it's about, and so does the rider. You're a fine guide, Cody. Like + the Indian, you seem to go by instinct, rather than by trails and + landmarks." + </p> + <p> + The praise of Custer was sweeter to the young scout than that of any other + officer on the plains would have been. + </p> + <p> + At just four o'clock the mouse-colored mule jogged into Fort Larned and + waved a triumphant pair of ears. A short distance behind rode Custer, on a + thoroughly tired thoroughbred, while the escort was strung along the trail + for a mile back. + </p> + <p> + "Cody," laughed the general, "that remarkable quadruped of yours looks + equal to a return trip. Our horses are pretty well fagged out, but we have + made a quick trip and a good one. You brought us 'cross country straight + as the crow flies, and that's the sort of service I appreciate. Any time + you're in need of work, report to me. I'll see that you're kept busy." + </p> + <p> + It was Custer's intention to remain at Fort Larned for some time, and + Will, knowing that he was needed at Hayes, tarried only for supper and a + short rest before starting back. + </p> + <p> + When night fell, he proceeded warily. On the way out he had directed + Custer's attention to signs denoting the near-by presence of a small band + of mounted Indians. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly a distant light flashed into view, but before he could check his + mule it had vanished. He rode back a few paces, and the light reappeared. + Evidently it was visible through some narrow space, and the matter called + for investigation. Will dismounted, hitched his mule, and went forward. + </p> + <p> + After he had covered half a mile, he found himself between two sandhills, + the pass leading into a little hollow, within which were a large number of + Indians camped around the fire whose light he had followed. The ponies + were in the background. + </p> + <p> + Will's position was somewhat ticklish, as, without a doubt, an Indian + sentinel was posted in the pass; yet it was his duty, as he understood it, + to obtain a measurably accurate estimate of the number of warriors in the + band. Himself a very Indian in stealth, he drew nearer the camp-fire, when + suddenly there rang out upon the night air—not a rifle-shot, but the + unearthly braying of his mule. + </p> + <p> + Even in the daylight, amid scenes of peace and tranquillity, the voice of + a mule falls short of the not enchanting music of the bagpipe. At night in + the wilderness, when every nerve is keyed up to the snapping-point, the + sound is simply appalling. + </p> + <p> + Will was startled, naturally, but the Indians were thrown into dire + confusion. They smothered the campfires and scattered for cover, while a + sentinel sprang up from behind a rock not twenty feet from Will, and was + off like a deer. + </p> + <p> + The scout held his ground till he had made a good guess at the number of + Indians in the party; then he ran for his mule, whose voice, raised in + seeming protest, guided him unerringly. + </p> + <p> + As he neared the animal he saw that two mounted Indians had laid hold of + it, and were trying to induce it to follow them; but the mule, true to + tradition and its master, stubbornly refused to budge a foot. + </p> + <p> + It was a comical tableau, but Will realized that it was but a step from + farce to tragedy. A rifle-shot dropped one of the Indians, and the other + darted off into the darkness. + </p> + <p> + Another bray from the mule, this time a paean of triumph, as Will jumped + into the saddle, with an arrow from the bow of the wounded Indian through + his coat-sleeve. He declined to return the fire of the wounded wretch, and + rode away into the timber, while all around the sound of Indians in + pursuit came to his ears. + </p> + <p> + "Now, my mouse-colored friend," said Will, "if you win this race your name + is Custer." + </p> + <p> + The mule seemed to understand; at all events, it settled down to work that + combined the speed of a racer with the endurance of a buffalo. The Indians + shortly abandoned the pursuit, as they could not see their game. + </p> + <p> + Will reached Fort Hayes in the early morning, to report the safe arrival + of Custer at Larned and the discovery of the Indian band, which he + estimated at two hundred braves. The mule received "honorable mention" in + his report, and was brevetted a thoroughbred. + </p> + <p> + The colonel prepared to dispatch troops against the Indians, and requested + Will to guide the expedition, if he were sufficiently rested, adding, with + a smile: + </p> + <p> + "You may ride your mule if you like." + </p> + <p> + "No, thank you," laughed Will. "It isn't safe, sir, to hunt Indians with + an animal that carries a brass-band attachment." + </p> + <p> + Captain George A. Armes, of the Tenth Cavalry, was to command the + expedition, which comprised a troop of colored cavalry and a howitzer. As + the command lined up for the start, a courier on a foam-splashed horse + rode up with the news that the workmen on the Kansas Pacific Railroad had + been attacked by Indians, six of them killed, and over a hundred horses + and mules and a quantity of stores stolen. + </p> + <p> + The troops rode away, the colored boys panting for a chance at the + redskins, and Captain Armes more than willing to gratify them. + </p> + <p> + At nightfall the command made camp near the Saline River, at which point + it was expected to find the Indians. Before dawn they were in the saddle + again, riding straight across country, regardless of trails, until the + river was come up with. + </p> + <p> + Will's judgment was again verified by the discovery of a large camp of + hostiles on the opposite bank of the stream. The warriors were as quick of + eye, and as they greatly outnumbered the soldiers, and were emboldened by + the success of their late exploit, they did not wait the attack, but came + charging across the river. + </p> + <p> + They were nearly a mile distant, and Captain Armes had time to plant the + howitzer on a little rise of ground. Twenty men were left to handle it. + The rest of the command advanced to the combat. + </p> + <p> + They were just at the point of attack when a fierce yelling was heard in + the rear, and the captain discovered that his retreat to the gun was cut + off by another band of reds, and that he was between two fires. His only + course was to repulse the enemy in front. If this were done, and the + colored gunners did not flee before the overwhelming numbers, he might + unite his forces by another charge. + </p> + <p> + The warriors came on with their usual impetuosity, whooping and screaming, + but they met such a raking fire from the disciplined troops that they fell + back in disorder. Just then the men at the howitzer opened fire. The + effect of this field-piece on the children of the plains was magical—almost + ludicrous. A veritable stampede followed. + </p> + <p> + "Follow me!" shouted Captain Armes, galloping in pursuit; but in their + eagerness to give chase the troops fell into such disorder that a + bugle-blast recalled them before any further damage was done the flying + foe. The Indians kept right along, however; they were pretty badly + frightened. + </p> + <p> + Captain Armes was somewhat chagrined that he had no prisoners, but there + was consolation in taking back nearly all the horses that had been stolen. + These were found picketed at the camp across the river, where likely they + had been forgotten by the Indians in their flight. + </p> + <p> + Shortly after this, Will tried his hand at land speculation. During one of + his scouting trips to Fort Harker, he visited Ellsworth, a new settlement, + three miles from the fort. There he met a man named Rose, who had a + grading contract for the Kansas Pacific Railroad, near Fort Hayes. Rose + had bought land at a point through which the railroad was to run, and + proposed staking it out as a town, but he needed a partner in the + enterprise. + </p> + <p> + The site was a good one. Big Creek was hard by, and it was near enough to + the fort to afford settlers reasonable security against Indian raids. Will + regarded the enterprise favorably. Besides the money sent home each month, + he had put by a small sum, and this he invested in the partnership with + Rose. + </p> + <p> + The town site was surveyed and staked off into lots; a cabin was erected, + and stocked with such goods as are needed on the frontier, and the budding + metropolis was weighted with the classic name of Rome. + </p> + <p> + As an encouragement to settlers, a lot was offered to any one that would + agree to erect a building. The proprietors, of course, reserved the + choicest lots. + </p> + <p> + Rome boomed. Two hundred cabins went up in less than sixty days. Mr. Rose + and Will shook hands and complimented each other on their penetration and + business sagacity. They were coming millionaires, they said. Alas! they + were but babes in the woods. + </p> + <p> + One day Dr. W. E. Webb alighted in Rome. He was a gentleman of most + amiable exterior, and when he entered the store of Rose & Cody they + prepared to dispose of a large bill of goods. But Dr. Webb was not buying + groceries. He chatted a while about the weather and Rome, and then + suggested that the firm needed a third partner. But this was the last + thing the prospective millionaires had in mind, and the suggestion of + their visitor was mildly but firmly waived. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Webb was not a gentleman to insist upon a suggestion. He was locating + towns for the Kansas Pacific Railroad, he said, and as Rome was well + started, he disliked to interfere with it; but, really, the company must + have a show. + </p> + <p> + Neither Mr. Rose nor Will had had experience with the power of a big + corporation, and satisfied that they had the only good site for a town in + that vicinity, they declared that the railroad could not help itself. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Webb smiled pleasantly, and not without compassion. "Look out for + yourselves," said he, as he took his leave. + </p> + <p> + And within sight of Rome he located a new town. The citizens of Rome were + given to understand that the railroad shops would be built at the new + settlement, and that there was really nothing to prevent it becoming the + metropolis of Kansas. + </p> + <p> + Rome became a wilderness. Its citizens stampeded to the new town, and Mr. + Rose and Will revised their estimate of their penetration and business + sagacity. + </p> + <p> + Meantime, the home in Leavenworth had been gladdened by the birth of a + little daughter, whom her father named Arta. As it was impossible for Will + to return for some months, it was planned that the mother, the baby, and I + should make a visit to the St. Louis home. This was accomplished safely; + and while the grandparents were enraptured with the baby, I was enjoying + the delight of a first visit to a large city. + </p> + <p> + While the new town of Rome was regarded as an assured success by Will, he + had journeyed to St. Louis after his wife and little one. They proceeded + with him to the cozy cabin home he had fitted up, while I went back to + Leavenworth. + </p> + <p> + After the fall of Rome the little frontier home was no longer the + desirable residence that Will's dreams had pictured it, and as Rome passed + into oblivion the little family returned to St. Louis. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVI. — HOW THE SOBRIQUET OF "BUFFALO BILL" WAS WON. + </h2> + <p> + IN frontier days a man had but to ask for work to get it. There was enough + and to spare for every one. The work that paid best was the kind that + suited Will, it mattered not how hard or dangerous it might be. + </p> + <p> + At the time Rome fell, the work on the Kansas Pacific Railroad was pushing + forward at a rapid rate, and the junior member of the once prosperous firm + of Rose & Cody saw a new field of activity open for him—that of + buffalo-hunting. Twelve hundred men were employed on the railroad + construction, and Goddard Brothers, who had undertaken to board the vast + crew, were hard pressed to obtain fresh meat. To supply this + indispensable, buffalo-hunters were employed, and as Will was known to be + an expert buffalo-slayer, Goddard Brothers were glad to add him to their + "commissary staff." His contract with them called for en average of twelve + buffaloes daily, for which he was to receive five hundred dollars a month. + It was "good pay," the desired feature, but the work was hard and + hazardous. He must first scour the country for his game, with a good + prospect always of finding Indians instead of buffalo; then, when the game + was shot, he must oversee its cutting and dressing, and look after the + wagons that transported it to the camp where the workmen messed. It was + while working under this contract that he acquired the sobriquet of + "Buffalo Bill." It clung to him ever after, and he wore it with more pride + than he would have done the title of prince or grand duke. Probably there + are thousands of people to-day who know him by that name only. + </p> + <p> + At the outset he procured a trained buffalo-hunting horse, which went by + the unconventional name of "Brigham," and from the government he obtained + an improved breech-loading needle-gun, which, in testimony of its + murderous qualities, he named "Lucretia Borgia." + </p> + <p> + Buffaloes were usually plentiful enough, but there were times when the + camp supply of meat ran short. During one of these dull spells, when the + company was pressed for horses, Brigham was hitched to a scraper. One can + imagine his indignation. A racer dragging a street-car would have no more + just cause for rebellion than a buffalo-hunter tied to a work implement in + the company of stupid horses that never had a thought above a plow, a + hay-rake, or a scraper. Brigham expostulated, and in such plain language, + that Will, laughing, was on the point of unhitching him, when a cry went + up—the equivalent of a whaler's "There she blows!"—that a herd + of buffaloes was coming over the hill. + </p> + <p> + Brigham and the scraper parted company instantly, and Will mounted him + bareback, the saddle being at the camp, a mile away. Shouting an order to + the men to follow him with a wagon to take back the meat, he galloped + toward the game. + </p> + <p> + There were other hunters that day. Five officers rode out from the + neighboring fort, and joined Will while waiting for the buffaloes to come + up. They were recent arrivals in that part of the country, and their + shoulder-straps indicated that one was a captain and the others were + lieutenants. They did not know "Buffalo Bill." They saw nothing but a + good-looking young fellow, in the dress of a working man, astride a not + handsome horse, which had a blind bridle and no saddle. It was not a + formidable-looking hunting outfit, and the captain was disposed to be a + trifle patronizing. + </p> + <p> + "Hello!" he called out. "I see you're after the same game we are." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, sir," returned Will. "Our camp's out of fresh meat." + </p> + <p> + The officer ran a critical eye over Brigham. "Do you expect to run down a + buffalo with a horse like that?" said he. + </p> + <p> + "Why," said Will, innocently, "are buffaloes pretty speedy?" + </p> + <p> + "Speedy? It takes a fast horse to overhaul those animals on the open + prairie." + </p> + <p> + "Does it?" said Will; and the officer did not see the twinkle in his eye. + Nothing amuses a man more than to be instructed on a matter that he knows + thoroughly, and concerning which his instructor knows nothing. Probably + every one of the officers had yet to shoot his first buffalo. + </p> + <p> + "Come along with us," offered the captain, graciously. "We're going to + kill a few for sport, and all we care for are the tongues and a chunk of + the tenderloin; you can have the rest." + </p> + <p> + "Thank you," said Will. "I'll follow along." + </p> + <p> + There were eleven buffaloes in the herd, and the officers started after + them as if they had a sure thing on the entire number. Will noticed that + the game was pointed toward a creek, and understanding "the nature of the + beast," started for the water, to head them off. + </p> + <p> + As the herd went past him, with the military quintet five hundred yards in + the rear, he gave Brigham's blind bridle a twitch, and in a few jumps the + trained hunter was at the side of the rear buffalo; Lucretia Borgia spoke, + and the buffalo fell dead. Without even a bridle signal, Brigham was + promptly at the side of the next buffalo, not ten feet away, and this, + too, fell at the first shot. The maneuver was repeated until the last + buffalo went down. Twelve shots had been fired; then Brigham, who never + wasted his strength, stopped. The officers had not had even a shot at the + game. Astonishment was written on their faces as they rode up. + </p> + <p> + "Gentlemen," said Will, courteously, as he dismounted, "allow me to + present you with eleven tongues and as much of the tenderloin as you + wish." + </p> + <p> + "By Jove!" exclaimed the captain, "I never saw anything like that before. + Who are you, anyway?" + </p> + <p> + "Bill Cody's my name." + </p> + <p> + "Well, Bill Cody, you know how to kill buffalo, and that horse of yours + has some good running points, after all." + </p> + <p> + "One or two," smiled Will. + </p> + <p> + Captain Graham—as his name proved to be—and his companions + were a trifle sore over missing even the opportunity of a shot, but they + professed to be more than repaid for their disappointment by witnessing a + feat they had not supposed possible in a white man—hunting buffalo + without a saddle, bridle, or reins. Will explained that Brigham knew more + about the business than most two-legged hunters. All the rider was + expected to do was to shoot the buffalo. If the first shot failed, Brigham + allowed another; if this, too, failed, Brigham lost patience, and was as + likely as not to drop the matter then and there. + </p> + <p> + It was this episode that fastened the name of "Buffalo Bill" upon Will, + and learning of it, the friends of Billy Comstock, chief of scouts at Fort + Wallace, filed a protest. Comstock, they said, was Cody's superior as a + buffalo hunter. So a match was arranged to determine whether it should be + "Buffalo Bill" Cody or "Buffalo Bill" Comstock. + </p> + <p> + The hunting-ground was fixed near Sheridan, Kansas, and quite a crowd of + spectators was attracted by the news of the contest. Officers, soldiers, + plainsmen, and railroadmen took a day off to see the sport, and one + excursion party, including many ladies, among them Louise, came up from + St. Louis. + </p> + <p> + Referees were appointed to follow each man and keep a tally of the + buffaloes slain. Comstock was mounted on his favorite horse, and carried a + Henry rifle of large caliber. Brigham and Lucretia went with Will. The two + hunters rode side by side until the first herd was sighted and the word + given, when off they dashed to the attack, separating to the right and + left. In this first trial Will killed thirty-eight and Comstock + twenty-three. They had ridden miles, and the carcasses of the dead + buffaloes were strung all over the prairie. Luncheon was served at noon, + and scarcely was it over when another herd was sighted, composed mainly of + cows with their calves. The damage to this herd was eighteen and fourteen, + in favor of Cody. + </p> + <p> + In those days the prairies were alive with buffaloes, and a third herd put + in an appearance before the rifle-barrels were cooled. In order to give + Brigham a share of the glory, Will pulled off saddle and bridle, and + advanced bareback to the slaughter. + </p> + <p> + That closed the contest. Score, sixty-nine to forty-eight. Comstock's + friends surrendered, and Cody was dubbed "Champion Buffalo Hunter of the + Plains." + </p> + <p> + The heads of the buffaloes that fell in this hunt were mounted by the + Kansas Pacific Company, and distributed about the country, as + advertisements of the region the new road was traversing. Meanwhile, Will + continued hunting for the Kansas Pacific contractors, and during the year + and a half that he supplied them with fresh meat he killed four thousand + two hundred and eighty buffaloes. But when the railroad reached Sheridan + it was decided to build no farther at that time, and Will was obliged to + look for other work. + </p> + <p> + The Indians had again become so troublesome that a general war threatened + all along the border, and General P. H. Sheridan came West to personally + direct operations. He took up his quarters at Fort Leavenworth, but the + Indian depredations becoming more widespread, he transferred his quarters + to Fort Hayes, then the terminus of the Kansas Pacific Railroad. Will was + then in the employ of the quartermaster's department at Fort Larned, but + was sent with an important dispatch to General Sheridan announcing that + the Indians near Larned were preparing to decamp. The distance between + Larned and Hayes was sixty-five miles, through a section infested with + Indians, but Will tackled it, and reached the commanding General without + mishap. + </p> + <p> + Shortly afterward it became necessary to send dispatches from Fort Hayes + to Fort Dodge. Ninety-five miles of country lay between, and every mile of + it was dangerous ground. Fort Dodge was surrounded by Indians, and three + scouts had lately been killed while trying to get dispatches through, but + Will's confidence in himself or his destiny was unshakable, and he + volunteered to take the dispatches, as far, at least, as the Indians would + let him. + </p> + <p> + "It is a dangerous undertaking," said General Sheridan, "but it is most + important that the dispatches should go through; so, if you are willing to + risk it, take the best horse you can find, and the sooner you start the + better." + </p> + <p> + Within an hour the scout was in the saddle. At the outset Will permitted + his horse to set his own pace, for in case of pursuit he should want the + animal fresh enough to at least hold his own. But no pursuit materialized, + and when the dawn came up he had covered seventy miles, and reached a + station on Coon Creek, manned by colored troops. Here he delivered a + letter to Major Cox, the officer in command, and after eating breakfast, + took a fresh horse, and resumed his journey before the sun was above the + plain. + </p> + <p> + Fort Dodge was reached, the dispatches delivered by nine o'clock, and Will + turned in for a needed sleep. When he awoke, he was assured by John + Austin, chief of the scouts at Dodge, that his coming through unharmed + from Fort Hayes was little short of a miracle. He was also assured that a + journey to his own headquarters, Fort Larned, would be even more ticklish + than his late ride, as the hostiles were especially thick in that + direction. But the officer in command at Dodge desired to send dispatches + to Larned, and as none of the other scouts were willing to take them, Will + volunteered his services. + </p> + <p> + "Larned's my headquarters," said he, "and I must go there anyway; so if + you'll give me a good horse, I'll take your dispatches." + </p> + <p> + "We haven't a decent horse left," said the officer; "but you can take your + pick of some fine government mules." + </p> + <p> + Will made a gesture of despair. Another race on mule-back with Indians was + not an inviting prospect. There were very few mules like unto his quondam + mouse-colored mount. But he succumbed to the inevitable, picked out the + most enterprising looking mule in the bunch, and set forth. And neither he + nor the mule guessed what was in store for each of them. + </p> + <p> + At Coon Creek Will dismounted for a drink of water, and the mule embraced + the opportunity to pull away, and start alone on the wagon-trail to + Larned. Will did not suspect that he should have any trouble in overtaking + the capricious beast, but at the end of a mile he was somewhat concerned. + He had threatened and entreated, raged and cajoled. 'Twas all wasted. The + mule was as deaf to prayer as to objurgation. It browsed contentedly along + the even tenor of its way, so near and yet so far from the young man, who, + like "panting time, toil'd after it in vain." And Larned much more than + twenty miles away. + </p> + <p> + What the poet calls "the golden exhalations of the dawn" began to warm the + gray of the plain. The sun was in the roots of the grass. Four miles away + the lights of Larned twinkled. The only blot on a fair landscape was the + mule—in the middle distance. But there was a wicked gleam in the eye + of the footsore young man in the foreground. + </p> + <p> + Boom! The sunrise gun at the fort. The mule threw back its head, waved its + ears, and poured forth a song of triumph, a loud, exultant bray. + </p> + <p> + Crack! Will's rifle. Down went the mule. It had made the fatal mistake of + gloating over its villainy. Never again would it jeopardize the life of a + rider. + </p> + <p> + It had been a thirty-five-mile walk, and every bone in Will's body ached. + His shot alarmed the garrison, but he was soon on the ground with the + explanation; and after turning over his dispatches, he sought his bed. + </p> + <p> + During the day General Hazen returned, under escort, from Fort Harker, + with dispatches for Sheridan, and Will offered to be the bearer of them. + An army mule was suggested, but he declined to again put his life in the + keeping of such an animal. A good horse was selected, and the journey made + without incident. + </p> + <p> + General Sheridan was roused at daylight to receive the scout's report and + praised Will warmly for having undertaken and safely accomplished three + such long and dangerous rides. + </p> + <p> + "In all," says General Sheridan, in his Memoirs, "Cody rode three hundred + and fifty miles in less than sixty hours, and such an exhibition of + endurance and courage was more than enough to convince me that his + services would be extremely valuable in the campaign; so I retained him at + Fort Hayes until the battalion of Fifth Cavalry arrived, and then made him + chief of scouts for that regiment." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVII. — SATANTA, CHIEF OF THE KIOWAS. + </h2> + <p> + WITHIN plain view of Fort Larned lay a large camp of Kiowas and Comanches. + They were not yet bedaubed with war paint, but they were as restless as + panthers in a cage, and it was only a matter of days when they would whoop + and howl with the loudest. + </p> + <p> + The principal chief of the Kiowas was Satanta, a powerful and resourceful + warrior, who, because of remarkable talents for speech-making, was called + "The Orator of the Plains." Satanta was short and bullet-headed. Hatred + for the whites swelled every square inch of his breast, but he had the + deep cunning of his people, with some especially fine points of treachery + learned from dealings with dishonest agents and traders. There probably + never was an Indian so depraved that he could not be corrupted further by + association with a rascally white man. + </p> + <p> + When the Kiowas were friendly with the government, Satanta received a + guest with all the magnificence the tribe afforded. A carpet was spread + for the white man to sit upon, and a folding board was set up for a table. + The question of expense never intruded. + </p> + <p> + Individually, too, Satanta put on a great deal of style. Had the + opportunity come to him, he would have worn a silk hat with a sack-coat, + or a dress suit in the afternoon. As it was, he produced some startling + effects with blankets and feathers. + </p> + <p> + It was part of General Hazen's mission to Fort Larned to patch up a treaty + with the outraged Kiowas and Comanches, if it could be brought about. On + one warm August morning, the general set out for Fort Zarah, on a tour of + inspection. Zarah was on the Arkansas, in what is now Barton County, + Kansas. An early start was made, as it was desired to cover the thirty + miles by noon. The general rode in a four-mule army ambulance, with an + escort of ten foot soldiers, in a four-mule escort wagon. + </p> + <p> + After dinner at Zarah the general went on to Fort Harker, leaving orders + for the scout and soldiers to return to Larned on the following day. But + as there was nothing to do at Fort Zarah, Will determined to return at + once; so he trimmed the sails of his mule-ship, and squared away for + Larned. + </p> + <p> + The first half of the journey was without incident, but when Pawnee Rock + was reached, events began to crowd one another. Some forty Indians rode + out from behind the rock and surrounded the scout. + </p> + <p> + "How? How?" they cried, as they drew near, and offered their hands for the + white man's salutation. + </p> + <p> + The braves were in war paint, and intended mischief; but there was nothing + to be lost by returning their greeting, so Will extended his hand. + </p> + <p> + One warrior seized it and gave it a violent jerk; another caught the + mule's bridle; a third pulled the revolvers from the holsters; a fourth + snatched the rifle from across the saddle; while a fifth, for a climax, + dealt Will a blow on the head with a tomahawk that nearly stunned him. + </p> + <p> + Then the band started for the Arkansas River, lashing the mule, singing, + yelling, and whooping. For one supposed to be stolid and taciturn, the + Indian makes a good deal of noise at times. + </p> + <p> + Across the river was a vast throng of warriors, who had finally decided to + go on the war-path. Will and his captors forded the shallow stream, and + the prisoner was conducted before the chiefs of the tribe, with some of + whom he was acquainted. + </p> + <p> + His head throbbed from the tomahawking, but his wits were still in working + order, and when asked by Satanta where he had been, he replied that he had + been out searching for "whoa-haws." + </p> + <p> + He knew that the Indians had been promised a herd of "whoa-haws," as they + termed cattle, and he knew, too, that the herd had not arrived, and that + the Indians had been out of meat for several weeks; hence he hoped to + enlist Satanta's sympathetic interest. + </p> + <p> + He succeeded. Satanta was vastly interested. Where were the cattle? Oh, a + few miles back. Will had been sent forward to notify the Indians that an + army of sirloin steaks was advancing upon them. + </p> + <p> + Satanta was much pleased, and the other chiefs were likewise interested. + Did General Hazen say the cattle were for them? Was there a chance that + the scout was mistaken? + </p> + <p> + Not a chance; and with becoming dignity Will demanded a reason for the + rough treatment he had received. + </p> + <p> + Oh, that was all a joke, Satanta explained. The Indians who had captured + the white chief were young and frisky. They wished to see whether he was + brave. They were simply testing him. It was sport—just a joke. + </p> + <p> + Will did not offer to argue the matter. No doubt an excellent test of a + man's courage is to hit him over the head with a tomahawk. If he lives + through it, he is brave as Agamemnon. But Will insisted mildly that it was + a rough way to treat friends; whereupon Satanta read the riot act to his + high-spirited young men, and bade them return the captured weapons to the + scout. + </p> + <p> + The next question was, were there soldiers with the cattle? Certainly, + replied Will; a large party of soldiers were escorting the succulent + sirloins. This intelligence necessitated another consultation. Evidently + hostilities must be postponed until after the cattle had arrived. Would + Will drive the cattle to them? He would be delighted to. Did he desire + that the chief's young men should accompany him? No, indeed. The soldiers, + also, were high-spirited, and they might test the bravery of the chief's + young men by shooting large holes in them. It would be much better if the + scout returned alone. + </p> + <p> + Satanta agreed with him, and Will recrossed the river without molestation; + but, glancing over his shoulder, he noted a party of ten or fifteen young + braves slowly following him. Satanta was an extremely cautious chieftain. + </p> + <p> + Will rode leisurely up the gentle slope of the river's bank, but when he + had put the ridge between him and the Indian camp he pointed his mule + westward, toward Fort Larned, and set it going at its best pace. When the + Indians reached the top of the ridge, from where they could scan the + valley, in which the advancing cattle were supposed to be, there was not a + horn to be seen, and the scout was flying in an opposite direction. + </p> + <p> + They gave chase, but the mule had a good start, and when it got its second + wind—always necessary in a mule—the Indian ponies gained but + slowly. When Ash Creek, six miles from Larned, was reached, the race was + about even, but two miles farther on, the Indians were uncomfortably close + behind. The sunset gun at the fort boomed a cynical welcome to the man + four miles away, flying toward it for his life. + </p> + <p> + At Pawnee Fork, two miles from the fort, the Indians had crept up to + within five hundred yards. But here, on the farther bank of the stream, + Will came upon a government wagon containing half a dozen soldiers and + Denver Jim, a well-known scout. + </p> + <p> + The team was driven among the trees, and the men hid themselves in the + bushes, and when the Indians came along they were warmly received. Two of + the reds were killed; the others wheeled and rode back in safety. + </p> + <p> + In 1868 General Sheridan had taken command of all the troops in the field. + He arranged what is known as the winter expeditions against the Kiowas, + Comanches, Southern Cheyennes, and Arapahoes. He personally commanded the + expedition which left Fort Dodge, with General Custer as chief of cavalry. + General Penrose started for Fort Lyon, Colorado, and General Eugene A. + Carr was ordered from the Republican River country, with the Fifth + Cavalry, to Fort Wallace, Kansas. Will at this time had a company of forty + scouts with General Carr's command. He was ordered by General Sheridan, + when leaving Fort Lyon, to follow the trail of General Penrose's command + until it was overtaken. General Carr was to proceed to Fort Lyon, and + follow on the trail of General Penrose, who had started from there three + weeks before, when, as Carr ranked Penrose, he would then take command of + both expeditions. It was the 21st of November when Carr's expedition left + Fort Lyon. The second day out they encountered a terrible snow-storm and + blizzard in a place they christened "Freeze Out Canon," by which name it + is still known. As Penrose had only a pack-train and no heavy wagons, and + the ground was covered with snow, it was a very difficult matter to follow + his trail. But taking his general course, they finally came up with him on + the south fork of the Canadian River, where they found him and his + soldiers in a sorry plight, subsisting wholly on buffalo-meat. Their + animals had all frozen to death. + </p> + <p> + General Carr made what is known as a supply camp, leaving Penrose's + command and some of his own disabled stock therein. Taking with him the + Fifth Cavalry and the best horses and pack-mules, he started south toward + the main fork of the Canadian River, looking for the Indians. He was gone + from the supply camp thirty days, but could not locate the main band of + Indians, as they were farther to the east, where General Sheridan had + located them, and had sent General Custer in to fight them, which he did, + in what is known as the great battle of Wichita. + </p> + <p> + They had a very severe winter, and returned in March to Fort Lyon, + Colorado. + </p> + <p> + In the spring of 1869, the Fifth Cavalry, ordered to the Department of the + Platte, took up the line of march for Fort McPherson, Nebraska. + </p> + <p> + It was a large command, including seventy-six wagons for stores, ambulance + wagons, and pack-mules. Those chief in authority were Colonel Royal + (afterward superseded by General Carr), Major Brown, and Captain Sweetman. + </p> + <p> + The average distance covered daily was only ten miles, and when the troops + reached the Solomon River there was no fresh meat in camp. Colonel Royal + asked Will to look up some game. + </p> + <p> + "All right, sir," said Will. "Will you send a couple of wagons along to + fetch in the meat?" + </p> + <p> + "We'll send for the game, Cody, when there's some game to send for," + curtly replied the colonel. + </p> + <p> + That settled the matter, surely, and Will rode away, a trifle ruffled in + temper. + </p> + <p> + He was not long in rounding up a herd of seven buffaloes, and he headed + them straight for camp. As he drew near the lines, he rode alongside his + game, and brought down one after another, until only an old bull remained. + This he killed in almost the center of the camp. + </p> + <p> + The charge of the buffaloes had nearly stampeded the picketed horses, and + Colonel Royal, who, with the other officers, had watched the hunt, + demanded, somewhat angrily: + </p> + <p> + "What does this mean, Cody?" + </p> + <p> + "Why," said Will, "I thought, sir, I'd save you the trouble of sending + after the game." + </p> + <p> + The colonel smiled, though perhaps the other officers enjoyed the joke + more than he. + </p> + <p> + At the north fork of the Beaver, Will discovered a large and fresh Indian + trail. The tracks were scattered all over the valley, showing that a large + village had recently passed that way. Will estimated that at least four + hundred lodges were represented; that would mean from twenty-five hundred + to three thousand warriors, squaws, and children. + </p> + <p> + When General Carr (who had taken the command) got the news, he followed + down a ravine to Beaver Creek, and here the regiment went into camp. + Lieutenant Ward and a dozen men were detailed to accompany Will on a + reconnoissance. They followed Beaver Creek for twelve miles, and then the + lieutenant and the scout climbed a knoll for a survey of the country. One + glance took in a large Indian village some three miles distant. Thousands + of ponies were picketed out, and small bands of warriors were seen + returning from the hunt, laden with buffalo-meat. + </p> + <p> + "I think, Lieutenant," said Will, "that we have important business at + camp." + </p> + <p> + "I agree with you," said Ward. "The quicker we get out of here, the + better." + </p> + <p> + When they rejoined the men at the foot of the hill, Ward dispatched a + courier to General Carr, the purpose of the lieutenant being to follow + slowly and meet the troops which he knew would be sent forward. + </p> + <p> + The courier rode away at a gallop, but in a few moments came riding back, + with three Indians at his horse's heels. The little company charged the + warriors, who turned and fled for the village. + </p> + <p> + "Lieutenant," said Will, "give me that note." And as it was passed over, + he clapped spurs to his horse and started for the camp. + </p> + <p> + He had proceeded but a short distance when he came upon another party of + Indians, returning to the village with buffalo-meat. Without stopping, he + fired a long-range shot at them, and while they hesitated, puzzled by the + action, he galloped past. The warriors were not long in recovering from + their surprise, and cutting loose their meat, followed; but their ponies + were tired from a long hunt, and Will's fresh horse ran away from them. + </p> + <p> + When General Carr received the lieutenant's dispatch, he ordered the + bugler to sound the inspiring "Boots and Saddles," and, while two + companies remained to guard the wagons, the rest of the troops hastened + against the Indians. + </p> + <p> + Three miles out they were joined by Lieutenant Ward's company, and five + miles more brought them within sight of a huge mass of mounted Indians + advancing up the creek. These warriors were covering the retreat of their + squaws, who were packing up and getting ready for hasty flight. + </p> + <p> + General Carr ordered a charge on the red line. If it were broken, the + cavalry was to continue, and surround the village. The movement was + successfully executed, but one officer misunderstood the order, and, + charging on the left wing of the hostiles, was speedily hemmed in by some + three hundred redskins. Reinforcements were dispatched to his relief, but + the plan of battle was spoiled, and the remainder of the afternoon was + spent in contesting the ground with the Indians, who fought for their + lodges, squaws, and children with desperate and dogged courage. When night + came on, the wagon-trains, which had been ordered to follow, had not put + in an appearance, and, though the regiment went back to look for them, it + was nine o'clock before they were reached. + </p> + <p> + Camp was broken at daybreak, and the pursuit began, but not an Indian was + in sight. All the day the trail was followed. There was evidence that the + Indians had abandoned everything that might hinder their flight. That + night the regiment camped on the banks of the Republican, and the next + morning caught a distant glimpse of the foe. + </p> + <p> + About eleven o'clock a charge was made by three hundred mounted warriors, + but they were repulsed with considerable loss, and when they discovered + that defeat was certain, they evaded further pursuit by breaking up into + companies and scattering to all points of the compass. A large number of + ponies were collected as trophies of this expedition. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVIII. — WILL MADE CHIEF OF SCOUTS. + </h2> + <p> + IN due time the Fifth Cavalry reached Fort McPherson, which became its + headquarters while they were fitting out a new expedition to go into the + Republican River country. At this time General Carr recommended to General + Augur, who was in command of the Department, that Will be made chief of + scouts in the Department of the Platte. + </p> + <p> + Will's fancy had been so taken by the scenery along the line of march that + he proceeded to explore the country around McPherson, the result being a + determination to make his future home in the Platte Valley. + </p> + <p> + Shortly after reaching the fort, the scouts' division of the Fifth Cavalry + was reinforced by Major Frank North and three companies of the celebrated + Pawnee scouts. These became the most interesting and amusing objects in + camp, partly on account of their race, but mainly because of the bizarre + dress fashions they affected. My brother, in his autobiography, describes + the appearance presented by these scouts during a review of the command by + Brigadier-General Duncan. + </p> + <p> + The regiment made a fine showing, the men being well drilled and + thoroughly versed in tactics. The Pawnees also showed up well on drill, + but their full dress uniforms were calculated to excite even the army + horses to laughter. Regular cavalry suits had been furnished them, but no + two of the Pawnees seemed to agree as to the correct manner in which the + various articles should be worn. As they lined up for dress parade, some + of them wore heavy overcoats, others discarded even pantaloons, content + with a breech-clout. Some wore large black hats, with brass accouterments, + others were bareheaded. Many wore the pantaloons, but declined the shirts, + while a few of the more original cut the seats from the pantaloons, + leaving only leggings. Half of them were without boots or moccasins, but + wore the clinking spurs with manifest pride. + </p> + <p> + They were a quaint and curious lot, but drilled remarkably well for + Indians, and obeyed orders. They were devoted to their white chief, Major + North, who spoke Pawnee like a native, and they were very proud of their + position in the United States army. Good soldiers they made, too—hard + riders, crack shots, and desperate fighters. + </p> + <p> + At the close of the parade and review referred to, the officers and the + ladies attended an Indian dance, given by the Pawnees, which climaxed a + rather exciting day. + </p> + <p> + The following morning an expedition moved back to the Republican River, to + curb the high spirits of a band of Sioux, who had grown boldly + troublesome. This was the sort of service the Pawnees welcomed, as they + and the Sioux were hereditary enemies. + </p> + <p> + At the journey's end, camp was made at the mouth of the Beaver, and the + Sioux were heard from within the hour. A party of them raided the mules + that had been taken to the river, and the alarm was given by a herder, who + dashed into camp with an arrow sticking in his shoulder. + </p> + <p> + Will did not wait to saddle his horse, but the Pawnees were as quick as + he, and both of them rather surprised the Sioux, who did not expect such a + swift response. Especially were they surprised to find themselves + confronted by their tribal foe, the Pawnee, and they fell back hastily, + closely pressed by Will and his red allies. A running fight was kept up + for fifteen miles, and when many of the Sioux had been stretched upon the + plain and the others scattered, the pursuing party returned to camp. + </p> + <p> + Will himself, on a fine horse, had been somewhat chagrined at being passed + in the chase by a Pawnee on an inferior-looking steed. Upon inquiring of + Major North, he found that the swifter horse was, like his own, government + property. The Pawnee was much attached to his mount, but he was also fond + of tobacco, and a few pieces of that commodity, supplemented by some other + articles, induced him to exchange horses. Will named his new charge + "Buckskin Joe," and rode him for four years. Joe proved a worthy successor + to Brigham for speed, endurance, and intelligence. + </p> + <p> + This was the first adventure that Will and the Pawnees had pursued + together, and they emerged with an increased esteem for each other. Not + long afterward, Will's skill as a buffalo-hunter raised the admiration of + the Indians to enthusiasm. + </p> + <p> + Twenty Pawnees that circled around one herd of buffaloes killed only + twenty-two, and when the next herd came in view Will asked Major North to + keep the Indians in the background while he showed them a thing or two. + Buckskin Joe was a capital buffalo-hunter, and so well did he perform his + part that Will brought down thirty-six, about one at every shot. + </p> + <p> + The Pawnees were delighted. They held it considerable of an achievement to + kill two or three of the monarchs of the plains at a single run, and + Will's feat dazzled them. He was at once pronounced a great chief, and + ever after occupied a high place in their regard. + </p> + <p> + Moving up the Republican River, the troops went into camp on Black Tail + Deer Fork. Scarcely were the tents pitched when a band of Indians were + seen sweeping toward them at full speed, singing, yelling, and waving + lances. The camp was alive in an instant, but the Pawnees, instead of + preparing for defense, began to sing and yell in unison with the advancing + braves. "Those are some of our own Indians," said Major North; "they've + had a fight, and are bringing in the scalps." + </p> + <p> + And so it proved. The Pawnees reported a skirmish with the Sioux, in which + a few of the latter had been killed. + </p> + <p> + The next day the regiment set forth upon the trail of the Sioux. They + traveled rapidly, and plainly gained ground. + </p> + <p> + At every camp the print of a woman's shoe was noted among the tracks of + moccasined feet. The band evidently had a white captive in tow, and + General Carr, selecting the best horses, ordered a forced march, the + wagon-trains to follow as rapidly as possible. Will, with six Pawnees, was + to go ahead and locate the hostiles, and send back word, so that a plan of + attack might be arranged before the Indian village was reached. + </p> + <p> + This village the scouts discovered among the sand-hills at Summit Springs, + a few miles from the South Platte River; and while the Pawnees remained to + watch, Will returned to General Carr with the news. + </p> + <p> + There was suppressed excitement all along the line, as officers and men + prepared for what promised to be a lively scrimmage. The troops moved + forward by a circuitous route, and reached a hill overlooking the hostile + camp without their presence being dreamed of by the red men. + </p> + <p> + The bugler was ordered to sound the charge, but he was trembling with + excitement, and unable to blow a note. + </p> + <p> + "Sound the charge, man!" ordered General Carr a second time; but the + unhappy wight could scarcely hold his horn, much less blow it. + Quartermaster Hays snatched the instrument from the flustered man's hands, + and as the call rang out loud and clear the troops rushed to the attack. + </p> + <p> + Taken wholly by surprise, the Indian village went to pieces in a + twinkling. A few of the Sioux mounted and rode forward to repel the + assault, but they turned back in half a minute, while those that were not + mounted scattered for the foothills hard by. The cavalry swept through the + village like a prairie fire, and pursued the flying Indians until darkness + put an end to the chase. + </p> + <p> + By the next morning the bugler had grown calm enough to sound "Boots and + Saddles!" and General Carr split his force into companies, as it was + discovered that the Indians had divided. Each company was to follow a + separate trail. + </p> + <p> + Will made one of a band of two hundred, and for two days they dogged the + red man's footsteps. At sunrise of the third day the trail ran into + another, showing that the Sioux had reunited their forces. This was + serious for the little company of regulars, but they went ahead, eager for + a meeting with the savages. + </p> + <p> + They had not long to wait. The sun was scarcely an hour high when some six + hundred Sioux were espied riding in close ranks along the bank of the + Platte. The Indians discovered the troops at the same moment, and at once + gave battle. The Indian is not a coward, though he frequently declines + combat if the odds are not largely in his favor. + </p> + <p> + In this engagement the Sioux outnumbered the soldiers three to one, and + the latter fell back slowly until they reached a ravine. Here they + tethered their horses and waited the course of Indian events, which, as + usual, came in circular form. The Sioux surrounded the regulars, and + finding them comparatively few in number, made a gallant charge. + </p> + <p> + But bows and arrows are futile against powder and ball, and the warriors + reeled back from a scathing fire, leaving a score of their number dead. + </p> + <p> + Another charge, another repulse; and then a council of war. This lasted an + hour, and evidently evolved a brilliant stratagem, for the Sioux divided + into two bands, and while one made a show of withdrawing, the other + circled around and around the position where the soldiers lay. + </p> + <p> + At a point in this revolving belt of redskins rode a well-mounted, + handsome warrior, plainly a chief. It had been Will's experience that to + lay low a chief was half the battle when fighting Indians, but this + particular mogul kept just out of rifle-shot. There are, however, as many + ways of killing an Indian as of killing a cat; so Will crawled on hands + and knees along the ravine to a point which he thought would be within + range of the chief when next he swung around the circle. + </p> + <p> + The calculation was close enough, and when the warrior came loping along, + slacking his pace to cross the ravine, Will rose and fired. + </p> + <p> + It was a good four hundred yards, but the warrior pitched from his seat, + and his pony ran down the ravine into the ranks of the soldiers, who were + so elated over the success of the shot that they voted the animal to Will + as a trophy. + </p> + <p> + The fallen warrior was Tall Bull, one of the ablest chiefs the Sioux ever + had. His death so disheartened his braves that they at once retreated. + </p> + <p> + A union of General Carr's scattered forces followed, and a few days later + an engagement took place in which three hundred warriors and a large + number of ponies were captured. Some white captives were released, and + several hundred squaws made prisoners. + </p> + <p> + Among these latter was the amiable widow of Tall Bull, who, far from + cherishing animosity against Will as the slayer of her spouse, took pride + in the fact that he had fallen under the fire of so great a warrior as + "Pahaska," Long-haired Chief, by which name our scout was known among the + Indians. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIX. — ARMY LIFE AT FORT M'PHERSON. + </h2> + <p> + IN the spring of 1870 Will proceeded to put into effect the determination + of the previous year—to establish a home in the lovely country of + the westerly Platte. After preparing quarters wherein his family might be + comfortable, he obtained a leave of absence and departed for St. Louis to + fetch his wife and daughter Arta, now a beautiful child of three. + </p> + <p> + The fame of "Buffalo Bill" had extended far beyond the plains, and during + his month's sojourn in St. Louis he was the object of a great deal of + attention. When the family prepared to depart for the frontier home, my + sister-in-law wrote to me to ask if I did not wish to accompany them. I + should have been delighted to accept the invitation, but at that especial + time there were strong attractions for me in my childhood's home; besides, + I felt that sister May, who had not enjoyed the pleasure of the St. Louis + trip, was entitled to the Western jaunt. + </p> + <p> + So May made a visit to McPherson, and a delightful time she had, though + she was at first inclined to quarrel with the severe discipline of army + life. Will ranked with the officers, and as a result May's social + companions were limited to the two daughters of General Augur, who were + also on a visit to the fort. To compensate for the shortage of feminine + society, however, there were a number of young unmarried officers. + </p> + <p> + Every day had its curious or enlivening incident, and May's letters to me + were filled with accounts of the gayety of life at an army post. After + several months I was invited to join her. She was enthusiastic over a + proposed buffalo-hunt, as she desired to take part in one before her + return to Leavenworth, and wished me to enjoy the sport with her. + </p> + <p> + In accepting the invitation I fixed a certain day for my arrival at + McPherson, but I was delayed in my journey, and did not reach the fort + until three days after the date set. May was much disturbed. She had + allowed me three days for recuperation from the journey, and I had arrived + on the eve of the buffalo-hunt. Naturally, I was too fatigued to rave over + buffaloes, and I objected to joining the hunt; and I was encouraged in my + objecting by the discovery that my brother was away on a scouting trip. + </p> + <p> + "You don't think of going buffalo-hunting without Will, do you?" I asked + May. + </p> + <p> + "Why," said she, "we can never tell when he will be in camp and when away; + he's off scouting nearly all the time. And we can't get up a buffalo-hunt + on five minutes' notice; we must plan ahead. Our party is all ready to + start, and there's a reporter here from an Omaha paper to write it up. We + can't put it off, and you must go." + </p> + <p> + After that, of course, there was nothing more to be said, and when the + hunting-party set forth I made one of it. + </p> + <p> + A gay party it was. For men, there were a number of officers, and the + newspaper man, Dr. Frank Powell, now of La Crosser for women, the wives of + two of the officers, the daughters of General Augur, May, and myself. + There was sunshine, laughter, and incessant chatter, and when one is young + and fond of horseback-riding, and a handsome young officer rides by one's + side, physical fatigue is apt to vanish for a time. + </p> + <p> + The fort was soon nothing but a break in the sky-line, and with a sense + almost of awe I looked for the first time upon the great American Desert. + To our left, as we rode eastward, ran the swift and shallow Platte, dotted + with green-garbed islands. This river Washington Irving called "the most + magnificent and the most useless of streams" "The islands," he wrote, + "have the appearance of a labyrinth of groves floating on the waters. + Their extraordinary position gives an air of youth and loveliness to the + whole scene. If to this be added the undulations of the river, the waving + of the verdure, the alternations of light and shade, and the purity of the + atmosphere, some idea may be formed of the pleasing sensations which the + traveler experiences on beholding a scene that seems to have started fresh + from the hands of the Creator." + </p> + <p> + In sharp contrast was the sandy plain over which we rode. On this grew the + short, stubby buffalo-grass, the dust-colored sage-brush, and cactus in + rank profusion. Over to the right, perhaps a mile away, a long range of + foothills ran down to the horizon, with here and there the great canons, + through which entrance was effected to the upland country, each canon + bearing a historical or legendary name. + </p> + <p> + To my eyes the picture was as beautiful as it was novel. As far as one + could see there was no sign of human habitation. It was one vast, + untenanted waste, with the touch of infinity the ocean wears. + </p> + <p> + As we began to get into the foothills, one of our equestriennes narrowly + escaped a fall. Her horse dropped a foot into a prairie-dog's hole, and + came to an abrupt stop. The foot was extricated, and I was instructed in + the dangers that beset the prairie voyager in these blind traps of the + plain. + </p> + <p> + The trail had been ascending at a gentle grade, and we had a slight change + of scene—desert hill instead of desert plain. The sand-hills rose in + tiers before us, and I was informed that they were formed ages ago by the + action of water. What was hard, dry ground to our horses' hoofs was once + the bottom of the sea. + </p> + <p> + I was much interested in the geology of my environments; much more so than + I should have been had I been told that those strange, weird hills were + the haunt of the red man, who was on the war-path, and looking constantly + for scalps. But these unpleasant facts were not touched upon by the + officers, and in blissful ignorance we pursued the tenor of our way. + </p> + <p> + We were obliged to ride a great distance before we sighted any game, and + after twenty miles had been gone over, my temporarily forgotten weariness + began to reassert itself. Dr. Powell proposed that the ladies should do + the shooting, but my interest in the hunt had waned. It had been several + years since I had ridden a horse, and after the first few miles I was not + in a suitable frame of mind or body to enjoy the most exciting hunt. + </p> + <p> + A herd of buffaloes finally came into view, and the party was instantly + alive. One old bull was a little apart from the others of the herd, and + was singled out for the first attack. As we drew within range, a rifle was + given to May, with explicit directions as to its handling. The buffalo has + but one vulnerable spot, and it is next to impossible for a novice to make + a fatal shot. May fired, and perhaps her shot might be called a good one, + for the animal was struck: but it was only wounded and infuriated, and + dropping its shaggy head, it rushed toward us. The officers fusilladed the + mountain of flesh, succeeding only in rousing it to added fury. Another + rifle was handed to May, and Dr. Powell directed its aim; but terrified by + the near presence of the charging bull, May discharged it at random. + </p> + <p> + Although this is strictly a narrative of facts, exercising the privilege + of the novelist, we leave our present heroine in her perilous position, + and return, for a space, to the fort. + </p> + <p> + Will returned from his scouting trip shortly after the departure of the + hunting party, and his first query was: + </p> + <p> + "Is Nellie here?" + </p> + <p> + "Come and gone," replied his wife; and she informed him of the manner in + which I had been carried off on the long-talked-of buffalo-hunt. Whereupon + Will gave way to one of his rare fits of passion. The scouting trip had + been long and arduous, he was tired and hungry, but also keenly anxious + for our safety. He knew what we were ignorant of—that should we come + clear of the not insignificant dangers attendant upon a buffalo-hunt, + there remained the possibility of capture by Indians. + </p> + <p> + "I must go after them at once," said he; and off he went, without thought + of rest or food. He did take time, however, to visit the officers' + quarters and pour a vial of wrath upon the bewildered head of the inferior + who occupied the place of the absent commandant. + </p> + <p> + "Didn't you know," cried Will, "that my continued absence meant danger in + the air? Fine idea, to let a party of ladies go beyond the fort on such a + foolhardy expedition before I had assured you it was safe to do so! + Understand, if any harm comes to my sisters, I'll hold the government + responsible!" + </p> + <p> + With which tremendous threat he mounted the swiftest horse in camp and + rode away before the astonished officer had recovered from his surprise. + </p> + <p> + He was able to track us over the sand-hills, and reached us, in accepted + hero fashion, in the very nick of time. The maddened bull buffalo was + charging on May, unchecked by a peppering fire from the guns of the + officers. All hands were so absorbed by the intense excitement of the + moment that the sound of approaching hoof-beats was unnoted. But I heard, + from behind us, the crack of a rifle, and saw the buffalo fall dead almost + at our feet. + </p> + <p> + The ill-humor of our rescuer dampened the ardor of the welcome we gave + him. The long ride on an empty stomach had not smoothed a ripple of his + ruffled temper, and we were all properly lectured. We were ordered back to + the fort at once, and the command was of such a nature that no one thought + of disputing it. The only question was, whether we could make the fort + before being cut off by Indians. There was no time to be wasted, even in + cutting meat from the tongue of the fallen buffalo. Will showed us the + shortest cut for home, and himself zigzagged ahead of us, on the watch for + a danger signal. + </p> + <p> + For my part, I was so worn out that I would as soon be captured by + Indians, if they would agree to provide me with a wigwam wherein I might + lie down and rest; but no Indians appeared. Five miles from the fort was + the ranch of a wealthy bachelor, and at May's request a halt was here + called. It was thought that the owner of the ranch might take pity upon my + deplorable condition, and provide some sort of vehicle to convey the + ladies the remainder of the journey. + </p> + <p> + We were heartily welcomed, and our bachelor host made us extremely + comfortable in his cozy apartments, while he ordered supper for the party. + Will considered that we were within the safety zone, so he continued on to + the fort to obtain his postponed rest; and after supper the ladies rode to + the fort in a carriage. + </p> + <p> + The next day's Omaha paper contained an account of the hunt from Dr. + Powell's graphic pen, and in it May Cody received all the glory of the + shot that laid the buffalo low. Newspaper men are usually ready to + sacrifice exact facts to an innate sense of the picturesque. + </p> + <p> + At this time the fort was somewhat concerned over numerous petty crimes + among the civilians, and General Emory, now chief in authority at the + post, requested the county commissioners to appoint Will a justice of the + peace. This was done, much to the dismay of the new Justice, who, as he + phrased it, "knew no more of law than a mule knows of singing." But he was + compelled to bear the blushing honors thrust upon him, and his sign was + posted In a conspicuous place: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ————————————— | WILLIAM F. CODY, | + | JUSTICE OF THE PEACE. | + —————————————*/ + + Almost the first thing he was called upon to do in his new + capacity was to perform a wedding ceremony. Cold sweat stood upon + his brow as he implored our aid in this desperate emergency. + The big law book with which he had been equipped at his + installation was ransacked in vain for the needed information. + The Bible was examined more diligently, perhaps, than it had + ever been by him before, but the Good Book was as unresponsive + as the legal tome. "Remember your own wedding ceremony," + was our advice "Follow that as nearly as possible." + But he shook his head despondently The cool-headed scout + and Indian fighter was dismayed, and the dignity of the law + trembled in the balance. + + To put an edge on the crisis, nearly the entire fort attended + the wedding. All is well, said we, as we watched the justice take + his place before the bridal pair with not a sign of trepidation. + At the outset his conducting of the ceremony was irreproachable, + and we were secretly congratulating ourselves upon his success, + when our ears were startled by the announcement: + + "Whom God and Buffalo Bill hath joined together, let no man + put asunder." + + So far as I am informed, no man has attempted it. + + Before May returned home, Will became the very proud father of + a son. + He had now three children, a second daughter, Orra, having + been born two + years before. The first boy of the family was the object of + the undivided + interest of the post for a time, and names by the dozen were + suggested. + Major North offered Kit Carson as an appropriate name for the + son of a great + scout and buffalo-hunter, and this was finally settled on. + + My first touch of real anxiety came with an order to Will + to report at headquarters for assignment to duty. + The country was alive with Indians, the officer in command + informed him, and this intelligence filled me with dread. + My sister-in-law had grown accustomed to her husband's excursions + into danger-land, and accepted such sallies as incidents of + his position. Later, I, too, learned this stoical philosophy, + but at first my anxiety was so keen that Will laughed at me. + + "Don't worry," said he; "the Indians won't visit the fort to-night. + There's no danger of them scalping you." + + "But," said I, "it is for you, not for myself, that I am afraid. + It is horrible to think of you going out alone among those + foothills, + which swarm with Indians." + + The fort was on the prairie, but the distant foothills + stretched away + interminably, and these furnished favorite lurking-places for + the redskins. + Will drew me to a window, and pointed out the third tier of hills, + some twelve or fifteen miles away. + + "I would advise you," said he, "to go to bed and sleep, + but if you insist on keeping awake and worrying, I will kindle + a blaze on top of that hill at midnight. Watch closely. + I can send up only one flash, for there will be Indian eyes + unclosed as well as yours." + + One may imagine with what a beating heart I stared into the + darkness + when the hour of twelve drew on. The night was a veil that hid + a thousand terrors, but a gauzy veil, to my excited fancy, + behind which passed a host of shadowy horsemen with uptossing + lances. + How could a man ride alone into such a gloomy, terror-haunted + domain? + The knights of old, who sallied forth in search of dismal ogres + and noxious dragons, were not of stouter heart, and they breasted + only fancied perils. + + Twelve o'clock! The night had a thousand eyes, but they did + not pierce + the darkness of the foothills. + + Ah! A thin ribbon of light curled upward for an instant, then + vanished. + Will was safe thus far. But there were many hours—and the + darkest—before the dawn, and I carried to my bed the + larger share of my forebodings. + + Next day the scout came home to report the exact location + of the hostile-Sioux. The troops, ready for instant action, + were hurled against them, and the Indians were thoroughly thrashed. + A large number of chiefs were captured, among them "Red Shirt," + an interesting redskin, who afterward traveled with the "Wild + West." + + Captive chiefs were always esteemed of great interest by the ladies + of the fort. To me the braves taken in the last raid were + remarkable + mainly for economy of apparel and sulkiness of demeanor. + + This same fall the fort was visited by a gentleman introduced as + Colonel Judson, though the public knows him better as "Ned + Buntline," + the story-writer. He desired to accompany the scouts on a certain + proposed trip, and Major Brown informed Will that the ulterior + motive + of the author was to project Buffalo Bill into a novel as hero. + + "Now, I'd look pretty in a novel, wouldn't I?" said Will, + sarcastically and blushingly. + + "Yes, I think you would," returned the major, eying the other's + splendid proportions critically. + + Whereupon the scout blushed again, and doffed his sombrero in + acknowledgment + of the compliment, for— + + "'Tis pleasant, sure, to see one's name in print; + A book's a book, although there's nothing in't." +</pre> + <p> + A retired naval officer, Ned Buntline wore a black undress military suit. + His face was bronzed and rugged, determined yet kindly; he walked with a + slight limp, and carried a cane. He shook Will's hand cordially when they + were introduced, and expressed great pleasure in the meeting. This was the + genesis of a friendship destined to work great changes in Buffalo Bill's + career. + </p> + <p> + During the scouting expedition that followed, the party chanced upon an + enormous bone, which the surgeon pronounced the femur of a human body. + Will understood the Indian tongues well enough to be in part possession of + their traditions, and he related the Sioux legend of the flood. + </p> + <p> + It was taught by the wise men of this tribe that the earth was originally + peopled by giants, who were fully three times the size of modern men. They + were so swift and powerful that they could run alongside a buffalo, take + the animal under one arm, and tear off a leg, and eat it as they ran. So + vainglorious were they because of their own size and strength that they + denied the existence of a Creator. When it lightened, they proclaimed + their superiority to the lightning; when it thundered, they laughed. + </p> + <p> + This displeased the Great Spirit, and to rebuke their arrogance he sent a + great rain upon the earth. The valleys filled with water, and the giants + retreated to the hills. The water crept up the hills, and the giants + sought safety on the highest mountains. Still the rain continued, the + waters rose, and the giants, having no other refuge, were drowned. + </p> + <p> + The Great Spirit profited by his former mistake. When the waters subsided, + he made a new race of men, but he made them smaller and less strong. + </p> + <p> + This tradition has been handed down from Sioux father to Sioux son since + earliest ages. It shows, at least, as the legends of all races do, that + the story of the Deluge is history common to all the world. + </p> + <p> + Another interesting Indian tradition bears evidence of a later origin. The + Great Spirit, they say, once formed a man of clay, and he was placed in + the furnace to bake, but he was subjected to the heat too long a time, and + came out burnt. Of him came the negro race. At another trial the Great + Spirit feared the second clay man might also burn, and he was not left in + the furnace long enough. Of him came the paleface man. The Great Spirit + was now in a position to do perfect work, and the third clay man was left + in the furnace neither too long nor too short a time; he emerged a + masterpiece, the <i>ne plus ultra</i> of creation—the noble red man. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XX. — PA-HAS-KA, THE LONG-HAIRED CHIEF. + </h2> + <p> + ALTHOUGH the glory of killing the buffalo on our hunt was accredited to + sister May, to me the episode proved of much more moment. In the spring of + 1871 I was married to Mr. Jester, the bachelor ranchman at whose place we + had tarried on our hurried return to the fort. His house had a rough + exterior, but was substantial and commodious, and before I entered it, a + bride, it was refitted in a style almost luxurious. I returned to + Leavenworth to prepare for the wedding, which took place at the home of an + old friend, Thomas Plowman, his daughter Emma having been my chum in + girlhood. + </p> + <p> + In our home near McPherson we were five miles "in the country." Nature in + primitive wildness encompassed us, but life's song never ran into a + monotone. The prairie is never dull when one watches it from day to day + for signs of Indians. Yet we were not especially concerned, as we were + near enough to the fort to reach it on short notice, and besides our home + there was another house where the ranchmen lived. With these I had little + to do. My especial factotum was a negro boy, whose chief duty was to + saddle my horse and bring it to the door, attend me upon my rides, and + minister to my comfort generally. Poor little chap! He was one of the + first of the Indians' victims. + </p> + <p> + Early one morning John, as he was called, was sent out alone to look after + the cattle. During breakfast the clatter of hoofs was heard, and Will rode + up to inform us that the Indians were on the war-path and massed in force + just beyond our ranch. Back of Will were the troops, and we were advised + to ride at once to the fort. Hastily packing a few valuables, we took + refuge at McPherson, and remained there until the troops returned with the + news that all danger was over. + </p> + <p> + Upon our return to the ranch we found that the cattle had been driven + away, and poor little John was picked up dead on the skirts of the + foothills. The redskins had apparently started to scalp him, but had + desisted. Perhaps they thought his wool would not make a desirable trophy, + perhaps they were frightened away. At all events, the poor child's scalp + was left to him, though the mark of the knife was plain. + </p> + <p> + Shortly after this episode, some capitalists from the East visited my + husband. One of them, Mr. Bent, owned a large share in the cattle-ranches. + He desired to visit this ranch, and the whole party planned a hunt at the + same time. As there were no banking facilities on the frontier, drafts or + bills of exchange would have been of no use; so the money designed for + Western investment had been brought along in cash. To carry this on the + proposed trip was too great a risk, and I was asked banteringly to act as + banker. I consented readily, but imagine my perturbation when twenty-five + thousand dollars in bank-notes were counted out and left in my care. I had + never had the responsibility of so large a sum of money before, and + compared to me the man with the elephant on his hands had a tranquil time + of it. After considering various methods for secreting the money, I + decided for the hair mattress on my bed. This I ripped open, inserted the + envelope containing the bank-notes, and sewed up the slit. No one was + aware of my trust, and I regarded it safe. + </p> + <p> + A few mornings later I ordered my pony and rode away to visit my nearest + neighbor, a Mrs. Erickson, purposing later to ride to the fort and spend + the day with Lou, my sister-in-law. When I reached Mrs. Erickson's house, + that good woman came out in great excitement to greet me. + </p> + <p> + "You must come right in, Mrs. Jester!" said she. "The foothills are filled + with Indians on the warpath." + </p> + <p> + She handed me her field-glasses, and directed my gaze to the trail below + our ranch, over which buffaloes, cattle, and Indians passed down to the + Platte. I could plainly see the warriors tramping along Indian-file, their + head-feathers waving in the breeze and their blankets flapping about them + as they walked. Instantly the thought of the twenty-five thousand dollars + intrusted to my care flashed across my mind. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, Mrs. Erickson," I exclaimed, "I must return to the ranch + immediately!" + </p> + <p> + "You must not do so, Mrs. Jester; it's as much as your life is worth to + attempt it," said she. + </p> + <p> + But I thought only of the money, and notwithstanding warning and entreaty, + mounted my horse and flew back on the homeward path, not even daring to + look once toward the foothills. When I reached the house, I called to the + overseer: + </p> + <p> + "The Indians are on the war-path, and the foothills are full of them! Have + two or three men ready to escort me to the fort by the time I have my + valise packed." + </p> + <p> + "Why, Mrs. Jester," was the reply, "there are no Indians in sight." + </p> + <p> + "But there are," said I. "I saw them as plainly as I see you, and the + Ericksons saw them, too." + </p> + <p> + "You have been the victim of a mirage," said the overseer. "Look! there + are no Indians now in view." + </p> + <p> + I scanned the foothills closely, but there was no sign of a warrior. With + my field-glasses I searched the entire rim of the horizon; it was + tranquillity itself. I experienced a great relief, nevertheless. My nerves + were so shaken that I could not remain at home; so I packed a valise, + taking along the package of bank-notes, and visited another neighbor, a + Mrs. McDonald, a dear friend of many years' standing, who lived nearer the + fort. + </p> + <p> + This excellent woman was an old resident of the frontier. After she had + heard my story, she related some of her own Indian experiences. When she + first settled in her present home, there was no fort to which she could + flee from Indian molestation, and she was often compelled to rely upon her + wits to extricate her from dangerous situations. The story that especially + impressed me was the following: + </p> + <p> + "One evening when I was alone," said Mrs. McDonald, "I became conscious + that eyes were peering at me from the darkness outside my window. Flight + was impossible, and my husband would not likely reach home for an hour or + more. What should I do? A happy thought came to me. You know, perhaps, + that Indians, for some reason, have a strange fear of a drunken woman, and + will not molest one. I took from a closet a bottle filled with a + dark-colored liquid, poured out a glassful and drank it. In a few minutes + I repeated the dose, and then seemingly it began to take effect. I would + try to walk across the room, staggering and nearly falling. I became + uproariously 'happy.' I flung my arms above my head, lurched from side to + side, sang a maudlin song, and laughed loudly and foolishly. The stratagem + succeeded. One by one the shadowy faces at the window disappeared, and by + the time my husband and the men returned there was not an Indian in the + neighborhood. I became sober immediately. Molasses and water is not a very + intoxicating beverage." + </p> + <p> + I plucked up courage to return to the ranch that evening, and shortly + afterward the hunting-party rode up. When I related the story of my + fright, Mr. Bent complimented me upon what he was pleased to call my + courage. + </p> + <p> + "You are your brother's own sister," said he. "We'll make you banker + again." + </p> + <p> + "Thank you, but I do not believe you will," said I. "I have had all the + experience I wish for in the banking business in this Indian country." + </p> + <p> + Upon another occasion Indians were approaching the fort from the farther + side, but as we were not regarded as in danger, no warning was sent to us. + The troops sallied out after the redskins, and the cunning warriors + described a circle. To hide their trail they set fire to the prairie, and + the hills about us were soon ablaze. The flames spread swiftly, and the + smoke rolled upon us in suffocating volume. We retreated to the river, and + managed to exist by dashing water upon our faces. Here we were found by + soldiers sent from the fort to warn settlers of their peril, and at their + suggestion we returned to the ranch, saddled horses, and rode through the + dense smoke five miles to the fort. It was the most unpleasant ride of my + life. + </p> + <p> + In the preceding chapter mention was made of the finding of a remarkable + bone. It became famous, and in the summer of 1871 Professor Marsh, of Yale + College, brought out a party of students to search for fossils. They found + a number, but were not rewarded by anything the most credulous could + torture into a human relic. + </p> + <p> + This summer also witnessed an Indian campaign somewhat out of the common + in several of its details. More than one volume would be required to + record all the adventures Scout Cody had with the Children of the Plains, + most of which had so many points in common that it is necessary to touch + upon only those containing incidents out of the ordinary. + </p> + <p> + An expedition, under command of General Duncan, was fitted out for the + Republican River country. Duncan was a jolly officer and a born fighter. + His brother officers had a story that once on a time he had been shot in + the head by a cannon-ball, and that while he was not hurt a particle, the + ball glanced off and killed one of the toughest mules in the army. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps it was because the Pawnees spoke so little English, and spoke that + little so badly, that General Duncan insisted upon their repeating the + English call, which would be something like this: "Post Number One. Nine + o'clock. All's well." The Pawnee effort to obey was so ludicrous, and + provocative of such profanity (which they could express passing well), + that the order was countermanded. + </p> + <p> + One afternoon Major North and Will rode ahead of the command to select a + site for the night's camp. They ran into a band of some fifty Indians, and + were obliged to take the back track as fast as their horses could travel. + Will's whip was shot from his hand and a hole put through his hat. As they + sighted the advance-guard of the command, Major North rode around in a + circle—a signal to the Pawnees that hostiles were near. Instantly + the Pawnees broke ranks and dashed pell-mell to the relief of their white + chief. The hostiles now took a turn at retreating, and kept it up for + several miles. + </p> + <p> + The troops took up the trail on the following day, and a stern chase set + in. In passing through a deserted camp the troops found an aged squaw, who + had been left to die. The soldiers built a lodge for her, and she was + provided with sufficient rations to last her until she reached the Indian + heaven, the happy hunting-grounds. She was in no haste, however, to get to + her destination, and on their return the troops took her to the fort with + them. Later she was sent to the Spotted Tail agency. + </p> + <p> + In September of 1871 General Sheridan and a party of friends arrived at + the post for a grand hunt. Between him and Will existed a warm friendship, + which continued to the close of the general's life. Great preparations + were made for the hunt. General Emory, now commander of the fort, sent a + troop of cavalry to meet the distinguished visitors at the station and + escort them to the fort. Besides General Sheridan, there were in the party + Leonard and Lawrence Jerome, Carroll Livingstone, James Gordon Bennett, J. + G. Heckscher, General Fitzhugh, Schuyler Crosby, Dr. Asch, Mr. McCarthy, + and other well-known men. When they reached the post they found the + regiment drawn up on dress parade; the band struck up a martial air, the + cavalry were reviewed by General Sheridan, and the formalities of the + occasion were regarded as over. + </p> + <p> + It was Sheridan's request that Will should act as guide and scout for the + hunting-party. One hundred troopers under Major Brown were detailed as + escort, and the commissary department fairly bulged. Several ambulances + were also taken along, for the comfort of those who might weary of the + saddle. + </p> + <p> + Game was abundant, and rare sport was had. Buffalo, elk, and deer were + everywhere, and to those of the party who were new to Western life the + prairie-dog villages were objects of much interest. These villages are + often of great extent. They are made up of countless burrows, and so + honeycombed is the country infested by the little animals that travel + after nightfall is perilous for horses. The dirt is heaped around the + entrance to the burrows a foot high, and here the prairie-dogs, who are + sociability itself, sit on their hind legs and gossip with one another. + Owls and rattlesnakes share the underground homes with the rightful + owners, and all get along together famously. + </p> + <p> + When the hunting-party returned to McPherson its members voted Will a + veritable Nimrod—a mighty hunter, and he was abundantly thanked for + his masterly guidance of the expedition. + </p> + <p> + That winter a still more distinguished party visited the post—the + Grand Duke Alexis and his friends. As many of my readers will recall, the + nobleman's visit aroused much enthusiasm in this country. The East had + wined and dined him to satiety, but wining and dining are common to all + nations, and the Grand Duke desired to see the wild life of America—the + Indian in his tepee and the prairie monarch in his domain, as well as the + hardy frontiersman, who feared neither savage warrior nor savage beast. + </p> + <p> + The Grand Duke had hunted big game in Eastern lands, and he was a capital + shot. General Sheridan engineered this expedition also, and, as on the + previous occasion, he relied upon Will to make it a success. The latter + received word to select a good camp on Red Willow Creek, where game was + plentiful, and to make all needed arrangements for the comfort and + entertainment of the noble party. A special feature suggested by Sheridan + for the amusement and instruction of the continental guests was an Indian + war-dance and Indian buffalo-hunt. To procure this entertainment it was + necessary to visit Spotted Tail, chief of the Sioux, and persuade him to + bring over a hundred warriors. At this time there was peace between the + Sioux and the government, and the dance idea was feasible; nevertheless, a + visit to the Sioux camp was not without its dangers. Spotted Tail himself + was seemingly sincere in a desire to observe the terms of the ostensible + peace between his people and the authorities, but many of the other + Indians would rather have had the scalp of the Long-haired Chief than a + century of peace. + </p> + <p> + Will so timed his trip as to reach the Indian camp at dusk, and hitching + his horse in the timber, he wrapped his blanket closely about him, so that + in the gathering darkness he might easily pass for a warrior. Thus + invested, he entered the village, and proceeded to the lodge of Spotted + Tail. + </p> + <p> + The conference with the distinguished redskin was made smooth sailing by + Agent Todd Randall, who happened to be on hand, and who acted as + interpreter. The old chief felt honored by the invitation extended to him, + and readily promised that in "ten sleeps" from that night he, with a + hundred warriors, would be present at the white man's camp, which was to + be pitched at the point where the government trail crossed Red Willow + Creek. + </p> + <p> + As Spotted Tail did not repose a great amount of confidence in his + high-spirited young men, he kept Will in his own lodge through the night. + In the morning the chief assembled the camp, and presenting his guest, + asked if his warriors knew him. + </p> + <p> + "It is Pa-has-ka, the Long-haired Chief!" they answered. + </p> + <p> + Whereupon Spotted Tail informed them that he had eaten bread with the + Long-haired Chief, thus establishing a bond of friendship, against + violating which the warriors were properly warned. + </p> + <p> + After that Will was entirely at his ease, although there were many sullen + faces about him. They had long yearned for his scalp, and it was slightly + irritating to find it so near and yet so far. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXI. — THE HUNT OF THE GRAND DUKE ALEXIS. + </h2> + <p> + A SPECIAL train brought the Grand Duke Alexis and party to North Platte on + January 12, 1872. Will was presented to the illustrious visitor by General + Sheridan, and was much interested in him. He was also pleased to note that + General Custer made one of the party. + </p> + <p> + Will had made all the arrangements, and had everything complete when the + train pulled in. As soon as the Grand Duke and party had breakfasted, they + filed out to get their horses or to find seats in the ambulances. All who + were mounted were arranged according to rank. Will had sent one of his + guides ahead, while he was to remain behind to see that nothing was left + undone. Just as they were to start, the conductor of the Grand Duke's + train came up to Will and said that Mr. Thompson had not received a horse. + "What Thompson?" asked Will. "Why, Mr. Frank Thompson, who has charge of + the Grand Duke's train." Will looked over the list of names sent him by + General Sheridan of those who would require saddle-horses, but failed to + find that of Mr. Thompson. However, he did not wish to have Mr. Thompson + or any one else left out. He had following him, as he always did, his + celebrated war-horse, "Buckskin Joe." This horse was not a very + prepossessing "insect." He was buckskin in color, and rather a + sorry-looking animal, but he was known all over the frontier as the + greatest long-distance and best buffalo-horse living. Will had never + allowed any one but himself to ride this horse, but as he had no other + there at the time, he got a saddle and bridle, had it put on old Buckskin + Joe, and told Mr. Thompson he could ride him until he got where he could + get him another. This horse looked so different from the beautiful animals + the rest of the party were supplied with that Mr. Thompson thought it + rather discourteous to mount him in such fashion. However, he got on, and + Will told him to follow up, as he wanted to go ahead to where the general + was. As Mr. Thompson rode past the wagons and ambulances he noticed the + teamsters pointing at him, and thinking the men were guying him, rode up + to one of them, and said, "Am I not riding this horse all right?" Mr. + Thompson felt some personal pride in his horsemanship, as he was a + Pennsylvania fox-hunter. + </p> + <p> + The driver replied, "Yes, sir; you ride all right." + </p> + <p> + "Well, then," said Thompson, "it must be this horse you are guying." + </p> + <p> + The teamster replied: + </p> + <p> + "Guying that horse? Not in a thousand years!" + </p> + <p> + "Well, then, why am I such a conspicuous object?" + </p> + <p> + "Why, sir, are you not the king?" + </p> + <p> + "The king? Why did you take me for the king?" + </p> + <p> + "Because you are riding that horse. I guess you don't know what horse you + are riding, do you? Nobody gets to ride that horse but Buffalo Bill. So + when we all saw you riding him we supposed that of course you were the + king, for that horse, sir, is Buckskin Joe." + </p> + <p> + Thompson had heard General Sheridan telling about Buckskin Joe on the way + out, and how Buffalo Bill had once run him eighty miles when the Indians + were after him. Thompson told Will afterward that he grew about four feet + when he found out that he was riding that most celebrated horse of the + plains. He at once galloped ahead to overtake Will and thank him most + heartily for allowing him the honor of such a mount. Will told him that he + was going to let the Grand Duke kill his first buffalo on Buckskin Joe. + "Well," replied Thompson, "I want to ask one favor of you. Let me also + kill a buffalo on this horse." Will replied that nothing would afford him + greater pleasure. Buckskin Joe was covered with glory on this memorable + hunt, as both the Grand Duke of Russia and Mr. Frank Thompson, later + president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, killed their first buffalo mounted + on his back, and my brother ascribes to old Joe the acquisition of Mr. + Frank Thompson's name to his list of life friendships. This hunt was an + unqualified success, nothing occurring to mar one day of it. + </p> + <p> + Spotted Tail was true to his promise. He and his hundred braves were on + hand, shining in the full glory of war paint and feathers, and the + war-dance they performed was of extraordinary interest to the Grand Duke + and his friends. The outlandish contortions and grimaces of the Indians, + their leaps and crouchings, their fiendish yells and whoops, made up a + barbaric jangle of picture and sound not soon to be forgotten. To the + European visitors the scene was picturesque rather than ghastly, but it + was not a pleasing spectacle to the old Indian fighters looking on. There + were too many suggestions of bloodshed and massacre in the past, and of + bloodshed and massacre yet to come. + </p> + <p> + The Indian buffalo-hunt followed the Terpsichorean revelry, and all could + enjoy the skill and strength displayed by the red huntsmen. One warrior, + Two-Lance by name, performed a feat that no other living Indian could do; + he sent an arrow entirely through the body of a bull running at full + speed. + </p> + <p> + General Sheridan desired that the Grand Duke should carry away with him a + knowledge of every phase of life on the frontier, and when the visitors + were ready to drive to the railroad station, Will was requested to + illustrate, for their edification, the manner in which a stagecoach and + six were driven over the Rocky Mountains. + </p> + <p> + Will was delighted at the idea; so was Alexis at the outset, as he had + little idea of what was in store for him. The Grand Duke and the general + were seated in a closed carriage drawn by six horses, and were cautioned + to fasten their hats securely on their heads, and to hang onto the + carriage; then Will climbed to the driver's seat. + </p> + <p> + "Just imagine," said he to his passengers, "that fifty Indians are after + us." And off went the horses, with a jump that nearly spilled the + occupants of the coach into the road. + </p> + <p> + The three miles to the station were covered in just ten minutes, and the + Grand Duke had the ride of his life. The carriage tossed like a ship in a + gale, and no crew ever clung to a life-line with more desperate grip than + did Will's passengers to their seats. Had the fifty Indians of the + driver's fancy been whooping behind, he would not have plied the whip more + industriously, or been deafer to the groans and ejaculations of his fares. + When the carriage finally drew up with another teeth-shaking jerk, and + Will, sombrero in hand, opened the coach door to inquire of his Highness + how he had enjoyed the ride, the Grand Duke replied, with suspicious + enthusiasm: + </p> + <p> + "I would not have missed it for a large sum of money; but rather than + repeat it, I would return to Russia via Alaska, swim Bering Strait, and + finish my journey on one of your government mules." + </p> + <p> + This ride completed a trip which the noble party pronounced satisfactory + in every detail. The Grand Duke invited Will into his private car, where + he received the thanks of the company for his zeal and skill as pilot of a + hunting-party. He was also invited by Alexis to visit him at his palace + should he ever make a journey to Russia, and was, moreover, the recipient + of a number of valuable souvenirs. + </p> + <p> + At that time Will had very little thought of crossing the seas, but he did + decide to visit the East, whither he had more than once journeyed in + fancy. The Indians were comparatively quiet, and he readily obtained a + leave of absence. + </p> + <p> + The first stopping-place was Chicago, where he was entertained by General + Sheridan; thence he went to New York, to be kindly received by James + Gordon Bennett, Leonard and Lawrence Jerome, J. G. Heckscher, and others, + who, it will be recalled, were members of the hunting-party of the + preceding year. Ned Buntline also rendered his sojourn in the metropolis + pleasant in many ways. The author had carried out his intention of writing + a story of Western life with Scout Cody for the hero, and the result, + having been dramatized, was doing a flourishing business at one of the + great city's theaters. Will made one of a party that attended a + performance of the play one evening, and it was shortly whispered about + the house that "Buffalo Bill" himself was in the audience. It is customary + to call for the author of a play, and no doubt the author of this play had + been summoned before the footlights in due course, but on this night the + audience demanded the hero. To respond to the call was an ordeal for which + Will was unprepared; but there was no getting out of it, and he faced a + storm of applause. The manager of the performance, enterprising like all + of his profession, offered Will five hundred dollars a week to remain in + New York and play the part of "Buffalo Bill," but the offer was declined + with thanks. + </p> + <p> + During his stay in the city Will was made the guest of honor at sundry + luncheons and dinners given by his wealthy entertainers. He found + considerable trouble in keeping his appointments at first, but soon caught + on to the to him unreasonable hours at which New Yorkers dined, supped, + and breakfasted. The sense of his social obligations lay so heavily on his + mind that he resolved to balance accounts with a dinner at which he should + be the host. An inventory of cash on hand discovered the sum of fifty + dollars that might be devoted to playing Lucullus. Surely that would more + than pay for all that ten or a dozen men could eat at one meal. "However," + he said to himself, "I don't care if it takes the whole fifty. It's all in + a lifetime, anyway." + </p> + <p> + In all confidence he hied him to Delmonico's, at which famous restaurant + he had incurred a large share of his social obligations. He ordered the + finest dinner that could be prepared for a party of twelve, and set as + date the night preceding his departure for the West. The guests were + invited with genuine Western hospitality. His friends had been kind to + him, and he desired to show them that a man of the West could not only + appreciate such things, but return them. + </p> + <p> + The dinner was a thorough success. Not an invited guest was absent. The + conversation sparkled. Quip and repartee shot across the "festive board," + and all went merry as a dinner-bell. The host was satisfied, and proud + withal. The next morning he approached Delmonico's cashier with an air of + reckless prodigality. + </p> + <p> + "My bill, please," said he, and when he got it, he looked hard at it for + several minutes. It dawned on him gradually that his fifty dollars would + about pay for one plate. As he confided to us afterward, that little slip + of paper frightened him more than could the prospect of a combat + single-handed with a whole tribe of Sioux Indians. + </p> + <p> + Unsophisticated Will! There was, as he discovered, a wonderful difference + between a dinner at Delmonico's and a dinner on the plains. For the one, + the four corners of the earth are drawn upon to provide the bill of fare; + for the other, all one needs is an ounce of lead and a charge of powder, a + bundle of fagots and a match. + </p> + <p> + But it would never do to permit the restaurant cashier to suspect that the + royal entertainer of the night before was astonished at his bill; so he + requested that the account be forwarded to his hotel, and sought the open + air, where he might breathe more freely. + </p> + <p> + There was but one man in New York to whom he felt he could turn in his + dilemma, and that was Ned Buntline. One who could invent plots for + stories, and extricate his characters from all sorts of embarrassing + situations, should be able to invent a method of escape from so + comparatively simple a perplexity as a tavern bill. Will's confidence in + the wits of his friend was not unfounded. His first great financial panic + was safely weathered, but how it was done I do not know to this day. + </p> + <p> + One of Will's main reasons for visiting the East was to look up our only + living relatives on mother's side—Colonel Henry R. Guss and family, + of Westchester, Pennsylvania. Mother's sister, who had married this + gentleman, was not living, and we had never met him or any of his family. + Ned Buntline accompanied Will on his trip to Westchester. + </p> + <p> + To those who have passed through the experience of waiting in a strange + drawing-room for the coming of relatives one has never seen, and of whose + personality one has but the vaguest idea, there is the uncertainty of the + reception. Will it be frank and hearty, or reserved and doubtful? During + the few minutes succeeding the giving of his and Buntline's cards to the + servant, Will rather wished that the elegant reception-room might be + metamorphosed into the Western prairie. But presently the entrance to the + parlor was brightened by the loveliest girl he had ever looked upon, and + following her walked a courtly, elegant gentleman. These were Cousin + Lizzie and Uncle Henry. There was no doubt of the quality of the welcome; + it was most cordial, and Will enjoyed a delightful visit with his + relatives. For his cousin he conceived an instant affection. The love he + had held for his mother—the purest and strongest of his affections—became + the heritage of this beautiful girl. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXII. — THEATRICAL EXPERIENCES. + </h2> + <p> + THE Fifth Cavalry at Fort McPherson had been ordered to Arizona, and was + replaced by the Third Cavalry under command of General Reynolds. Upon + Will's return to McPherson he was at once obliged to take the field to + look for Indians that had raided the station during his absence and + carried off a considerable number of horses. Captain Meinhold and + Lieutenant Lawson commanded the company dispatched to recover the stolen + property. Will acted as guide, and had as an assistant T. B. Omohundro, + better known by his frontier name of "Texas Jack." + </p> + <p> + Will was not long in finding Indian tracks, and accompanied by six men, he + went forward to locate the redskin camp. They had proceeded but a short + distance when they sighted a small party of Indians, with horses grazing. + There were just thirteen Indians—an unlucky number—and Will + feared that they might discover the scouting party should it attempt to + return to the main command. He had but to question his companions to find + them ready to follow wheresoever he might lead, and they moved cautiously + toward the Indian camp. + </p> + <p> + At the proper moment the seven rushed upon the unsuspecting warriors, who + sprang for their horses and gave battle. But the rattle of the rifles + brought Captain Meinhold to the scene, and when the Indians saw the + reinforcements coming up they turned and fled. Six of their number were + dead on the plain, and nearly all of the stolen horses were recovered. One + soldier was killed, and this was one of the few occasions when Will + received a wound. + </p> + <p> + And now once more was the versatile plainsman called upon to enact a new + role. Returning from a long scout in the fall of 1872, he found that his + friends had made him a candidate for the Nebraska legislature from the + twenty-sixth district. He had never thought seriously of politics, and had + a well-defined doubt of his fitness as a law-maker. He made no campaign, + but was elected by a flattering majority. He was now privileged to prefix + the title "Honorable" to his name, and later this was supplanted by + "Colonel"—a title won in the Nebraska National Guard, and which he + claims is much better suited to his attainments. + </p> + <p> + Will, unlike his father, had no taste for politics or for political + honors. I recall one answer—so characteristic of the man—to + some friends who were urging him to enter the political arena. "No," said + he, "politics are by far too deep for me. I think I can hold my own in any + fair and no foul fight; but politics seem to me all foul and no fair. I + thank you, my friends, but I must decline to set out on this trail, which + I know has more cactus burs to the square inch than any I ever followed on + the plains." + </p> + <p> + Meantime Ned Buntline had been nurturing an ambitious project. He had been + much impressed by the fine appearance made by Will in the New York + theater, and was confident that a fortune awaited the scout if he would + consent to enter the theatrical profession. He conceived the idea of + writing a drama entitled "The Scout of the Plains," in which Will was to + assume the title role and shine as a star of the first magnitude. The bait + he dangled was that the play should be made up entirely of frontier + scenes, which would not only entertain the public, but instruct it. + </p> + <p> + The bait was nibbled at, and finally swallowed, but there was a proviso + that Wild Bill and Texas Jack must first be won over to act as "pards" in + the enterprise. He telegraphed his two friends that he needed their aid in + an important business matter, and went to Chicago to meet them. He was + well assured that if he had given them an inkling of the nature of the + "business matter," neither would put in an appearance; but he relied on + Ned Buntline's persuasive powers, which were well developed. + </p> + <p> + There had never been a time when Wild Bill and Texas Jack declined to + follow Will's lead, and on a certain morning the trio presented themselves + at the Palmer House in Chicago for an interview with Colonel Judson. + </p> + <p> + The author could scarcely restrain his delight. All three of the scouts + were men of fine physique and dashing appearance. It was very possible + that they had one or two things to learn about acting, but their + inexperience would be more than balanced by their reputation and personal + appearance, and the knowledge that they were enacting on the stage mock + scenes of what to them had oft been stern reality. + </p> + <p> + "Don't shoot, pards!" began Will, when the conference opened. "I guess, + Judson," he continued, after vainly trying to find a diplomatic + explanation, "you'd better tell them what we want." + </p> + <p> + Buntline opened with enthusiasm, but he did not kindle Wild Bill and Texas + Jack, who looked as if they might at any moment grab their sombreros and + stampede for the frontier. Will turned the scale. + </p> + <p> + "We're bound to make a fortune at it," said he. "Try it for a while, + anyway." + </p> + <p> + The upshot of a long discussion was that the scouts gave a reluctant + consent to a much-dreaded venture. Will made one stipulation. + </p> + <p> + "If the Indians get on the rampage," said he, "we must be allowed leave of + absence to go back and settle them." + </p> + <p> + "All right, boys," said Buntline; "that shall be put in the contract. And + if you're called back into the army to fight redskins, I'll go with you." + </p> + <p> + This reply established the author firmly in the esteem of the scouts. The + play was written in four hours (most playwrights allow themselves at least + a week), and the actor-scouts received their "parts." Buntline engaged a + company to support the stellar trio, and the play was widely advertised. + </p> + <p> + When the critical "first night" arrived, none of the scouts knew a line of + his part, but each had acquired all the varieties of stage fright known to + the profession. Buntline had hinted to them the possibility of something + of the sort, but they had not realized to what a condition of abject + dismay a man may be reduced by the sight of a few hundred inoffensive + people in front of a theater curtain. It would have done them no good to + have told them (as is the truth) that many experienced actors have touches + of stage fright, as well as the unfortunate novice. All three declared + that they would rather face a band of war-painted Indians, or undertake to + check a herd of stampeding buffaloes, than face the peaceful-looking + audience that was waiting to criticise their Thespian efforts. + </p> + <p> + Like almost all amateurs, they insisted on peering through the peep-holes + in the curtain, which augmented their nervousness, and if the persuasive + Colonel Judson had not been at their elbows, reminding them that he, also, + was to take part in the play, it is more than likely they would have + slipped quietly out at the stage door and bought railway passage to the + West. + </p> + <p> + Presently the curtain rolled up, and the audience applauded encouragingly + as three quaking six-footers, clad in buckskin, made their first bow + before the footlights. + </p> + <p> + I have said that Will did not know a line of his part, nor did he when the + time to make his opening speech arrived. It had been faithfully memorized, + but oozed from his mind like the courage from Bob Acres's finger-tips. + "Evidently," thought Buntline, who was on the stage with him, "he needs + time to recover." So he asked carelessly: + </p> + <p> + "What have you been about lately, Bill?" + </p> + <p> + This gave "The Scout of the Plains" an inspiration. In glancing over the + audience, he had recognized in one of the boxes a wealthy gentleman named + Milligan, whom he had once guided on a big hunt near McPherson. The + expedition had been written up by the Chicago papers, and the incidents of + it were well known. + </p> + <p> + "I've been out on a hunt with Milligan," replied Will, and the house came + down. Milligan was quite popular, but had been the butt of innumerable + jokes because of his alleged scare over the Indians. The applause and + laughter that greeted the sally stocked the scout with confidence, but + confidence is of no use if one has forgotten his part. It became manifest + to the playwright-actor that he would have to prepare another play in + place of the one he had expected to perform, and that he must prepare it + on the spot. + </p> + <p> + "Tell us about it, Bill," said he, and the prompter groaned. + </p> + <p> + One of the pleasures of frontier life consists in telling stories around + the camp-fire. A man who ranks as a good frontiersman is pretty sure to be + a good raconteur. Will was at ease immediately, and proceeded to relate + the story of Milligan's hunt in his own words. That it was amusing was + attested by the frequent rounds of applause. The prompter, with a + commendable desire to get things running smoothly, tried again and again + to give Will his cue, but even cues had been forgotten. + </p> + <p> + The dialogue of that performance must have been delightfully absurd. + Neither Texas Jack nor Wild Bill was able to utter a line of his part + during the entire evening. In the Indian scenes, however, they scored a + great success; here was work that did not need to be painfully memorized, + and the mock red men were slain at an astonishing rate. + </p> + <p> + Financially the play proved all that its projectors could ask for. + Artistically—well, the critics had a great deal of fun with the + hapless dramatist. The professionals in the company had played their parts + acceptably, and, oddly enough, the scouts were let down gently in the + criticisms; but the critics had no means of knowing that the stars of the + piece had provided their own dialogue, and poor Ned Buntline was plastered + with ridicule. It had got out that the play was written in four hours, and + in mentioning this fact, one paper wondered, with delicate sarcasm, what + the dramatist had been doing all that time. Buntline had played the part + of "Gale Durg," who met death in the second act, and a second paper, + commenting on this, suggested that it would have been a happy consummation + had the death occurred before the play was written. A third critic + pronounced it a drama that might be begun in the middle and played both + ways, or played backward, quite as well as the way in which it had been + written. + </p> + <p> + However, nothing succeeds like success. A number of managers offered to + take hold of the company, and others asked for entrance to the enterprise + as partners. Ned Buntline took his medicine from the critics with a + smiling face, for "let him laugh who wins." + </p> + <p> + The scouts soon got over their stage fright, in the course of time were + able to remember their parts, and did fully their share toward making the + play as much of a success artistically as it was financially. From Chicago + the company went to St. Louis, thence to Cincinnati and other large + cities, and everywhere drew large and appreciative houses. + </p> + <p> + When the season closed, in Boston, and Will had made his preparations to + return to Nebraska, an English gentleman named Medley, presented himself, + with a request that the scout act as guide on a big hunt and camping trip + through Western territory. The pay offered was liberal—a thousand + dollars a month and expenses—and Will accepted the offer. He spent + that summer in his old occupation, and the ensuing winter continued his + tour as a star of the drama. Wild Bill and Texas Jack consented again to + "support" him, but the second season proved too much for the patience of + the former, and he attempted to break through the contract he had signed + for the season. The manager, of course, refused to release him, but Wild + Bill conceived the notion that under certain circumstances the company + would be glad to get rid of him. + </p> + <p> + That night he put his plan into execution by discharging his blank + cartridges so near the legs of the dead Indians on the stage that the + startled "supers" came to life with more realistic yells than had + accompanied their deaths. This was a bit of "business" not called for in + the play-book, and while the audience was vastly entertained, the + management withheld its approval. + </p> + <p> + Will was delegated to expostulate with the reckless Indian-slayer; but + Wild Bill remarked calmly that he "hadn't hurt the fellows any," and he + continued to indulge in his innocent pastime. + </p> + <p> + Severe measures were next resorted to. He was informed that he must stop + shooting the Indians after they were dead, or leave the company. This was + what Wild Bill had hoped for, and when the curtain went up on the next + performance he was to be seen in the audience, enjoying the play for the + first time since he had been mixed up with it. + </p> + <p> + Will sympathized with his former "support," but he had a duty to perform, + and faithfully endeavored to persuade the recreant actor to return to the + company. Persuasion went for nothing, so the contract was annulled, and + Wild Bill returned to his beloved plains. + </p> + <p> + The next season Will removed his family to Rochester, and organized a + theatrical company of his own. There was too much artificiality about + stage life to suit one that had been accustomed to stern reality, and he + sought to do away with this as much as possible by introducing into his + own company a band of real Indians. The season of 1875-76 opened + brilliantly; the company played to crowded houses, and Will made a large + financial success. + </p> + <p> + One night in April, when the season was nearing its close, a telegram was + handed to him, just as he was about to step upon the stage. It was from + his wife, and summoned him to Rochester, to the bedside of his only son, + Kit Carson Cody. He consulted with his manager, and it was arranged that + after the first act he should be excused, that he might catch the train. + </p> + <p> + That first act was a miserable experience, though the audience did not + suspect that the actor's heart was almost stopped by fear and anxiety. He + caught his train, and the manager, John Burke, an actor of much + experience, played out the part. + </p> + <p> + It was, too, a miserable ride to Rochester, filled up with the gloomiest + of forebodings, heightened by memories of every incident in the precious + little life now in danger. + </p> + <p> + Kit was a handsome child, with striking features and curly hair. His + mother always dressed him in the finest clothes, and tempted by these + combined attractions, gypsies had carried him away the previous summer. + But Kit was the son of a scout, and his young eyes were sharp. He marked + the trail followed by his captors, and at the first opportunity gave them + the slip and got safely home, exclaiming as he toddled into the sobbing + family circle, "I tumed back adain, mama; don't cry." Despite his anxiety, + Will smiled at the recollection of the season when his little son had been + a regular visitor at the theater. The little fellow knew that the most + important feature of a dramatic performance, from a management's point of + view, is a large audience. He watched the seats fill in keen anxiety, and + the moment the curtain rose and his father appeared on the stage, he would + make a trumpet of his little hands, and shout from his box, "Good house, + papa!" The audience learned to expect and enjoy this bit of by-play + between father and son. His duty performed, Kit settled himself in his + seat, and gave himself up to undisturbed enjoyment of the play. + </p> + <p> + When Will reached Rochester he found his son still alive, though beyond + the reach of medical aid. He was burning up with fever, but still + conscious, and the little arms were joyfully lifted to clasp around his + father's neck. He lingered during the next day and into the night, but the + end came, and Will faced a great sorrow of his life. He had built fond + hopes for his son, and in a breath they had been swept away. His boyhood + musings over the prophecy of the fortune-teller had taken a turn when his + own boy was born. It might be Kit's destiny to become President of the + United States; it was not his own. Now, hope and fear had vanished + together, the fabric of the dream had dissolved, and left "not a rack + behind." + </p> + <p> + Little Kit was laid to rest in Mount Hope Cemetery, April 24, 1876. He is + not dead, but sleeping; not lost, but gone before. He has joined the + innumerable company of the white-souled throng in the regions of the + blest. He has gone to aid my mother in her mission unfulfilled—that + of turning heavenward the eyes of those that loved them so dearly here on + earth. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0022" id="link2HCH0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIII. — THE GOVERNMENT'S INDIAN POLICY. + </h2> + <p> + VERY glad was the sad-hearted father that the theatrical season was so + nearly over. The mummeries of stage life were more distasteful to him than + ever when he returned to his company with his crushing grief fresh upon + him. He played nightly to crowded houses, but it was plain that his heart + was not in his work. A letter from Colonel Mills, informing him that his + services were needed in the army, came as a welcome relief. He canceled + his few remaining dates, and disbanded his company with a substantial + remuneration. + </p> + <p> + This was the spring of the Centennial year. It has also been called the + "Custer year," for during that summer the gallant general and his heroic + Three Hundred fell in their unequal contest with Sitting Bull and his + warriors. + </p> + <p> + Sitting Bull was one of the ablest chiefs and fighters the Sioux nation + ever produced. He got his name from the fact that once when he had shot a + buffalo he sprang astride of it to skin it, and the wounded bull rose on + its haunches with the Indian on its back. He combined native Indian + cunning with the strategy and finesse needed to make a great general, and + his ability as a leader was conceded alike by red and white man. A + dangerous man at best, the wrongs his people had suffered roused all his + Indian cruelty, vindictiveness, hatred, and thirst for revenge. + </p> + <p> + The Sioux war of 1876 had its origin, like most of its predecessors and + successors, in an act of injustice on the part of the United States + government and a violation of treaty rights. + </p> + <p> + In 1868 a treaty had been made with the Sioux, by which the Black Hills + country was reserved for their exclusive use, no settling by white men to + be allowed. In 1874 gold was discovered, and the usual gold fever was + followed by a rush of whites into the Indian country. The Sioux naturally + resented the intrusion, and instead of attempting to placate them, to the + end that the treaty might be revised, the government sent General Custer + into the Black Hills with instructions to intimidate the Indians into + submission. But Custer was too wise, too familiar with Indian nature, to + adhere to his instructions to the letter. Under cover of a flag of truce a + council was arranged. At this gathering coffee, sugar, and bacon were + distributed among the Indians, and along with those commodities Custer + handed around some advice. This was to the effect that it would be to the + advantage of the Sioux if they permitted the miners to occupy the gold + country. The coffee, sugar, and bacon were accepted thankfully by Lo, but + no nation, tribe, or individual since the world began has ever welcomed + advice. It was thrown away on Lo. He received it with such an air of + indifference and in such a stoical silence that General Custer had no hope + his mission had succeeded. + </p> + <p> + In 1875 General Crook was sent into the Hills to make a farcical + demonstration of the government's desire to maintain good faith, but no + one was deceived, the Indians least of all. In August Custer City was laid + out, and in two weeks its population numbered six hundred. General Crook + drove out the inhabitants, and as he marched triumphantly out of one end + of the village the people marched in again at the other. + </p> + <p> + The result of this continued bad faith was inevitable; everywhere the + Sioux rose in arms. Strange as it might seem to one who has not followed + the government's remarkable Indian policy, it had dispensed firearms to + the Indians with a generous hand. The government's Indian policy, + condensed, was to stock the red man with rifles and cartridges, and then + provide him with a first-class reason for using them against the whites. + During May, June, and July of that year the Sioux had received 1,120 + Remington and Winchester rifles and 13,000 rounds of patent ammunition. + During that year they received several thousand stands of arms and more + than a million rounds of ammunition, and for three years before that they + had been regularly supplied with weapons. The Sioux uprising of 1876 was + expensive for the government. One does not have to go far to find the + explanation. + </p> + <p> + Will expected to join General Crook, but on reaching Chicago he found that + General Carr was still in command of the Fifth Cavalry, and had sent a + request that Will return to his old regiment. Carr was at Cheyenne; + thither Will hastened at once. He was met at the station by Captain + Charles King, the well-known author, and later serving as + brigadier-general at Manila, then adjutant of the regiment. As the pair + rode into camp the cry went up, "Here comes Buffalo Bill!" Three ringing + cheers expressed the delight of the troopers over his return to his old + command, and Will was equally delighted to meet his quondam companions. He + was appointed guide and chief of scouts, and the regiment proceeded to + Laramie. From there they were ordered into the Black Hills country, and + Colonel Merritt replaced General Carr. + </p> + <p> + The incidents of Custer's fight and fall are so well known that it is not + necessary to repeat them here. It was a better fight than the famous + charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava, for not one of the three hundred + came forth from the "jaws of death." As at Balaklava, "some one had + blundered," not once, but many times, and Custer's command discharged the + entire debt with their lifeblood. + </p> + <p> + When the news of the tragedy reached the main army, preparations were made + to move against the Indians in force. The Fifth Cavalry was instructed to + cut off, if possible, eight hundred Cheyenne warriors on their way to join + the Sioux, and Colonel Wesley Merritt, with five hundred men, hastened to + Hat, or War-Bonnet, Creek, purposing to reach the trail before the Indians + could do so. The creek was reached on the 17th of July, and at daylight + the following morning Will rode forth to ascertain whether the Cheyennes + had crossed the trail. They had not, but that very day the scout discerned + the warriors coming up from the south. + </p> + <p> + Colonel Merritt ordered his men to mount their horses, but to remain out + of sight, while he, with his adjutant, Charles King, accompanied Will on a + tour of observation. The Cheyennes came directly toward the troops, and + presently fifteen or twenty of them dashed off to the west along the trail + the army had followed the night before. Through his glass Colonel Merritt + remarked two soldiers on the trail, doubtless couriers with dispatches, + and these the Indians manifestly designed to cut off. Will suggested that + it would be well to wait until the warriors were on the point of charging + the couriers, when, if the colonel were willing, he would take a party of + picked men and cut off the hostile delegation from the main body, which + was just coming over the divide. + </p> + <p> + The colonel acquiesced, and Will, galloping back to camp, returned with + fifteen men. The couriers were some four hundred yards away, and their + Indian pursuers two hundred behind them. Colonel Merritt gave the word to + charge, and Will and his men skurried toward the redskins. + </p> + <p> + In the skirmish that ensued three Indians were killed. The rest started + for the main band of warriors, who had halted to watch the fight, but they + were so hotly pursued by the soldiers that they turned at a point half a + mile distant from Colonel Merritt, and another skirmish took place. + </p> + <p> + Here something a little out of the usual occurred—a challenge to a + duel. A warrior, whose decorations and war-bonnet proclaimed him a chief, + rode out in front of his men, and called out in his own tongue, which Will + could understand: + </p> + <p> + "I know you, Pa-has-ka! Come and fight me, if you want to fight!" + </p> + <p> + Will rode forward fifty yards, and the warrior advanced a like distance. + The two rifles spoke, and the Indian's horse fell; but at the same moment + Will's horse stumbled into a gopher-hole and threw its rider. Both + duelists were instantly on their feet, confronting each other across a + space of not more than twenty paces. They fired again simultaneously, and + though Will was unhurt, the Indian fell dead. + </p> + <p> + The duel over, some two hundred warriors dashed up to recover the + chieftain's body and to avenge his death. It was now Colonel Merritt's + turn to move. He dispatched a company of soldiers to Will's aid, and then + ordered the whole regiment to the charge. As the soldiers advanced, Will + swung the Indian's topknot and war-bonnet which he had secured, and + shouted, "The first scalp for Custer!" + </p> + <p> + The Indians made a stubborn resistance, but as they found this useless, + began a retreat toward Red Cloud agency, whence they had come. The retreat + continued for thirty-five miles, the troops following into the agency. The + fighting blood of the Fifth was at fever heat, and they were ready to + encounter the thousands of warriors at the agency should they exhibit a + desire for battle. But they manifested no such desire. + </p> + <p> + Will learned that the name of the chief he had killed that morning was + "Yellow Hand." He was the son of "Cut Nose," a leading spirit among the + Cheyennes. This old chieftain offered Will four mules if he would return + the war-bonnet and accouterments worn by the young warrior and captured in + the fight, but Will did not grant the request, much as he pitied Cut Nose + in his grief. + </p> + <p> + The Fifth Cavalry on the following morning started on its march to join + General Crook's command in the Big Horn Mountains. The two commands united + forces on the 3d of August, and marched to the confluence of the Powder + River with the Yellowstone. Here General Miles met them, to report that no + Indians had crossed the stream. + </p> + <p> + No other fight occurred; but Will made himself useful in his capacity of + scout. There were many long, hard rides, carrying dispatches that no one + else would volunteer to bear. When he was assured that the fighting was + all over, he took passage, in September, on the steamer "Far West," and + sailed down the Missouri. + </p> + <p> + People in the Eastern States were wonderfully interested in the stirring + events on the frontier, and Will conceived the idea of putting the + incidents of the Sioux war upon the stage. Upon his return to Rochester he + had a play written for his purpose, organized a company, and opened his + season. Previously he had paid a flying visit to Red Cloud agency, and + induced a number of Sioux Indians to take part in his drama. + </p> + <p> + The red men had no such painful experience as Wild Bill and Texas Jack. + All they were expected to do in the way of acting was what came natural to + them. Their part was to introduce a bit of "local color," to give a + war-dance, take part in a skirmish, or exhibit themselves in some typical + Indian fashion. + </p> + <p> + At the close of this season Will bought a large tract of land near North + Platte, and started a cattle-ranch. He already owned one some distance to + the northward, in partnership with Major North, the leader of the Pawnee + scouts. Their friendship had strengthened since their first meeting, ten + years before. + </p> + <p> + In this new ranch Will takes great pride. He has added to its area until + it now covers seven thousand acres, and he has developed its resources to + the utmost. Twenty-five hundred acres are devoted to alfalfa and + twenty-five hundred sown to corn. One of the features of interest to + visitors is a wooded park, containing a number of deer and young + buffaloes. Near the park is a beautiful lake. In the center of the broad + tract of land stands the picturesque building known as "Scout's Rest + Ranch," which, seen from the foothills, has the appearance of an old + castle. + </p> + <p> + The ranch is one of the most beautiful spots that one can imagine, and is, + besides, an object-lesson in the value of scientific investigation and + experiment joined with persistence and perseverance. When Will bought the + property he was an enthusiastic believer in the possibilities of Nebraska + development. His brother-in-law, Mr. Goodman, was put in charge of the + place. + </p> + <p> + The whole Platte Valley formed part of the district once miscalled the + Great American Desert. It was an idea commonly accepted, but, as the + sequel proved, erroneous, that lack of moisture was the cause of lack of + vegetation. An irrigating ditch was constructed on the ranch, trees were + planted, and it was hoped that with such an abundance of moisture they + would spring up like weeds. Vain hope! There was "water, water + everywhere," but not a tree would grow. + </p> + <p> + Will visited his old Kansas home, and the sight of tall and stately trees + filled him with a desire to transport some of this beauty to his Nebraska + ranch. + </p> + <p> + "I'd give five hundred dollars," said he, "for every tree I had like that + in Nebraska!" + </p> + <p> + Impressed by the proprietor's enthusiasm for arboreal development, Mr. + Goodman began investigation and experiment. It took him but a short time + to acquire a knowledge of the deficiencies of the soil, and this done, the + bigger half of the problem was solved. + </p> + <p> + Indian legend tells us that this part of our country was once an inland + sea. There is authority for the statement that to-day it is a vast + subterranean reservoir, and the conditions warrant the assertion. The soil + in all the region has a depth only of from one to three feet, while + underlying the shallow arable deposit is one immense bedrock, varying in + thickness, the average being from three to six feet. Everywhere water may + be tapped by digging through the thin soil and boring through the rock + formation. The country gained its reputation as a desert, not from lack of + moisture, but from lack of soil. In the pockets of the foothills, where a + greater depth of soil had accumulated from the washings of the slopes + above, beautiful little groves of trees might be found, and the islands of + the Platte River were heavily wooded. Everywhere else was a treeless + waste. + </p> + <p> + The philosophy of the transformation from sea to plain is not fully + understood. The most tenable theory yet advanced is that the bedrock is an + alkaline deposit, left by the waters in a gradually widening and deepening + margin. On this the prairie wind sifted its accumulation of dust, and the + rain washed down its quota from the bank above. In the slow process of + countless years the rock formation extended over the whole sea; the + alluvial deposit deepened; seeds lodged in it, and the buffalo-grass and + sage-brush began to grow, their yearly decay adding to the ever-thickening + layer of soil. + </p> + <p> + Having learned the secret of the earth, Mr. Goodman devoted himself to the + study of the trees. He investigated those varieties having lateral roots, + to determine which would flourish best in a shallow soil. He experimented, + he failed, and he tried again. All things come round to him who will but + work. Many experiments succeeded the first, and many failures followed in + their train. But at last, like Archimedes, he could cry "Eureka! I have + found it!" In a very short time he had the ranch charmingly laid out with + rows of cottonwoods, box-elder, and other members of the tree family. The + ranch looked like an oasis in the desert, and neighbors inquired into the + secret of the magic that had worked so marvelous a transformation. The + streets of North Platte are now beautiful with trees, and adjoining farms + grow many more. It is "Scout's Rest Ranch," however, that is pointed out + with pride to travelers on the Union Pacific Railroad. + </p> + <p> + Mindful of his resolve to one day have a residence in North Platte, Will + purchased the site on which his first residence was erected. His family + had sojourned in Rochester for several years, and when they returned to + the West the new home was built according to the wishes and under the + supervision of the wife and mother. To the dwelling was given the name + "Welcome Wigwam." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0023" id="link2HCH0023"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIV. — LITERARY WORK. + </h2> + <p> + IT was during this period of his life that my brother's first literary + venture was made. As the reader has seen, his school-days were few in + number, and as he told Mr. Majors, in signing his first contract with him, + he could use a rifle better than a pen. A life of constant action on the + frontier does not leave a man much time for acquiring an education; so it + is no great wonder that the first sketch Will wrote for publication was + destitute of punctuation and short of capitals in many places. His + attention was directed to these shortcomings, but Western life had + cultivated a disdain for petty things. + </p> + <p> + "Life is too short," said he, "to make big letters when small ones will + do; and as for punctuation, if my readers don't know enough to take their + breath without those little marks, they'll have to lose it, that's all." + </p> + <p> + But in spite of his jesting, it was characteristic of him that when he + undertook anything he wished to do it well. He now had leisure for study, + and he used it to such good advantage that he was soon able to send to the + publishers a clean manuscript, grammatical, and well spelled, capitalized, + and punctuated. The publishers appreciated the improvement, though they + had sought after his work in its crude state, and paid good prices for it. + </p> + <p> + Our author would never consent to write anything except actual scenes from + border life. As a sop to the Cerberus of sensationalism, he did + occasionally condescend to heighten his effects by exaggeration. In + sending one story to the publisher he wrote: + </p> + <p> + "I am sorry to have to lie so outrageously in this yarn. My hero has + killed more Indians on one war-trail than I have killed in all my life. + But I understand this is what is expected in border tales. If you think + the revolver and bowie-knife are used too freely, you may cut out a fatal + shot or stab wherever you deem it wise." + </p> + <p> + Even this story, which one accustomed to border life confessed to be + exaggerated, fell far short of the sensational and blood-curdling tales + usually written, and was published exactly as the author wrote it. + </p> + <p> + During the summer of 1877 I paid a visit to our relatives in Westchester, + Pennsylvania. My husband had lost all his wealth before his death, and I + was obliged to rely upon my brother for support. To meet a widespread + demand, Will this summer wrote his autobiography. It was published at + Hartford, Connecticut, and I, anxious to do something for myself, took the + general agency of the book for the state of Ohio, spending a part of the + summer there in pushing its sale. But I soon tired of a business life, and + turning over the agency to other hands, went from Cleveland to visit Will + at his new home in North Platte, where there were a number of other guests + at the time. + </p> + <p> + Besides his cattle-ranch in the vicinity of North Platte, Will had another + ranch on the Dismal River, sixty-five miles north, touching the Dakota + line. One day he remarked to us: + </p> + <p> + "I'm sorry to leave you to your own resources for a few days, but I must + take a run up to my ranch on Dismal River." + </p> + <p> + Not since our early Kansas trip had I had an experience in camping out, + and in those days I was almost too young to appreciate it; but it had left + me with a keen desire to try it again. + </p> + <p> + "Let us all go with you, Will," I exclaimed. "We can camp out on the + road." + </p> + <p> + Our friends added their approval, and Will fell in with the suggestion at + once. + </p> + <p> + "There's no reason why you can't go if you wish to," said he. Will owned + numerous conveyances, and was able to provide ways and means to carry us + all comfortably. Lou and the two little girls, Arta and Orra, rode in an + open phaeton. There were covered carriages, surreys, and a variety of + turn-outs to transport the invited guests. Several prominent citizens of + North Platte were invited to join the party, and when our arrangements + were completed we numbered twenty-five. + </p> + <p> + Will took a caterer along, and made ample provisions for the inner man and + woman. We knew, from long experience, that a camping trip without an + abundance of food is rather a dreary affair. + </p> + <p> + All of us except Will were out for pleasure solely, and we found time to + enjoy ourselves even during the first day's ride of twenty-five miles. As + we looked around at the new and wild scenes while the tents were pitched + for the night, Will led the ladies of the party to a tree, saying: + </p> + <p> + "You are the first white women whose feet have trod this region. Carve + your names here, and celebrate the event." + </p> + <p> + After a good night's rest and a bounteous breakfast, we set out in high + spirits, and were soon far out in the foothills. + </p> + <p> + One who has never seen these peculiar formations can have but little idea + of them. On every side, as far as the eye can see, undulations of earth + stretch away like the waves of the ocean, and on them no vegetation + flourishes save buffalo-grass, sage-brush, and the cactus, blooming but + thorny. + </p> + <p> + The second day I rode horseback, in company with Will and one or two + others of the party, over a constant succession of hill and vale; we + mounted an elevation and descended its farther side, only to be confronted + by another hill. The horseback party was somewhat in advance of those in + carriages. + </p> + <p> + From the top of one hill Will scanned the country with his field-glass, + and remarked that some deer were headed our way, and that we should have + fresh venison for dinner. He directed us to ride down into the valley and + tarry there, so that we might not startle the timid animals, while he + continued part way up the hill and halted in position to get a good shot + at the first one that came over the knoll. A fawn presently bounded into + view, and Will brought his rifle to his shoulder; but much to our + surprise, instead of firing, dropped the weapon to his side. Another fawn + passed him before he fired, and as the little creature fell we rode up to + Will and began chaffing him unmercifully, one gentleman remarking: + </p> + <p> + "It is difficult to believe we are in the presence of the crack shot of + America, when we see him allow two deer to pass by before he brings one + down." + </p> + <p> + But to the laughing and chaffing Will answered not a word, and recalling + the childish story I had heard of his buck fever, I wondered if, at this + late date, it were possible for him to have another attack of that kind. + The deer was handed over to the commissary department, and we rode on. + </p> + <p> + "Will, what was the matter with you just now?" I asked him, privately. + "Why didn't you shoot that first deer; did you have another attack like + you had when you were a little boy?" + </p> + <p> + He rode along in silence for a few moments, and then turned to me with the + query: + </p> + <p> + "Did you ever look into a deer's eyes?" And as I replied that I had not, + he continued: + </p> + <p> + "Every one has his little weakness; mine is a deer's eye. I don't want you + to say anything about it to your friends, for they would laugh more than + ever, but the fact is I have never yet been able to shoot a deer if it + looked me in the eye. With a buffalo, or a bear, or an Indian, it is + different. But a deer has the eye of a trusting child, soft, gentle, and + confiding. No one but a brute could shoot a deer if he caught that look. + The first that came over the knoll looked straight at me; I let it go by, + and did not look at the second until I was sure it had passed me." + </p> + <p> + He seemed somewhat ashamed of his soft-heartedness; yet to me it was but + one of many little incidents that revealed a side of his nature the rough + life of the frontier had not corrupted. + </p> + <p> + Will expected to reach the Dismal River on the third day, and at noon of + it he remarked that he had better ride ahead and give notice of our + coming, for the man who looked after the ranch had his wife with him, and + she would likely be dismayed at the thought of preparing supper for so + large a crowd on a minute's notice. + </p> + <p> + Sister Julia's son, Will Goodman, a lad of fifteen, was of our party, and + he offered to be the courier. + </p> + <p> + "Are you sure you know the way?" asked his uncle. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, yes," was the confident response; "you know I have been over the road + with you before, and I know just how to go." + </p> + <p> + "Well, tell me how you would go." + </p> + <p> + Young Will described the trail so accurately that his uncle concluded it + would be safe for him to undertake the trip, and the lad rode ahead, happy + and important. + </p> + <p> + It was late in the afternoon when we reached the ranch; and the greeting + of the overseer was: + </p> + <p> + "Well, well; what's all this?" + </p> + <p> + "Didn't you know we were coming?" asked Will, quickly. "Hasn't Will + Goodman been here?" The ranchman shook his head. + </p> + <p> + "Haven't seen him, sir," he replied, "since he was here with you before." + </p> + <p> + "Well, he'll be along," said Will, quietly; but I detected a ring of + anxiety in his voice. "Go into the house and make yourselves comfortable," + he added. "It will be some time before a meal can be prepared for such a + supper party." We entered the house, but he remained outside, and mounting + the stile that served as a gate, examined the nearer hills with his glass. + There was no sign of Will, Jr.; so the ranchman was directed to dispatch + five or six men in as many directions to search for the boy, and as they + hastened away on their mission Will remained on the stile, running his + fingers every few minutes through the hair over his forehead—a + characteristic action with him when worried. Thinking I might reassure + him, I came out and chided him gently for what I was pleased to regard as + his needless anxiety. It was impossible for Willie to lose his way very + long, I explained, without knowing anything about my subject. "See how far + you can look over these hills. It is not as if he were in the woods," said + I. + </p> + <p> + Will looked at me steadily and pityingly for a moment. "Go back in the + house, Nell," said he, with a touch of impatience; "you don't know what + you are talking about." + </p> + <p> + That was true enough, but when I returned obediently to the house I + repeated my opinion that worry over the absent boy was needless, for it + would be difficult, I declared, for one to lose himself where the range of + vision was so extensive as it was from the top of one of these foothills. + </p> + <p> + "But suppose," said one of the party, "that you were in the valley behind + one of the foothills—what then?" + </p> + <p> + This led to an animated discussion as to the danger of getting lost in + this long-range locality, and in the midst of it Will walked in, his + equanimity quite restored. + </p> + <p> + "It's all right," said he; "I can see the youngster coming along." + </p> + <p> + We flocked to the stile, and discovered a moving speck in the distance. + Looked at through the field-glasses, it proved to be the belated courier. + Then we appealed to Will to settle the question that had been under + discussion. + </p> + <p> + "Ladies and gentlemen," he answered, impressively, "if one of you were + lost among these foothills, and a whole regiment started out in search of + you, the chances are ten to one that you would starve to death, to say the + least, before you could be found." + </p> + <p> + To find the way with ease and locate the trail unerringly over an endless + and monotonous succession of hills identical in appearance is an ability + the Indian possesses, but few are the white men that can imitate the + aborigine. I learned afterward that it was accounted one of Will's great + accomplishments as a scout that he was perfectly at home among the frozen + waves of the prairie ocean. + </p> + <p> + When the laggard arrived, and was pressed for particulars, he declared he + had traveled eight or ten miles when he found that he was off the trail. + "I thought I was lost," said he; "but after considering the matter I + decided that I had one chance—that was to go back over my own + tracks. The marks of my horse's hoofs led me out on the main trail, and + your tracks were so fresh that I had no further trouble." + </p> + <p> + "Pretty good," said Will, patting the boy's shoulder. "Pretty good. You + have some of the Cody blood in you, that's plain." + </p> + <p> + The next day was passed in looking over the ranch, and the day following + we visited, at Will's solicitation, a spot that he had named "The Garden + of the Gods." Our thoughtful host had sent ranchmen ahead to prepare the + place for our reception, and we were as surprised and delighted as he + could desire. A patch on the river's brink was filled with tall and + stately trees and luxuriant shrubs, laden with fruits and flowers, while + birds of every hue nested and sang about us. It was a miniature paradise + in the midst of a desert of sage-brush and buffalo-grass. The interspaces + of the grove were covered with rich green grass, and in one of these + nature-carpeted nooks the workmen, under Will's direction, had put up an + arbor, with rustic seats and table. Herein we ate our luncheon, and every + sense was pleasured. + </p> + <p> + As it was not likely that the women of the party would ever see the place + again, so remote was it from civilization, belonging to the as yet + uninhabited part of the Western plains, we decided to explore it, in the + hope of finding something that would serve as a souvenir. We had not gone + far when we found ourselves out of Eden and in the desert that surrounded + it, but it was the desert that held our great discovery. On an isolated + elevation stood a lone, tall tree, in the topmost branches of which + reposed what seemed to be a large package. As soon as our imaginations got + fairly to work the package became the hidden treasure of some prairie + bandit, and while two of the party returned for our masculine forces the + rest of us kept guard over the cachet in the treetop. Will came up with + the others, and when we pointed out to him the supposed chest of gold he + smiled, saying that he was sorry to dissipate the hopes which the ladies + had built in the tree, but that they were not gazing upon anything of + intrinsic value, but on the open sepulcher of some departed brave. "It is + a wonder," he remarked, laughingly, "you women didn't catch on to the + skeleton in that closet." + </p> + <p> + As we retraced our steps, somewhat crestfallen, we listened to the tale of + another of the red man's superstitions. + </p> + <p> + When some great chief, who particularly distinguishes himself on the + war-path, loses his life on the battle-field without losing his scalp, he + is regarded as especially favored by the Great Spirit. A more exalted + sepulcher than mother earth is deemed fitting for such a warrior. + Accordingly he is wrapped in his blanket-shroud, and, in his war paint and + feathers and with his weapons by his side, he is placed in the top of the + highest tree in the neighborhood, the spot thenceforth being sacred + against intrusion for a certain number of moons. At the end of that period + messengers are dispatched to ascertain if the remains have been disturbed. + If they have not, the departed is esteemed a spirit chief, who, in the + happy hunting-grounds, intercedes for and leads on to sure victory the + warriors who trusted to his leadership in the material world. + </p> + <p> + We bade a reluctant adieu to the idyllic retreat, and threw it many a + backward glance as we took our way over the desert that stretched between + us and the ranch. Here another night was passed, and then we set out for + home. The brief sojourn "near to Nature's heart" had been a delightful + experience, holding for many of us the charm of novelty, and for all + recreation and pleasant comradeship. + </p> + <p> + With the opening of the theatrical season Will returned to the stage, and + his histrionic career continued for five years longer. As an actor he + achieved a certain kind of success. He played in every large city of the + United States, always to crowded houses, and was everywhere received with + enthusiasm. There was no doubt of his financial success, whatever + criticisms might be passed on the artistic side of his performance. It was + his personality and reputation that interested his audiences. They did not + expect the art of Sir Henry Irving, and you may be sure that they did not + receive it. + </p> + <p> + Will never enjoyed this part of his career; he endured it simply because + it was the means to an end. He had not forgotten his boyish dream—his + resolve that he would one day present to the world an exhibition that + would give a realistic picture of life in the Far West, depicting its + dangers and privations, as well as its picturesque phases. His first + theatrical season had shown him how favorably such an exhibition would be + received, and his long-cherished ambition began to take shape. He knew + that an enormous amount of money would be needed, and to acquire such a + sum he lived for many years behind the footlights. + </p> + <p> + I was present in a Leavenworth theater during one of his last performances—one + in which he played the part of a loving swain to a would-be charming + lassie. When the curtain fell on the last act I went behind the scenes, in + company with a party of friends, and congratulated the star upon his + excellent acting. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, Nellie," he groaned, "don't say anything about it. If heaven will + forgive me this foolishness, I promise to quit it forever when this season + is over." + </p> + <p> + That was the way he felt about the stage, so far as his part in it was + concerned. He was a fish out of water The feeble pretensions to a stern + reality, and the mock dangers exploited, could not but fail to seem + trivial to one who had lived the very scenes depicted. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0024" id="link2HCH0024"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXV. — FIRST VISIT TO THE VALLEY OF THE BIG HORN. + </h2> + <p> + MY brother was again bereaved in 1880 by the death of his little daughter + Orra. At her own request, Orra's body was interred in Rochester, in + beautiful Mount Hope Cemetery, by the side of little Kit Carson. + </p> + <p> + But joy follows upon sadness, and the summer before Will spent his last + season on the stage was a memorable one for him. It marked the birth of + another daughter, who was christened Irma. This daughter is the very apple + of her father's eye; to her he gives the affection that is her due, and + round her clings the halo of the tender memories of the other two that + have departed this life. + </p> + <p> + This year, 1882, was also the one in which Will paid his first visit to + the valley of the Big Horn. He had often traversed the outskirts of that + region, and heard incredible tales from Indians and trappers of its + wonders and beauties, but he had yet to explore it himself. In his early + experience as Pony Express rider, California Joe had related to him the + first story he had heard of the enchanted basin, and in 1875, when he was + in charge of a large body of Arapahoe Indians that had been permitted to + leave their reservation for a big hunt, he obtained more details. + </p> + <p> + The agent warned Will that some of the Indians were dissatisfied, and + might attempt to escape, but to all appearances, though he watched them + sharply, they were entirely content. Game was plentiful, the weather fine, + and nothing seemed omitted from the red man's happiness. + </p> + <p> + One night about twelve o'clock Will was aroused by an Indian guide, who + informed him that a party of some two hundred Arapahoes had started away + some two hours before, and were on a journey northward. The red man does + not wear his heart upon his sleeve for government daws to peck at. One + knows what he proposes to do after he has done it. The red man is + conspicuously among the things that are not always what they seem. + </p> + <p> + Pursuit was immediately set on foot, and the entire body of truant + warriors were brought back without bloodshed. One of them, a young + warrior, came to Will's tent to beg for tobacco. The Indian—as all + know who have made his acquaintance—has no difficulty in reconciling + begging with his native dignity. To work may be beneath him, to beg is a + different matter, and there is frequently a delightful hauteur about his + mendicancy. In this respect he is not unlike some of his white brothers. + Will gave the young chief the desired tobacco, and then questioned him + closely concerning the attempted escape. + </p> + <p> + "Surely," said he, "you cannot find a more beautiful spot than this. The + streams are full of fish, the grazing is good, the game is plentiful, and + the weather is fine. What more could you desire?" + </p> + <p> + The Indian drew himself up. His face grew eager, and his eyes were full of + longing as he answered, by the interpreter: + </p> + <p> + "The land to the north and west is the land of plenty. There the buffalo + grows larger; and his coat is darker. There the bu-yu (antelope) comes in + droves, while here there are but few. There the whole region is covered + with the short, curly grass our ponies like. There grow the wild plums + that are good for my people in summer and winter. There are the springs of + the Great Medicine Man, Tel-ya-ki-y. To bathe in them gives new life; to + drink them cures every bodily ill. + </p> + <p> + "In the mountains beyond the river of the blue water there is gold and + silver, the metals that the white man loves. There lives the eagle, whose + feathers the Indian must have to make his war-bonnet. There, too, the sun + shines always. + </p> + <p> + "It is the Ijis (heaven) of the red man. My heart cries for it. The hearts + of my people are not happy when away from the Eithity Tugala." + </p> + <p> + The Indian folded his arms across his breast, and his eyes looked + yearningly toward the country whose delights he had so vividly pictured; + then he turned and walked sorrowfully away. The white man's government + shut him out from the possession of his earthly paradise. Will learned + upon further inquiry that Eithity Tugala was the Indian name of the Big + Horn Basin. + </p> + <p> + In the summer of 1882 Will's party of exploration left the cars at + Cheyenne, and struck out from this point with horses and pack-mules. + Will's eyes becoming inflamed, he was obliged to bandage them, and turn + the guidance of the party over to a man known as "Ready." For days he + traveled in a blinded state, and though his eyes slowly bettered, he did + not remove the bandage until the Big Horn Basin was reached. They had + paused for the midday siesta, and Reddy inquired whether it would not be + safe to uncover the afflicted eyes, adding that he thought Will "would + enjoy looking around a bit." + </p> + <p> + Off came the bandage, and I shall quote Will's own words to describe the + scene that met his delighted gaze: + </p> + <p> + "To my right stretched a towering range of snow-capped mountains, broken + here and there into minarets, obelisks, and spires. Between me and this + range of lofty peaks a long irregular line of stately cottonwoods told me + a stream wound its way beneath. The rainbow-tinted carpet under me was + formed of innumerable brilliant-hued wild flowers; it spread about me in + every direction, and sloped gracefully to the stream. Game of every kind + played on the turf, and bright-hued birds flitted over it. It was a scene + no mortal can satisfactorily describe. At such a moment a man, no matter + what his creed, sees the hand of the mighty Maker of the universe + majestically displayed in the beauty of nature; he becomes sensibly + conscious, too, of his own littleness. I uttered no word for very awe; I + looked upon one of nature's masterpieces. + </p> + <p> + "Instantly my heart went out to my sorrowful Arapahoe friend of 1875. He + had not exaggerated; he had scarcely done the scene justice. He spoke of + it as the Ijis, the heaven of the red man. I regarded it then, and still + regard it, as the Mecca of all appreciative humanity." + </p> + <p> + To the west of the Big Horn Basin, Hart Mountain rises abruptly from the + Shoshone River. It is covered with grassy slopes and deep ravines; + perpendicular rocks of every hue rise in various places and are fringed + with evergreens. Beyond this mountain, in the distance, towers the hoary + head of Table Mountain. Five miles to the southwest the mountains recede + some distance from the river, and from its bank Castle Rock rises in + solitary grandeur. As its name indicates, it has the appearance of a + castle, with towers, turrets, bastions, and balconies. + </p> + <p> + Grand as is the western view, the chief beauty lies in the south. Here the + Carter Mountain lies along the entire distance, and the grassy spaces on + its side furnish pasturage for the deer, antelope, and mountain sheep that + abound in this favored region. Fine timber, too, grows on its rugged + slopes; jagged, picturesque rock-forms are seen in all directions, and + numerous cold springs send up their welcome nectar. + </p> + <p> + It is among the foothills nestling at the base of this mountain that Will + has chosen the site of his future permanent residence. Here there are many + little lakes, two of which are named Irma and Arta, in honor of his + daughters. Here he owns a ranch of forty thousand acres, but the home + proper will comprise a tract of four hundred and eighty acres. The two + lakes referred to are in this tract, and near them Will proposes to erect + a palatial residence. To him, as he has said, it is the Mecca of earth, + and thither he hastens the moment he is free from duty and obligation. In + that enchanted region he forgets for a little season the cares and + responsibilities of life. + </p> + <p> + A curious legend is told of one of the lakes that lie on the border of + this valley. It is small—half a mile long and a quarter wide—but + its depth is fathomless. It is bordered and shadowed by tall and stately + pines, quaking-asp and birch trees, and its waters are pure and ice-cold + the year round. They are medicinal, too, and as yet almost unknown to + white men. Will heard the legend of the lake from the lips of an old + Cheyenne warrior. + </p> + <p> + "It was the custom of my tribe," said the Indian, "to assemble around this + lake once every month, at the hour of midnight, when the moon is at its + full. Soon after midnight a canoe filled with the specters of departed + Cheyenne warriors shot out from the eastern side of the lake and crossed + rapidly to the western border; there it suddenly disappeared. + </p> + <p> + "Never a word or sound escaped from the specters in the canoe. They sat + rigid and silent, and swiftly plied their oars. All attempts to get a word + from them were in vain. + </p> + <p> + "So plainly were the canoe and its occupants seen that the features of the + warriors were readily distinguished, and relatives and friends were + recognized." + </p> + <p> + For years, according to the legend, the regular monthly trip was made, and + always from the eastern to the western border of the lake. In 1876 it + suddenly ceased, and the Indians were much alarmed. A party of them camped + on the bank of the lake, and watchers were appointed for every night. It + was fancied that the ghostly boatmen had changed the date of their + excursion. But in three months there was no sign of canoe or canoeists, + and this was regarded as an omen of evil. + </p> + <p> + At a council of the medicine men, chiefs, and wiseacres of the tribe it + was decided that the canoeing trip had been a signal from the Great Spirit—the + canoe had proceeded from east to west, the course always followed by the + red man. The specters had been sent from the Happy Hunting-Grounds to + indicate that the tribe should move farther west, and the sudden + disappearance of the monthly signal was augured to mean the extinction of + the race. + </p> + <p> + Once when Will was standing on the border of this lake a Sioux warrior + came up to him. This man was unusually intelligent, and desired that his + children should be educated. He sent his two sons to Carlisle, and himself + took great pains to learn the white man's religious beliefs, though he + still clung to his old savage customs and superstitions. A short time + before he talked with Will large companies of Indians had made pilgrimages + to join one large conclave, for the purpose of celebrating the Messiah, or + "Ghost Dance." Like all religious celebrations among savage people, it was + accompanied by the grossest excesses and most revolting immoralities. As + it was not known what serious happening these large gatherings might + portend, the President, at the request of many people, sent troops to + disperse the Indians. The Indians resisted, and blood was spilled, among + the slain being the sons of the Indian who stood by the side of the + haunted lake. + </p> + <p> + "It is written in the Great Book of the white man," said the old chief to + Will, "that the Great Spirit—the Nan-tan-in-chor—is to come to + him again on earth. The white men in the big villages go to their + council-lodges (churches) and talk about the time of his coming. Some say + one time, some say another, but they all know the time will come, for it + is written in the Great Book. It is the great and good among the white men + that go to these council-lodges, and those that do not go say, 'It is + well; we believe as they believe; He will come.' It is written in the + Great Book of the white man that all the human beings on earth are the + children of the one Great Spirit. He provides and cares for them. All he + asks in return is that his children obey him, that they be good to one + another, that they judge not one another, and that they do not kill or + steal. Have I spoken truly the words of the white man's Book?" + </p> + <p> + Will bowed his head, somewhat surprised at the tone of the old chief's + conversation. The other continued: + </p> + <p> + "The red man, too, has a Great Book. You have never seen it; no white man + has ever seen it; it is hidden here." He pressed his hand against his + heart. "The teachings of the two books are the same. What the Great Spirit + says to the white man, the Nan-tan-in-chor says to the red man. We, too, + go to our council-lodges to talk of the second coming. We have our + ceremony, as the white man has his. The white man is solemn, sorrowful; + the red man is happy and glad. We dance and are joyful, and the white man + sends soldiers to shoot us down. Does their Great Spirit tell them to do + this? + </p> + <p> + "In the big city (Washington) where I have been, there is another big book + (the Federal Constitution), which says the white man shall not interfere + with the religious liberty of another. And yet they come out to our + country and kill us when we show our joy to Nan-tan-in-chor. + </p> + <p> + "We rejoice over his second coming; the white man mourns, but he sends his + soldiers to kill us in our rejoicing. Bah! The white man is false. I + return to my people, and to the customs and habits of my forefathers. I am + an Indian!" + </p> + <p> + The old chief strode away with the dignity of a red Caesar, and Will, + alone by the lake, reflected that every question has two sides to it. The + one the red man has held in the case of the commonwealth versus the Indian + has ever been the tragic side. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0025" id="link2HCH0025"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXVI. — TOUR OF GREAT BRITAIN. + </h2> + <p> + IT was not until the spring of 1883 that Will was able to put into + execution his long-cherished plan—to present to the public an + exhibition which should delineate in throbbing and realistic color, not + only the wild life of America, but the actual history of the West, as it + was lived for, fought for, died for, by Indians, pioneers, and soldiers. + </p> + <p> + The wigwam village; the Indian war-dance; the chant to the Great Spirit as + it was sung over the plains; the rise and fall of the famous tribes; the + "Forward, march!" of soldiers, and the building of frontier posts; the + life of scouts and trappers; the hunt of the buffalo; the coming of the + first settlers; their slow, perilous progress in the prairie schooners + over the vast and desolate plains; the period of the Deadwood stage and + the Pony Express; the making of homes in the face of fire and Indian + massacre; United States cavalry on the firing-line, "Death to the Sioux!"—these + are the great historic pictures of the Wild West, stirring, genuine, + heroic. + </p> + <p> + It was a magnificent plan on a magnificent scale, and it achieved instant + success. The adventurous phases of Western life never fail to quicken the + pulse of the East. + </p> + <p> + An exhibition which embodied so much of the historic and picturesque, + which resurrected a whole half-century of dead and dying events, events + the most thrilling and dramatic in American history, naturally stirred up + the interest of the entire country. The actors, too, were historic + characters—no weakling imitators, but men of sand and grit, who had + lived every inch of the life they pictured. + </p> + <p> + The first presentation was given in May, 1883, at Omaha, Nebraska, the + state Will had chosen for his home. Since then it has visited nearly every + large city on the civilized globe, and has been viewed by countless + thousands—men, women, and children of every nationality. It will + long hold a place in history. + </p> + <p> + The "grand entrance" alone has never failed to chain the interest of the + onlooker. The furious galloping of the Indian braves—Sioux, + Arapahoe, Brule, and Cheyenne, all in war paint and feathers; the free + dash of the Mexicans and cowboys, as they follow the Indians into line at + break-neck speed; the black-bearded Cossacks of the Czar's light cavalry; + the Riffian Arabs on their desert thoroughbreds; a cohort from the + "Queen's Own" Lancers; troopers from the German Emperor's bodyguard; + chasseurs and cuirassiers from the crack cavalry regiments of European + standing armies; detachments from the United States cavalry and artillery; + South American gauchos; Cuban veterans; Porto Ricans; Hawaiians; again + frontiersmen, rough riders, Texas rangers—all plunging with dash and + spirit into the open, each company followed by its chieftain and its flag; + forming into a solid square, tremulous with color; then a quicker note to + the music; the galloping hoofs of another horse, the finest of them all, + and "Buffalo Bill," riding with the wonderful ease and stately grace which + only he who is "born to the saddle" can ever attain, enters under the + flash of the lime-light, and sweeping off his sombrero, holds his head + high, and with a ring of pride in his voice, advances before his great + audience and exclaims: + </p> + <p> + "Ladies and gentlemen, permit me to introduce to you a congress of the + rough riders of the world." + </p> + <p> + As a child I wept over his disregard of the larger sphere predicted by the + soothsayer; as a woman, I rejoice that he was true to his own ideals, for + he sits his horse with a natural grace much better suited to the saddle + than to the Presidential chair. + </p> + <p> + From the very beginning the "Wild West" was an immense success. Three + years were spent in traveling over the United States; then Will conceived + the idea of visiting England, and exhibiting to the mother race the wild + side of the child's life. This plan entailed enormous expense, but it was + carried out successfully. + </p> + <p> + Still true to the state of his adoption, Will chartered the steamer "State + of Nebraska," and on March 31, 1886 a living freight from the picturesque + New World began its voyage to the Old. + </p> + <p> + At Gravesend, England, the first sight to meet the eyes of the watchers on + the steamer was a tug flying American colors. Three ringing cheers saluted + the beautiful emblem, and the band on the tug responded with "The + Star-Spangled Banner." Not to be outdone, the cowboy band on the "State of + Nebraska" struck up "Yankee Doodle." The tug had been chartered by a + company of Englishmen for the purpose of welcoming the novel American + combination to British soil. + </p> + <p> + When the landing was made, the members of the Wild West company entered + special coaches and were whirled toward London. Then even the stolidity of + the Indians was not proof against sights so little resembling those to + which they had been accustomed, and they showed their pleasure and + appreciation by frequent repetition of the red man's characteristic grunt. + </p> + <p> + Major John M. Burke had made the needed arrangements for housing the big + show, and preparations on a gigantic scale were rapidly pushed to please + an impatient London public. More effort was made to produce spectacular + effects in the London amphitheater than is possible where a merely + temporary staging is erected for one day's exhibition. The arena was a + third of a mile in circumference, and provided accommodation for forty + thousand spectators. Here, as at Manchester, where another great + amphitheater was erected in the fall, to serve as winter quarters, the + artist's brush was called on to furnish illusions. + </p> + <p> + The English exhibited an eager interest in every feature of the exhibition—the + Indian war-dances, the bucking broncho, speedily subjected by the valorous + cowboy, and the stagecoach attacked by Indians and rescued by United + States troops. The Indian village on the plains was also an object of + dramatic interest to the English public. The artist had counterfeited the + plains successfully. + </p> + <p> + It is the hour of dawn. Scattered about the plains are various wild + animals. Within their tents the Indians are sleeping. Sunrise, and a + friendly Indian tribe comes to visit the wakening warriors. A friendly + dance is executed, at the close of which a courier rushes in to announce + the approach of a hostile tribe. These follow almost at the courier's + heels, and a sham battle occurs, which affords a good idea of the + barbarity of Indian warfare. The victors celebrate their triumph with a + wild war-dance. + </p> + <p> + A Puritan scene follows. The landing of the Pilgrims is shown, and the + rescue of John Smith by Pocahontas. This affords opportunity for + delineating many interesting Indian customs on festive celebrations, such + as weddings and feast-days. + </p> + <p> + Again the prairie. A buffalo-lick is shown. The shaggy monsters come down + to drink, and in pursuit of them is "Buffalo Bill," mounted on his good + horse "Charlie." He has been acting as guide for an emigrant party, which + soon appears. Camp-fires are lighted, supper is eaten, and the camp sinks + into slumber with the dwindling of the fires. Then comes a fine bit of + stage illusion. A red glow is seen in the distance, faint at first, but + slowly deepening and broadening. It creeps along the whole horizon, and + the camp is awakened by the alarming intelligence that the prairie is on + fire. The emigrants rush out, and heroically seek to fight back the + rushing, roaring flames. Wild animals, driven by the flames, dash through + the camp, and a stampede follows. This scene was extremely realistic. + </p> + <p> + A cyclone was also simulated, and a whole village blown out of existence. + </p> + <p> + The "Wild West" was received with enthusiasm, not only by the general + public, but by royalty. Gladstone made a call upon Will, in company with + the Marquis of Lorne, and in return a lunch was tendered to the "Grand Old + Man" by the American visitors. In an after-dinner speech, the English + statesman spoke in the warmest terms of America. He thanked Will for the + good he was doing in presenting to the English public a picture of the + wild life of the Western continent, which served to illustrate the + difficulties encountered by a sister nation in its onward march of + civilization. + </p> + <p> + The initial performance was before a royal party comprising the Prince and + Princess of Wales and suite. At the close of the exhibition the royal + guests, at their own request, were presented to the members of the + company. Unprepared for this contingency, Will had forgotten to coach the + performers in the correct method of saluting royalty, and when the girl + shots of the company were presented to the Princess of Wales, they stepped + forward in true democratic fashion and cordially offered their hands to + the lovely woman who had honored them. + </p> + <p> + According to English usage, the Princess extends the hand, palm down, to + favored guests, and these reverently touch the finger-tips and lift the + hand to their lips. Perhaps the spontaneity of the American girls' welcome + was esteemed a pleasing variety to the established custom. At all events, + her Highness, true to her breeding, appeared not to notice any breach of + etiquette, but took the proffered hands and shook them cordially. + </p> + <p> + The Indian camp was also visited, and Red Shirt, the great chief, was, + like every one else, delighted with the Princess. Through an interpreter + the Prince expressed his pleasure over the performance of the braves, + headed by their great chief, and the Princess bade him welcome to England. + Red Shirt had the Indian gift of oratory, and he replied, in the + unimpassioned speech for which the race is noted, that it made his heart + glad to hear such kind words from the Great White Chief and his beautiful + squaw. + </p> + <p> + During the round the Prince stopped in at Will's private quarters, and + took much interest in his souvenirs, being especially pleased with a + magnificent gold-hilted sword, presented to Will by officers of the United + States army in recognition of his services as scout. + </p> + <p> + This was not the only time the exhibition was honored by the visit of + royalty. That the Prince of Wales was sincere in his expression of + enjoyment of the exhibition was evidenced by the report that he carried to + his mother, and shortly afterward a command came from Queen Victoria that + the big show appear before her. It was plainly impossible to take the + "Wild West" to court; the next best thing was to construct a special box + for the use of her Majesty. This box was placed upon a dais covered with + crimson velvet trimmings, and was superbly decorated. When the Queen + arrived and was driven around to the royal box, Will stepped forward as + she dismounted, and doffing his sombrero, made a low courtesy to the + sovereign lady of Great Britain. "Welcome, your Majesty," said he, "to the + Wild West of America!" + </p> + <p> + One of the first acts in the performance is to carry the flag to the + front. This is done by a soldier, and is introduced to the spectators as + an emblem of a nation desirous of peace and friendship with all the world. + On this occasion it was borne directly before the Queen's box, and dipped + three times in honor of her Majesty. The action of the Queen surprised the + company and the vast throng of spectators. Rising, she saluted the + American flag with a bow, and her suite followed her example, the + gentlemen removing their hats. Will acknowledged the courtesy by waving + his sombrero about his head, and his delighted company with one accord + gave three ringing cheers that made the arena echo, assuring the + spectators of the healthy condition of the lungs of the American visitors. + </p> + <p> + The Queen's complaisance put the entire company on their mettle, and the + performance was given magnificently. At the close Queen Victoria asked to + have Will presented to her, and paid him so many compliments as almost to + bring a blush to his bronzed cheek. Red Shirt was also presented, and + informed her Majesty that he had come across the Great Water solely to see + her, and his heart was glad. This polite speech discovered a streak in + Indian nature that, properly cultivated, would fit the red man to shine as + a courtier or politician. Red Shirt walked away with the insouciance of a + king dismissing an audience, and some of the squaws came to display + papooses to the Great White Lady. These children of nature were not the + least awed by the honor done them. They blinked at her Majesty as if the + presence of queens was an incident of their everyday existence. + </p> + <p> + A second command from the Queen resulted in another exhibition before a + number of her royal guests. The kings of Saxony, Denmark, and Greece, the + Queen of the Belgians, and the Crown Prince of Austria, with others of + lesser rank, illumined this occasion. + </p> + <p> + The Deadwood coach was peculiarly honored. This is a coach with a history. + It was built in Concord, New Hampshire, and sent to the Pacific Coast to + run over a trail infested by road agents. A number of times was it held up + and the passengers robbed, and finally both driver and passengers were + killed and the coach abandoned on the trail, as no one could be found who + would undertake to drive it. It remained derelict for a long time, but was + at last brought into San Francisco by an old stage-driver and placed on + the Overland trail. It gradually worked its way eastward to the Deadwood + route, and on this line figured in a number of encounters with Indians. + Again were driver and passengers massacred, and again was the coach + abandoned. Will ran across it on one of his scouting expeditions, and + recognizing its value as an adjunct to his exhibition, purchased it. + Thereafter the tragedies it figured in were of the mock variety. + </p> + <p> + One of the incidents of the Wild West, as all remember, is an Indian + attack on the Deadwood coach. The royal visitors wished to put themselves + in the place of the traveling public in the Western regions of America; so + the four potentates of Denmark, Saxony, Greece, and Austria became the + passengers, and the Prince of Wales sat on the box with Will. The Indians + had been secretly instructed to "whoop 'em up" on this interesting + occasion, and they followed energetically the letter of their + instructions. The coach was surrounded by a demoniac band, and the blank + cartridges were discharged in such close proximity to the coach windows + that the passengers could easily imagine themselves to be actual Western + travelers. Rumor hath it that they sought refuge under the seats, and + probably no one would blame them if they did; but it is only rumor, and + not history. + </p> + <p> + When the wild ride was over, the Prince of Wales, who admires the American + national game of poker, turned to the driver with the remark: + </p> + <p> + "Colonel, did you ever hold four kings like that before?" + </p> + <p> + "I have held four kings more than once," was the prompt reply; "but, your + Highness, I never held four kings and the royal joker before." + </p> + <p> + The Prince laughed heartily; but Will's sympathy went out to him when he + found that he was obliged to explain his joke in four different languages + to the passengers. + </p> + <p> + In recognition of this performance, the Prince of Wales sent Will a + handsome souvenir. It consisted of his feathered crest, outlined in + diamonds, and bearing the motto "<i>Ich dien</i>," worked in jewels + underneath. An accompanying note expressed the pleasure of the royal + visitors over the novel exhibition. + </p> + <p> + Upon another occasion the Princess of Wales visited the show incognito, + first advising Will of her intention; and at the close of the performance + assured him that she had spent a delightful evening. + </p> + <p> + The set performances of the "Wild West" were punctuated by social + entertainments. James G. Blaine, Chauncey M. Depew, Murat Halstead, and + other prominent Americans were in London at the time, and in their honor + Will issued invitations to a rib-roast breakfast prepared in Indian style. + Fully one hundred guests gathered in the "Wild West's" dining-tent at nine + o'clock of June 10, 1887. Besides the novel decorations of the tent, it + was interesting to watch the Indian cooks putting the finishing touches to + their roasts. A hole had been dug in the ground, a large tripod erected + over it, and upon this the ribs of beef were suspended. The fire was of + logs, burned down to a bed of glowing coals, and over these the meat was + turned around and around until it was cooked to a nicety. This method of + open-air cooking over wood imparts to the meat a flavor that can be given + to it in no other way. + </p> + <p> + The breakfast was unconventional. Part of the bill of fare was hominy, + "Wild West" pudding, popcorn, and peanuts. The Indians squatted on the + straw at the end of the dining-tables, and ate from their fingers or + speared the meat with long white sticks. The striking contrast of table + manners was an interesting object-lesson in the progress of civilization. + </p> + <p> + The breakfast was a novelty to the Americans who partook of it, and they + enjoyed it thoroughly. + </p> + <p> + Will was made a social lion during his stay in London, being dined and + feted upon various occasions. Only a man of the most rugged health could + have endured the strain of his daily performances united with his social + obligations. + </p> + <p> + The London season was triumphantly closed with a meeting for the + establishing of a court of arbitration to settle disputes between America + and England. + </p> + <p> + After leaving the English metropolis the exhibition visited Birmingham, + and thence proceeded to its winter headquarters in Manchester. Arta, + Will's elder daughter, accompanied him to England, and made a Continental + tour during the winter. + </p> + <p> + The sojourn in Manchester was another ovation. The prominent men of the + city proposed to present to Will a fine rifle, and when the news of the + plan was carried to London, a company of noblemen, statesmen, and + journalists ran down to Manchester by special car. In acknowledgment of + the honor done him, Will issued invitations for another of his unique + American entertainments. Boston pork and beans, Maryland fried chicken, + hominy, and popcorn were served, and there were other distinctly American + dishes. An Indian rib-roast was served on tin plates, and the + distinguished guests enjoyed—or said they did—the novelty of + eating it from their fingers, in true aboriginal fashion. This remarkable + meal evoked the heartiest of toasts to the American flag, and a poem, a + parody on "Hiawatha," added luster to the occasion. + </p> + <p> + The Prince of Wales was Grand Master of the Free Masons of England, which + order presented a gold watch to Will during his stay in Manchester. The + last performance in this city was given on May 1, 1887, and as a good by + to Will the spectators united in a rousing chorus of "For he's a jolly + good fellow!" The closing exhibition of the English season occurred at + Hull, and immediately afterward the company sailed for home on the + "Persian Monarch." An immense crowd gathered on the quay, and shouted a + cordial "bon voyage." + </p> + <p> + One sad event occurred on the homeward voyage, the death of "Old Charlie," + Will's gallant and faithful horse. + </p> + <p> + He was a half-blood Kentucky horse, and had been Will's constant and + unfailing companion for many years on the plains and in the "Wild West." + </p> + <p> + He was an animal of almost human intelligence, extraordinary speed, + endurance, and fidelity. When he was quite young Will rode him on a hunt + for wild horses, which he ran down after a chase of fifteen miles. At + another time, on a wager of five hundred dollars that he could ride him + over the prairie one hundred miles in ten hours, he went the distance in + nine hours and forty-five minutes. + </p> + <p> + When the "Wild West" was opened at Omaha, Charlie was the star horse, and + held that position at all the exhibitions in this country and in Europe. + In London the horse attracted a full share of attention, and many scions + of royalty solicited the favor of riding him. Grand Duke Michael of Russia + rode Charlie several times in chase of the herd of buffaloes in the "Wild + West," and became quite attached to him. + </p> + <p> + On the morning of the 14th Will made his usual visit to Charlie, between + decks. Shortly after the groom reported him sick. He grew rapidly worse, + in spite of all the care he received, and at two o'clock on the morning of + the 17th he died. His death cast an air of sadness over the whole ship, + and no human being could have had more sincere mourners than the faithful + and sagacious old horse. He was brought on deck wrapped in canvas and + covered with the American flag. When the hour for the ocean burial + arrived, the members of the company and others assembled on deck. Standing + alone with uncovered head beside the dead was the one whose life the noble + animal had shared so long. At length, with choking utterance, Will spoke, + and Charlie for the first time failed to hear the familiar voice he had + always been so prompt to obey: + </p> + <p> + "Old fellow, your journeys are over. Here in the ocean you must rest. + Would that I could take you back and lay you down beneath the billows of + that prairie you and I have loved so well and roamed so freely; but it + cannot be. How often at break of day, the glorious sun rising on the + horizon has found us far from human habitation! Yet, obedient to my call, + gladly you bore your burden on, little heeding what the day might bring, + so that you and I but shared its sorrows and pleasures alike. You have + never failed me. Ah, Charlie, old fellow, I have had many friends, but few + of whom I could say that. Rest entombed in the deep bosom of the ocean! + I'll never forget you. I loved you as you loved me, my dear old Charlie. + Men tell me you have no soul; but if there be a heaven, and scouts can + enter there, I'll wait at the gate for you, old friend." + </p> + <p> + On this homeward trip Will made the acquaintance of a clergyman returning + from a vacation spent in Europe. When they neared the American coast this + gentleman prepared a telegram to send to his congregation. It read simply: + "2 John i. 12." Chancing to see it, Will's interest was aroused, and he + asked the clergyman to explain the significance of the reference, and when + this was done he said: "I have a religious sister at home who knows the + Bible so well that I will wire her that message and she will not need to + look up the meaning." + </p> + <p> + He duplicated to me, as his return greeting, the minister's telegram to + his congregation, but I did not justify his high opinion of my Biblical + knowledge. I was obliged to search the Scriptures to unravel the enigma. + As there may be others like me, but who have not the incentive I had to + look up the reference, I quote from God's word the message I received: + "Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and + ink; but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy + may be full." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0026" id="link2HCH0026"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXVII. — RETURN OF THE "WILD WEST" TO AMERICA. + </h2> + <p> + WHEN the "Wild West" returned to America from its first venture across + seas, the sail up the harbor was described by the New York <i>World</i> in + the following words: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "The harbor probably has never witnessed a more picturesque + scene than that of yesterday, when the 'Persian Monarch' + steamed up from quarantine. Buffalo Bill stood on the + captain's bridge, his tall and striking figure clearly + outlined, and his long hair waving in the wind; the gayly + painted and blanketed Indians leaned over the ship's rail; + the flags of all nations fluttered from the masts and + connecting cables. The cowboy band played 'Yankee Doodle' + with a vim and enthusiasm which faintly indicated the joy + felt by everybody connected with the 'Wild West' over the + sight of home." +</pre> + <p> + Will had been cordially welcomed by our English cousins, and had been the + recipient of many social favors, but no amount of foreign flattery could + change him one hair from an "American of the Americans," and he + experienced a thrill of delight as he again stepped foot upon his native + land. Shortly afterward he was much pleased by a letter from William T. + Sherman—so greatly prized that it was framed, and now hangs on the + wall of his Nebraska home. Following is a copy: + </p> + <p> + "FIFTH AVENUE HOTEL, NEW YORK. "COLONEL WM. F. CODY: + </p> + <p> + "<i>Dear Sir</i>: In common with all your countrymen, I want to let you + know that I am not only gratified but proud of your management and + success. So far as I can make out, you have been modest, graceful, and + dignified in all you have done to illustrate the history of civilization + on this continent during the past century. I am especially pleased with + the compliment paid you by the Prince of Wales, who rode with you in the + Deadwood coach while it was attacked by Indians and rescued by cowboys. + Such things did occur in our days, but they never will again. + </p> + <p> + "As nearly as I can estimate, there were in 1865 about nine and one-half + million of buffaloes on the plains between the Missouri River and the + Rocky Mountains; all are now gone, killed for their meat, their skins, and + their bones. This seems like desecration, cruelty, and murder, yet they + have been replaced by twice as many cattle. At that date there were about + 165,000 Pawnees, Sioux, Cheyennes, and Arapahoes, who depended upon these + buffaloes for their yearly food. They, too, have gone, but they have been + replaced by twice or thrice as many white men and women, who have made the + earth to blossom as the rose, and who can be counted, taxed, and governed + by the laws of nature and civilization. This change has been salutary, and + will go on to the end. You have caught one epoch of this country's + history, and have illustrated it in the very heart of the modern world—London, + and I want you to feel that on this side of the water we appreciate it. + </p> + <p> + "This drama must end; days, years, and centuries follow fast; even the + drama of civilization must have an end. All I aim to accomplish on this + sheet of paper is to assure you that I fully recognize your work. The + presence of the Queen, the beautiful Princess of Wales, the Prince, and + the British public are marks of favor which reflect back on America sparks + of light which illuminate many a house and cabin in the land where once + you guided me honestly and faithfully, in 1865-66, from Fort Riley to + Kearny, in Kansas and Nebraska. + </p> + <p> + "Sincerely your friend, + </p> + <p> + "W. T. SHERMAN." + </p> + <p> + Having demonstrated to his satisfaction that the largest measure of + success lay in a stationary exhibition of his show, where the population + was large enough to warrant it, Will purchased a tract of land on Staten + Island, and here he landed on his return from England. Teamsters for miles + around had been engaged to transport the outfit across the island to + Erastina, the site chosen for the exhibition. And you may be certain that + Cut Meat, American Bear, Flat Iron, and the other Indians furnished + unlimited joy to the ubiquitous small boy, who was present by the hundreds + to watch the unloading scenes. + </p> + <p> + The summer season at this point was a great success. One incident + connected with it may be worth the relating. + </p> + <p> + Teachers everywhere have recognized the value of the "Wild West" + exhibition as an educator, and in a number of instances public schools + have been dismissed to afford the children an opportunity of attending the + entertainment. It has not, however, been generally recognized as a spur to + religious progress, yet, while at Staten Island, Will was invited to + exhibit a band of his Indians at a missionary meeting given under the + auspices of a large mission Sunday-school. He appeared with his warriors, + who were expected to give one of their religious dances as an + object-lesson in devotional ceremonials. + </p> + <p> + The meeting was largely attended, and every one, children especially, + waited for the exercises in excited curiosity and interest. Will sat on + the platform with the superintendent, pastor, and others in authority, and + close by sat the band of stolid-faced Indians. + </p> + <p> + The service began with a hymn and the reading of the Scriptures; then, to + Will's horror, the superintendent requested him to lead the meeting in + prayer. Perhaps the good man fancied that Will for a score of years had + fought Indians with a rifle in one hand and a prayer-book in the other, + and was as prepared to pray as to shoot. At least he surely did not make + his request with the thought of embarrassing Will, though that was the + natural result. However, Will held holy things in deepest reverence; he + had the spirit of Gospel if not the letter; so, rising, he quietly and + simply, with bowed head, repeated the Lord's Prayer. + </p> + <p> + A winter exhibition under roof was given in New York, after which the show + made a tour of the principal cities of the United States. Thus passed + several years, and then arrangements were made for a grand Continental + trip. A plan had been maturing in Will's mind ever since the British + season, and in the spring of 1889 it was carried into effect. + </p> + <p> + The steamer "Persian Monarch" was again chartered, and this time its prow + was turned toward the shores of France. Paris was the destination, and + seven months were passed in the gay capital. The Parisians received the + show with as much enthusiasm as did the Londoners, and in Paris as well as + in the English metropolis everything American became a fad during the stay + of the "Wild West." Even American books were read—a crucial test of + faddism; and American curios were displayed in all the shops. Relics from + American plain and mountain—buffalo-robes, bearskins, buckskin suits + embroidered with porcupine quills, Indian blankets, woven mats, bows and + arrows, bead-mats, Mexican bridles and saddles—sold like the + proverbial hot cakes. + </p> + <p> + In Paris, also, Will became a social favorite, and had he accepted a tenth + of the invitations to receptions, dinners, and balls showered upon him, he + would have been obliged to close his show. + </p> + <p> + While in this city Will accepted an invitation from Rosa Bonheur to visit + her at her superb chateau, and in return for the honor he extended to her + the freedom of his stables, which contained magnificent horses used for + transportation purposes, and which never appeared in the public + performance—Percherons, of the breed depicted by the famous artist + in her well-known painting of "The Horse Fair." Day upon day she visited + the camp and made studies, and as a token of her appreciation of the + courtesy, painted a picture of Will mounted on his favorite horse, both + horse and rider bedecked with frontier paraphernalia. This souvenir, which + holds the place of honor in his collection, he immediately shipped home. + </p> + <p> + The wife of a London embassy attache relates the following story: + </p> + <p> + "During the time that Colonel Cody was making his triumphant tour of + Europe, I was one night seated at a banquet next to the Belgian Consul. + Early in the course of the conversation he asked: + </p> + <p> + "'Madame, you haf undoubted been to see ze gr-rand Bouf-falo Beel?' + </p> + <p> + "Puzzled by the apparently unfamiliar name, I asked: + </p> + <p> + "'Pardon me, but whom did you say?' + </p> + <p> + "'Vy, Bouf-falo Beel, ze famous Bouf-falo Beel, zat gr-reat countryman of + yours. You must know him.' + </p> + <p> + "After a moment's thought, I recognized the well-known showman's name in + its disguise. I comprehended that the good Belgian thought his to be one + of America's most eminent names, to be mentioned in the same breath with + Washington and Lincoln." + </p> + <p> + After leaving Paris, a short tour of Southern France was made, and at + Marseilles a vessel was chartered to transport the company to Spain. The + Spanish grandees eschewed their favorite amusement—the bull-fight—long + enough to give a hearty welcome to the "Wild West." Next followed a tour + of Italy; and the visit to Rome was the most interesting of the + experiences in this country. + </p> + <p> + The Americans reached the Eternal City at the time of Pope Leo's + anniversary celebration, and, on the Pope's invitation, Will visited the + Vatican. Its historic walls have rarely, if ever, looked upon a more + curious sight than was presented when Will walked in, followed by the + cowboys in their buckskins and sombreros and the Indians in war paint and + feathers. Around them crowded a motley throng of Italians, clad in the + brilliant colors so loved by these children of the South, and nearly every + nationality was represented in the assemblage. + </p> + <p> + Some of the cowboys and Indians had been reared in the Catholic faith, and + when the Pope appeared they knelt for his blessing. He seemed touched by + this action on the part of those whom he might be disposed to regard as + savages, and bending forward, extended his hands and pronounced a + benediction; then he passed on, and it was with the greatest difficulty + that the Indians were restrained from expressing their emotions in a wild + whoop. This, no doubt, would have relieved them, but it would, in all + probability, have stampeded the crowd. + </p> + <p> + When the Pope reached Will he looked admiringly upon the frontiersman. The + world-known scout bent his head before the aged "Medicine Man," as the + Indians call his reverence, the Papal blessing was again bestowed, and the + procession passed on. The Thanksgiving Mass, with its fine choral + accompaniment, was given, and the vast concourse of people poured out of + the building. + </p> + <p> + This visit attracted much attention. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "I'll take my stalwart Indian braves + Down to the Coliseum + And the old Romans from their graves + Will all arise to see 'em. + Praetors and censors will return + And hasten through the Forum + The ghostly Senate will adjourn + Because it lacks a quorum. + + "And up the ancient Appian Way + Will flock the ghostly legions + From Gaul unto Calabria, + And from remoter regions; + From British bay and wild lagoon, + And Libyan desert sandy, + They'll all come marching to the tune + Of 'Yankee Doodle Dandy.' + + "Prepare triumphal cars for me, + And purple thrones to sit on, + For I've done more than Julius C.— + He could not down the Briton! + Caesar and Cicero shall bow + And ancient warriors famous, + Before the myrtle-wreathed brow + Of Buffalo Williamus. + + "We march, unwhipped, through history— + No bulwark can detain us— + And link the age of Grover C. + And Scipio Africanus. + I'll take my stalwart Indian braves + Down to the Coliseum, + And the old Romans from their graves + Will all arise to see 'em." +</pre> + <p> + It may be mentioned in passing that Will had visited the Coliseum with an + eye to securing it as an amphitheater for the "Wild West" exhibition, but + the historic ruin was too dilapidated to be a safe arena for such a + purpose, and the idea was abandoned. + </p> + <p> + The sojourn in Rome was enlivened by an incident that created much + interest among the natives. The Italians were somewhat skeptical as to the + abilities of the cowboys to tame wild horses, believing the bronchos in + the show were specially trained for their work, and that the + horse-breaking was a mock exhibition. + </p> + <p> + The Prince of Sermonetta declared that he had some wild horses in his stud + which no cowboys in the world could ride. The challenge was promptly taken + up by the daring riders of the plains, and the Prince sent for his wild + steeds. That they might not run amuck and injure the spectators, specially + prepared booths of great strength were erected. + </p> + <p> + The greatest interest and enthusiasm were manifested by the populace, and + the death of two or three members of the company was as confidently looked + for as was the demise of sundry gladiators in the "brave days of old." + </p> + <p> + But the cowboys laughed at so great a fuss over so small a matter, and + when the horses were driven into the arena, and the spectators held their + breath, the cowboys, lassos in hand, awaited the work with the utmost + nonchalance. + </p> + <p> + The wild equines sprang into the air, darted hither and thither, and + fought hard against their certain fate, but in less time than would be + required to give the details, the cowboys had flung their lassos, caught + the horses, and saddled and mounted them. The spirited beasts still + resisted, and sought in every way to throw their riders, but the + experienced plainsmen had them under control in a very short time; and as + they rode them around the arena, the spectators rose and howled with + delight. The display of horsemanship effectually silenced the skeptics; it + captured the Roman heart, and the remainder of the stay in the city was + attended by unusual enthusiasm. + </p> + <p> + Beautiful Florence, practical Bologna, and stately Milan, with its + many-spired cathedral, were next on the list for the triumphal march. For + the Venetian public the exhibition had to be given at Verona, in the + historic amphitheater built by Diocletian, A. D. '90. This is the largest + building in the world, and within the walls of this representative of Old + World civilization the difficulties over which New World civilization had + triumphed were portrayed. Here met the old and new; hoary antiquity and + bounding youth kissed each other under the sunny Italian skies. + </p> + <p> + The "Wild West" now moved northward, through the Tyrol, to Munich, and + from here the Americans digressed for an excursion on the "beautiful blue + Danube." Then followed a successful tour of Germany. + </p> + <p> + During this Continental circuit Will's elder daughter, Arta, who had + accompanied him on his British expedition, was married. It was impossible + for the father to be present, but by cablegram he sent his congratulations + and check. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0027" id="link2HCH0027"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXVIII. — A TRIBUTE TO GENERAL MILES. + </h2> + <p> + IN view of the success achieved by my brother, it is remarkable that he + excited so little envy. Now for the first time in his life he felt the + breath of slander on his cheek, and it flushed hotly. From an idle remark + that the Indians in the "Wild West" exhibition were not properly treated, + the idle gossip grew to the proportion of malicious and insistent slander. + The Indians being government wards, such a charge might easily become a + serious matter; for, like the man who beat his wife, the government + believes it has the right to maltreat the red man to the top of its bent, + but that no one else shall be allowed to do so. + </p> + <p> + A winter campaign of the "Wild West" had been contemplated, but the + project was abandoned and winter quarters decided on. In the quaint little + village of Benfield was an ancient nunnery and a castle, with good + stables. Here Will left the company in charge of his partner, Mr. Nate + Salisbury, and, accompanied by the Indians for whose welfare he was + responsible, set sail for America, to silence his calumniators. + </p> + <p> + The testimony of the red men themselves was all that was required to + refute the notorious untruths. Few had placed any belief in the reports, + and friendly commenters were also active. + </p> + <p> + As the sequel proved, Will came home very opportunely. The Sioux in Dakota + were again on the war-path, and his help was needed to subdue the + uprising. He disbanded the warriors he had brought back from Europe, and + each returned to his own tribe and people, to narrate around the camp-fire + the wonders of the life abroad, while Will reported at headquarters to + offer his services for the war. Two years previously he had been honored + by the commission of Brigadier-General of the Nebraska National Guard, + which rank and title were given to him by Governor Thayer. + </p> + <p> + The officer in command of the Indian campaign was General Nelson A. Miles, + who has rendered so many important services to his country, and who, as + Commander-in-Chief of our army, played so large a part in the recent war + with Spain. At the time of the Indian uprising he held the rank of + Brigadier-General. + </p> + <p> + This brilliant and able officer was much pleased when he learned that he + would have Will's assistance in conducting the campaign, for he knew the + value of his good judgment, cool head, and executive ability, and of his + large experience in dealing with Indians. + </p> + <p> + The "Wild West," which had served as an educator to the people of Europe + in presenting the frontier life of America, had quietly worked as + important educational influences in the minds of the Indians connected + with the exhibition. They had seen for themselves the wonders of the + world's civilization; they realized how futile were the efforts of the + children of the plains to stem the resistless tide of progress flowing + westward. Potentates had delighted to do honor to Pa-has-ka, the + Long-haired Chief, and in the eyes of the simple savage he was as powerful + as any of the great ones of earth. To him his word was law; it seemed + worse than folly for their brethren to attempt to cope with so mighty a + chief, therefore their influence was all for peace; and the fact that so + many tribes did not join in the uprising may be attributed, in part, to + their good counsel and advice. + </p> + <p> + General Miles was both able and energetic, and managed the campaign in + masterly fashion. There were one or two hard-fought battles, in one of + which the great Sioux warrior, Sitting Bull, the ablest that nation ever + produced, was slain. This Indian had traveled with Will for a time, but + could not be weaned from his loyalty to his own tribe and a desire to + avenge upon the white man the wrongs inflicted on his people. + </p> + <p> + What promised at the outset to be a long and cruel frontier war was + speedily quelled. The death of Sitting Bull had something to do with the + termination of hostilities. Arrangements for peace were soon perfected, + and Will attributed the government's success to the energy of its officer + in command, for whom he has a most enthusiastic admiration. He paid this + tribute to him recently: + </p> + <p> + "I have been in many campaigns with General Miles, and a better general + and more gifted warrior I have never seen. I served in the Civil War, and + in any number of Indian wars; I have been under at least a dozen generals, + with whom I have been thrown in close contact because of the nature of the + services which I was called upon to render. General Miles is the superior + of them all. + </p> + <p> + "I have known Phil Sheridan, Tecumseh Sherman, Hancock, and all of our + noted Indian fighters. For cool judgment and thorough knowledge of all + that pertains to military affairs, none of them, in my opinion, can be + said to excel General Nelson A. Miles. + </p> + <p> + "Ah, what a man he is! I know. We have been shoulder to shoulder in many a + hard march. We have been together when men find out what their comrades + really are. He is a man, every inch of him, and the best general I ever + served under." + </p> + <p> + After Miles was put in command of the forces, a dinner was given in his + honor by John Chamberlin. Will was a guest and one of the speakers, and + took the opportunity to eulogize his old friend. He dwelt at length on the + respect in which the red men held the general, and in closing said: + </p> + <p> + "No foreign invader will ever set foot on these shores as long as General + Miles is at the head of the army. If they should—just call on me!" + </p> + <p> + The speaker sat down amid laughter and applause. + </p> + <p> + While Will was away at the seat of war, his beautiful home in North + Platte, "Welcome Wigwam," burned to the ground. The little city is not + equipped with much of a fire department, but a volunteer brigade held the + flames in check long enough to save almost the entire contents of the + house, among which were many valuable and costly souvenirs that could + never be replaced. + </p> + <p> + Will received a telegram announcing that his house was ablaze, and his + reply was characteristic: + </p> + <p> + "Save Rosa Bonheur's picture, and the house may go to blazes." + </p> + <p> + When the frontier war was ended and the troops disbanded, Will made + application for another company of Indians to take back to Europe with + him. Permission was obtained from the government, and the contingent from + the friendly tribes was headed by chiefs named Long Wolf, No Neck, Yankton + Charlie, and Black Heart. In addition to these a company was recruited + from among the Indians held as hostages by General Miles at Fort Sheridan, + and the leaders of these hostile braves were such noted chiefs as Short + Bull, Kicking Bear, Lone Bull, Scatter, and Revenge. To these the trip to + Alsace-Lorraine was a revelation, a fairy-tale more wonderful than + anything in their legendary lore. The ocean voyage, with its seasickness, + put them in an ugly mood, but the sight of the encampment and the cowboys + dissipated their sullenness, and they shortly felt at home. The + hospitality extended to all the members of the company by the inhabitants + of the village in which they wintered was most cordial, and left them the + pleasantest of memories. + </p> + <p> + An extended tour of Europe was fittingly closed by a brief visit to + England. The Britons gave the "Wild West" as hearty a welcome as if it + were native to their heath. A number of the larger cities were visited, + London being reserved for the last. + </p> + <p> + Royalty again honored the "Wild West" by its attendance, the Queen + requesting a special performance on the grounds of Windsor Castle. The + requests of the Queen are equivalent to commands, and the entertainment + was duly given. As a token of her appreciation the Queen bestowed upon + Will a costly and beautiful souvenir. + </p> + <p> + Not the least-esteemed remembrance of this London visit was an illuminated + address presented by the English Workingman's Convention. In it the + American plainsman was congratulated upon the honors he had won, the + success he had achieved, and the educational worth of his great + exhibition. A banquet followed, at which Will presented an autograph + photograph to each member of the association. + </p> + <p> + Notwithstanding tender thoughts of home, English soil was left + regretfully. To the "Wild West" the complacent Briton had extended a + cordial welcome, and manifested an enthusiasm that contrasted strangely + with his usual disdain for things American. + </p> + <p> + A singular coincidence of the homeward voyage was the death of Billy, + another favorite horse of Will's. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0028" id="link2HCH0028"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIX. — THE "WILD WEST" AT THE WORLD'S FAIR. + </h2> + <p> + EUROPEAN army officers of all nationalities regarded my brother with + admiring interest. To German, French, Italian, or British eyes he was a + commanding personality, and also the representative of a peculiar and + interesting phase of New World life. Recalling their interest in his + scenes from his native land, so unlike anything to be found in Europe + to-day, Will invited a number of these officers to accompany him on an + extended hunting-trip through Western America. + </p> + <p> + All that could possibly do so accepted the invitation. A date was set for + them to reach Chicago, and from there arrangements were made for a special + train to convey them to Nebraska. + </p> + <p> + When the party gathered, several prominent Americans were of the number. + By General Miles's order a military escort attended them from Chicago, and + the native soldiery remained with them until North Platte was reached. + </p> + <p> + Then the party proceeded to "Scout's Rest Ranch," where they were + hospitably entertained for a couple of days before starting out on their + long trail. + </p> + <p> + At Denver ammunition and supplies were taken on board the train. A French + chef was also engaged, as Will feared his distinguished guests might not + enjoy camp-fare. But a hen in water is no more out of place than a French + cook on a "roughing-it" trip. Frontier cooks, who understand primitive + methods, make no attempt at a fashionable cuisine, and the appetites + developed by open-air life are equal to the rudest, most substantial fare. + </p> + <p> + Colorado Springs, the Garden of the Gods, and other places in Colorado + were visited. The foreign visitors had heard stories of this wonderland of + America, but, like all of nature's masterpieces, the rugged beauties of + this magnificent region defy an adequate description. Only one who has + seen a sunrise on the Alps can appreciate it. The storied Rhine is naught + but a story to him who has never looked upon it. Niagara is only a + waterfall until seen from various view-points, and its tremendous force + and transcendent beauty are strikingly revealed. The same is true of the + glorious wildness of our Western scenery; it must be seen to be + appreciated. + </p> + <p> + The most beautiful thing about the Garden of the Gods is the entrance + known as the Gateway. Color here runs riot. The mass of rock in the + foreground is white, and stands out in sharp contrast to the rich red of + the sandstone of the portals, which rise on either side to a height of + three hundred feet. Through these giant portals, which in the sunlight + glow with ruddy fire, is seen mass upon mass of gorgeous color, rendered + more striking by the dazzling whiteness of Pike's Peak, which soars upward + in the distance, a hoary sentinel of the skies. The whole picture is + limned against the brilliant blue of the Colorado sky, and stands out + sharp and clear, one vivid block of color distinctly defined against the + other. + </p> + <p> + The name "Garden of the Gods" was doubtless applied because of the + peculiar shape of the spires, needles, and basilicas of rock that rise in + every direction. These have been corroded by storms and worn smooth by + time, until they present the appearance of half-baked images of clay + molded by human hands, instead of sandstone rocks fashioned by wind and + weather. Each grotesque and fantastic shape has received a name. One is + here introduced to the "Washerwoman," the "Lady of the Garden," the + "Siamese Twins," and the "Ute God," and besides these may be seen the + "Wreck," the "Baggage Room," the "Eagle," and the "Mushroom." The + predominating tone is everywhere red, but black, brown, drab, white, + yellow, buff, and pink rocks add their quota to make up a harmonious and + striking color scheme, to which the gray and green of clinging mosses add + a final touch of picturesqueness. + </p> + <p> + At Flagstaff, Arizona, the train was discarded for the saddle and the + buckboard. And now Will felt himself quite in his element; it was a + never-failing pleasure to him to guide a large party of guests over plain + and mountain. From long experience he knew how to make ample provision for + their comfort. There were a number of wagons filled with supplies, three + buckboards, three ambulances, and a drove of ponies. Those who wished to + ride horseback could do so; if they grew tired of a bucking broncho, + opportunity for rest awaited them in ambulance or buckboard. The French + chef found his occupation gone when it was a question of cooking over a + camp-fire; so he spent his time picking himself up when dislodged by his + broncho. The daintiness of his menu was not a correct gauge for the + daintiness of his language on these numerous occasions. + </p> + <p> + Through the Grand Canon of the Colorado Will led the party, and the + dwellers of the Old World beheld some of the rugged magnificence of the + New. Across rushing rivers, through quiet valleys, and over lofty + mountains they proceeded, pausing on the borders of peaceful lakes, or + looking over dizzy precipices into yawning chasms. + </p> + <p> + There was no lack of game to furnish variety to their table; mountain + sheep, mountain lions, wildcats, deer, elk, antelope, and even coyotes and + porcupines, were shot, while the rivers furnished an abundance of fish. + </p> + <p> + It seemed likely at one time that there might be a hunt of bigger game + than any here mentioned, for in crossing the country of the Navajos the + party was watched and followed by mounted Indians. An attack was feared, + and had the red men opened fire, there would have been a very animated + defense; but the suspicious Indians were merely on the alert to see that + no trespass was committed, and when the orderly company passed out of + their territory the warriors disappeared. + </p> + <p> + The visitors were much impressed with the vastness and the undeveloped + resources of our country. They were also impressed with the climate, as + the thermometer went down to forty degrees below zero while they were on + Buckskin Mountain. Nature seemed to wish to aid Will in the effort to + exhibit novelties to his foreign guests, for she tried her hand at some + spectacular effects, and succeeded beyond mortal expectation. She treated + them to a few blizzards; and shut in by the mass of whirling, blinding + snowflakes, it is possible their thoughts reverted with a homesick longing + to the sunny slopes of France, the placid vales of Germany, or the foggy + mildness of Great Britain. + </p> + <p> + On the summit of San Francisco Mountain, the horse of Major St. John + Mildmay lost its footing, and began to slip on the ice toward a precipice + which looked down a couple of thousand feet. Will saw the danger, brought + out his ever-ready lasso, and dexterously caught the animal in time to + save it and its rider—a feat considered remarkable by the onlookers. + </p> + <p> + Accidents happened occasionally, many adventures were met with, Indian + alarms were given, and narrow were some of the escapes. On the whole, it + was a remarkable trail, and was written about under the heading, "A + Thousand Miles in the Saddle with Buffalo Bill." + </p> + <p> + At Salt Lake City the party broke up, each going his separate way. All + expressed great pleasure in the trip, and united in the opinion that + Buffalo Bill's reputation as guide and scout was a well-deserved one. + </p> + <p> + Will's knowledge of Indian nature stands him in good stead when he desires + to select the quota of Indians for the summer season of the "Wild West." + He sends word ahead to the tribe or reservation which he intends to visit. + The red men have all heard of the wonders of the great show; they are more + than ready to share in the delights of travel, and they gather at the + appointed place in great numbers. + </p> + <p> + Will stands on a temporary platform in the center of the group. He looks + around upon the swarthy faces, glowing with all the eagerness which the + stolid Indian nature will permit them to display. It is not always the + tallest nor the most comely men who are selected. The unerring judgment of + the scout, trained in Indian warfare, tells him who may be relied upon and + who are untrustworthy. A face arrests his attention—with a motion of + his hand he indicates the brave whom he has selected; another wave of the + hand and the fate of a second warrior is settled. Hardly a word is spoken, + and it is only a matter of a few moments' time before he is ready to step + down from his exalted position and walk off with his full contingent of + warriors following happily in his wake. + </p> + <p> + The "Wild West" had already engaged space just outside the World's Fair + grounds for an exhibit in 1893, and Will was desirous of introducing some + new and striking feature. He had succeeded in presenting to the people of + Europe some new ideas, and, in return, the European trip had furnished to + him the much-desired novelty. He had performed the work of an educator in + showing to Old World residents the conditions of a new civilization, and + the idea was now conceived of showing to the world gathered at the arena + in Chicago a representation of the cosmopolitan military force. He called + it "A Congress of the Rough Riders of the World." It is a combination at + once ethnological and military. + </p> + <p> + To the Indians and cowboys were added Mexicans, Cossacks, and South + Americans, with regular trained cavalry from Germany, France, England, and + the United States. This aggregation showed for the first time in 1893, and + was an instantaneous success. Of it Opie Read gives a fine description: + </p> + <p> + "Morse made the two worlds touch the tips of their fingers together. Cody + has made the warriors of all nations join hands. + </p> + <p> + "In one act we see the Indian, with his origin shrouded in history's + mysterious fog; the cowboy—nerve-strung product of the New World; + the American soldier, the dark Mexican, the glittering soldier of Germany, + the dashing cavalryman of France, the impulsive Irish dragoon, and that + strange, swift spirit from the plains of Russia, the Cossack. + </p> + <p> + "Marvelous theatric display, a drama with scarcely a word—Europe, + Asia, Africa, America in panoramic whirl, and yet as individualized as if + they had never left their own country." + </p> + <p> + In 1893 the horizon of my brother's interests enlarged. In July of that + year I was married to Mr. Hugh A. Wetmore, editor of the Duluth <i>Press</i>. + My steps now turned to the North, and the enterprising young city on the + shore of Lake Superior became my home. During the long years of my + widowhood my brother always bore toward me the attitude of guardian and + protector; I could rely upon his support in any venture I deemed a + promising one, and his considerate thoughtfulness did not fail when I + remarried. He wished to see me well established in my new home; he desired + to insure my happiness and prosperity, and with this end in view he + purchased the Duluth <i>Press</i> plant, erected a fine brick building to + serve as headquarters for the newspaper venture, and we became business + partners in the untried field of press work. + </p> + <p> + My brother had not yet seen the Zenith City. So in January of 1894 he + arranged to make a short visit to Duluth. We issued invitations for a + general reception, and the response was of the genuine Western kind—eighteen + hundred guests assembling in the new Duluth <i>Press</i> Building to bid + welcome and do honor to the world-famed Buffalo Bill. + </p> + <p> + His name is a household word, and there is a growing demand for anecdotes + concerning him. As he does not like to talk about himself, chroniclers + have been compelled to interview his associates, or are left to their own + resources. Like many of the stories told about Abraham Lincoln, some of + the current yarns about Buffalo Bill are of doubtful authority. + Nevertheless, a collection of those that are authentic would fill a + volume. Almost every plainsman or soldier who met my brother during the + Indian campaigns can tell some interesting tale about him that has never + been printed. During the youthful season of redundant hope and happiness + many of his ebullitions of wit were lost, but he was always beloved for + his good humor, which no amount of carnage could suppress. He was not + averse to church-going, though he was liable even in church to be carried + away by the rollicking spirit that was in him. Instance his visit to the + little temple which he had helped to build at North Platte. + </p> + <p> + His wife and sister were in the congregation, and this ought not only to + have kept him awake, but it should have insured perfect decorum on his + part. The opening hymn commenced with the words, "Oh, for a thousand + tongues to sing," etc. The organist, who played "by ear," started the tune + in too high a key to be followed by the choir and congregation, and had to + try again. A second attempt ended, like the first, in failure. "Oh, for a + thousand tongues to sing, my blest—" came the opening words for the + third time, followed by a squeak from the organ, and a relapse into + painful silence. Will could contain himself no longer, and blurted out: + "Start it at five hundred, and mebbe some of the rest of us can get in." + </p> + <p> + Another church episode occurred during the visit of the "Wild West" to the + Atlanta Exposition. A locally celebrated colored preacher had announced + that he would deliver a sermon on the subject of Abraham Lincoln. A party + of white people, including my brother, was made up, and repaired to the + church to listen to the eloquent address. Not wishing to make themselves + conspicuous, the white visitors took a pew in the extreme rear, but one of + the ushers, wishing to honor them, insisted on conducting them to a front + seat. When the contribution platter came around, our hero scooped a lot of + silver dollars from his pocket and deposited them upon the plate with such + force that the receptacle was tilted and its contents poured in a jingling + shower upon the floor. The preacher left his pulpit to assist in gathering + up the scattered treasure, requesting the congregation to sing a hymn of + thanksgiving while the task was being performed. At the conclusion of the + hymn the sable divine returned to the pulpit and supplemented his sermon + with the following remarks: + </p> + <p> + "Brudderen an' sisters: I obsahve dat Co'nel and Gen'l Buflo Bill am + present. [A roar of 'Amens' and 'Bless God's' arose from the audience.] + You will wifhold yuh Amens till I git froo. You all owes yuh freedom to + Abraham's bosom, but he couldn't hab went an' gone an' done it widout + Buflo Bill, who he'ped him wid de sinnoose ob wah! Abraham Lincum was de + brack man's fren'—Buflo Bill am de fren' ob us all. ['Amen!' + screamed a sister.] Yes, sistah, he am yo' fren', moreova, an' de fren' ob + every daughtah ob Jakup likewise. De chu'ch debt am a cross to us, an' to + dat cross he bends his back as was prefigu'd in de scriptu's ob ol', De + sun may move, aw de sun mought stan' still, but Buflo Bill nebba stan's + still—he's ma'ching froo Geo'gia wid his Christian cowboys to sto'm + de Lookout Mountain ob Zion. Deacon Green Henry Turner will lead us in + prayah fo' Buflo Bill." + </p> + <p> + The following is one of Will's own stories: During the first years of his + career as an actor Will had in one of his theatrical companies a Westerner + named Broncho Bill. There were Indians in the troupe, and a certain + missionary had joined the aggregation to look after the morals of the + Indians. Thinking that Broncho Bill would bear a little looking after + also, the good man secured a seat by his side at the dinner-table, and + remarked pleasantly: + </p> + <p> + "This is Mr. Broncho Bill, is it not?" + </p> + <p> + "Yaas." + </p> + <p> + "Where were you born?" + </p> + <p> + "Near Kit Bullard's mill, on Big Pigeon." + </p> + <p> + "Religious parents, I suppose?" + </p> + <p> + "Yaas." + </p> + <p> + "What is your denomination?" + </p> + <p> + "My what?" + </p> + <p> + "Your denomination?" + </p> + <p> + "O—ah—yaas. Smith & Wesson." + </p> + <p> + While on his European tour Will was entertained by a great many + potentates. At a certain dinner given in his honor by a wealthy English + lord, Will met for the first time socially a number of blustering British + officers, fresh from India. One of them addressed himself to the scout as + follows: "I understand you are a colonel. You Americans are blawsted fond + of military titles, don't cherneow. By gad, sir, we'll have to come over + and give you fellows a good licking!" + </p> + <p> + "What, again?" said the scout, so meekly that for an instant his assailant + did not know how hard he was hit, but he realized it when the retort was + wildly applauded by the company. + </p> + <p> + Before closing these pages I will give an account of an episode which + occurred during the Black Hills gold excitement, and which illustrates the + faculty my hero possesses of adapting himself to all emergencies. Mr. + Mahan, of West Superior, Wisconsin, and a party of adventurous + gold-seekers were being chased by a band of Indians, which they had + succeeded in temporarily eluding. They met Buffalo Bill at the head of a + squad of soldiers who were looking for redskins. The situation was + explained to the scout, whereupon he said: + </p> + <p> + "I am looking for that identical crowd. Now, you draw up in line, and I + will look you over and pick out the men that I want to go back with me." + </p> + <p> + Without any questioning he was able to select the men who really wanted to + return and fight the Indians. He left but two behind, but they were the + ones who would have been of no assistance had they been allowed to go to + the front. Will rode some distance in advance of his party, and when the + Indians sighted him, they thought he was alone, and made a dash for him. + Will whirled about and made his horse go as if fleeing for his life. His + men had been carefully ambushed. The Indians kept up a constant firing, + and when he reached a certain point Will pretended to be hit, and fell + from his horse. On came the Indians, howling like a choir of maniacs. The + next moment they were in a trap, and Will and his men opened fire on them, + literally annihilating the entire squad. It was the Indian style of + warfare, and the ten "good Indians" left upon the field, had they been + able to complain, would have had no right to do so. + </p> + <p> + Will continued the march, and as the day was well advanced, began looking + for a good place to camp. Arriving at the top of a ridge overlooking a + little river, Will saw a spot where he had camped on a previous + expedition; but, to his great disappointment, the place was in possession + of a large village of hostiles, who were putting up their tepees, building + camp fires, and making themselves comfortable for the coming night. + </p> + <p> + Quick as a flash Will decided what to do. "There are too many of them for + us to whip in the tired condition of ourselves and horses," said our hero. + Then he posted his men along the top of the ridge, with instructions to + show themselves at a signal from him, and descended at once, solitary and + alone, to the encampment of hostiles. Gliding rapidly up to the chief, + Will addressed him in his own dialect as follows: + </p> + <p> + "I want you to leave here right away, quick! I don't want to kill your + women and children. A big lot of soldiers are following me, and they will + destroy your whole village if you are here when they come." + </p> + <p> + As he waved his hand in the direction of the hilltop, brass buttons and + polished gun-barrels began to glitter in the rays of the setting sun, and + the chief ordered his braves to fold their tents and move on. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0029" id="link2HCH0029"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXX. — CODY DAY AT THE OMAHA EXPOSITION. + </h2> + <p> + SINCE 1893 the "Wild West" exhibitions have been restricted to the various + cities of our own land. Life in "Buffalo Bill's Tented City," as it is + called, is like life in a small village. There are some six hundred + persons in the various departments. Many of the men have their families + with them; the Indians have their squaws and papooses, and the variety of + nationalities, dialects, and costumes makes the miniature city an + interesting and entertaining one. + </p> + <p> + The Indians may be seen eating bundles of meat from their fingers and + drinking tankards of iced buttermilk. The Mexicans, a shade more + civilized, shovel with their knives great quantities of the same food into + the capacious receptacles provided by nature. The Americans, despite what + is said of their rapid eating, take time to laugh and crack jokes, and + finish their repast with a product only known to the highest civilization—ice-cream. + </p> + <p> + When the "Wild West" visited Boston, one hot June day the parade passed a + children's hospital on the way to the show-grounds. Many of the little + invalids were unable to leave their couches. All who could do so ran to + the open windows and gazed eagerly at the passing procession, and the + greatest excitement prevailed. These more fortunate little ones described, + as best they could, to the little sufferers who could not leave their beds + the wonderful things they saw. The Indians were the special admiration of + the children. After the procession passed, one wee lad, bedridden by + spinal trouble, cried bitterly because he had not seen it. A kind-hearted + nurse endeavored to soothe the child, but words proved unavailing. Then a + bright idea struck the patient woman; she told him he might write a letter + to the great "Buffalo Bill" himself and ask him for an Indian's picture. + </p> + <p> + The idea was taken up with delight, and the child spent an eager hour in + penning the letter. It was pathetic in its simplicity. The little sufferer + told the great exhibitor that he was sick in bed, was unable to see the + Indians when they passed the hospital, and that he longed to see a + photograph of one. + </p> + <p> + The important missive was mailed, and even the impatient little invalid + knew it was useless to expect an answer that day. The morning had hardly + dawned before a child's bright eyes were open. Every noise was listened + to, and he wondered when the postman would bring him a letter. The nurse + hardly dared to hope that a busy man like Buffalo Bill would take time to + respond to the wish of a sick child. + </p> + <p> + "Colonel Cody is a very busy man," she said. "We must be patient." + </p> + <p> + At perhaps the twentieth repetition of this remark the door opened + noiselessly. In came a six-foot Indian, clad in leather trousers and + wrapped in a scarlet blanket. He wore a head-dress of tall, waving + feathers, and carried his bow in his hand. + </p> + <p> + The little invalids gasped in wonder; then they shrieked with delight. One + by one, silent and noiseless, but smiling, six splendid warriors followed + the first. The visitors had evidently been well trained, and had received + explicit directions as to their actions. + </p> + <p> + So unusual a sight in the orderly hospital so startled the nurse that she + could not even speak. The warriors drew up in a line and saluted her. The + happy children were shouting in such glee that the poor woman's fright was + unnoticed. + </p> + <p> + The Indians ranged themselves in the narrow space between the cots, laid + aside their gay blankets, placed their bows upon the floor, and waving + their arms to and fro, executed a quiet war-dance. A sham battle was + fought, followed by a song of victory. After this the blankets were again + donned, the kindly red men went away, still smiling as benignly as their + war paint would allow them to do. A cheer of gratitude and delight + followed them down the broad corridors. The happy children talked about + Buffalo Bill and the "Wild West" for weeks after this visit. + </p> + <p> + North Platte had long urged my brother to bring the exhibition there. The + citizens wished to see the mammoth tents spread over the ground where the + scout once followed the trail on the actual war-path; they desired that + their famous fellow-citizen should thus honor his home town. A performance + was finally given there on October 12, 1896, the special car bearing Will + and his party arriving the preceding day, Sunday. The writer of these + chronicles joined the party in Omaha, and we left that city after the + Saturday night performance. + </p> + <p> + The Union Pacific Railroad had offered my brother every inducement to make + this trip; among other things, the officials promised to make special time + in running from Omaha to North Platte. + </p> + <p> + When we awoke Sunday morning, we found that in some way the train had been + delayed, that instead of making special time we were several hours late. + Will telegraphed this fact to the officials. At the next station + double-headers were put on, and the gain became at once perceptible. At + Grand Island a congratulatory telegram was sent, noting the gain in time. + At the next station we passed the Lightning Express, the "flyer," to which + usually everything gives way, and the good faith of the company was + evidenced by the fact that this train was side-tracked to make way for + Buffalo Bill's "Wild West" train. Another message was sent over the wires + to the officials; it read as follows: + </p> + <p> + "Have just noticed that Lightning Express is side-tracked to make way for + Wild west. I herewith promote you to top seat in heaven." + </p> + <p> + The trip was a continued ovation. Every station was thronged, and Will was + obliged to step out on the platform and make a bow to the assembled + crowds, his appearance being invariably greeted with a round of cheers. + When we reached the station at North Platte, we found that the entire + population had turned out to receive their fellow-townsman. The "Cody + Guards," a band to which Will presented beautiful uniforms of white + broadcloth trimmed with gold braid, struck up the strains of "See, the + Conquering Hero Comes." The mayor attempted to do the welcoming honors of + the city, but it was impossible for him to make himself heard. Cheer + followed cheer from the enthusiastic crowd. + </p> + <p> + We had expected to reach the place some hours earlier, but our late + arrival encroached upon the hour of church service. The ministers + discovered that it was impossible to hold their congregations; so they + were dismissed, and the pastors accompanied them to the station, one + reverend gentleman humorously remarking: + </p> + <p> + "We shall be obliged to take for our text this morning 'Buffalo Bill and + his Wild West,' and will now proceed to the station for the discourse." + </p> + <p> + Will's tally-ho coach, drawn by six horses, was in waiting for the + incoming party. The members of his family seated themselves in that + conveyance, and we passed through the town, preceded and followed by a + band. As we arrived at the home residence, both bands united in a + welcoming strain of martial music. + </p> + <p> + My oldest sister, Julia, whose husband is manager of "Scout's Rest Ranch," + when informed that the "Wild West" was to visit North Platte, conceived + the idea of making this visit the occasion of a family reunion. We had + never met in an unbroken circle since the days of our first separation, + but as a result of her efforts we sat thus that evening in my brother's + home. The next day our mother-sister, as she had always been regarded, + entertained us at "Scout's Rest Ranch." + </p> + <p> + The "Wild West" exhibition had visited Duluth for the first time that same + year. This city has a population of 65,000. North Platte numbers 3,500. + When he wrote to me of his intention to take the exhibition to Duluth, + Will offered to make a wager that his own little town would furnish a + bigger crowd than would the city of my residence. I could not accept any + such inferred slur upon the Zenith City, so accepted the wager, a silk hat + against a fur cloak. + </p> + <p> + October 12th, the date of the North Platte performance, dawned bright and + cloudless. "To-day decides our wager," said Will. "I expect there will be + two or three dozen people out on this prairie. Duluth turned out a good + many thousands, so I suppose you think your wager as good as won." + </p> + <p> + The manager of the tents evidently thought the outlook a forlorn one. I + shared his opinion, and was, in fancy, already the possessor of a fine fur + cloak. + </p> + <p> + "Colonel, shall we stretch the full canvas?" asked the tentman. + </p> + <p> + "Every inch of it," was the prompt response. "We want to show North Platte + the capacity of the 'Wild West,' at any rate." + </p> + <p> + As we started for the grounds Will was evidently uncertain over the + outcome, in spite of his previous boast of the reception North Platte + would give him. "We'll have a big tent and plenty of room to spare in it," + he observed. + </p> + <p> + But as we drove to the grounds we soon began to see indications of a + coming crowd. The people were pouring in from all directions; the very + atmosphere seemed populated; as the dust was nearly a foot deep on the + roads, the moving populace made the air almost too thick for breathing. It + was during the time of the county fair, and managers of the Union Pacific + road announced that excursion trains would be run from every town and + hamlet, the officials and their families coming up from Omaha on a special + car. Where the crowds came from it was impossible to say. It looked as if + a feat of magic had been performed, and that the stones were turned into + men, or, perchance, that, as in olden tales, they came up out of the + earth. + </p> + <p> + Accustomed though he is to the success of the show, Will was dumfounded by + this attendance. As the crowds poured in I became alarmed about my wager. + I visited the ticket-seller and asked how the matter stood. + </p> + <p> + "It's pretty close," he answered. "Duluth seems to be dwindling away + before the mightiness of the Great American Desert." + </p> + <p> + This section of the country, which was a wilderness only a few years ago, + assembled over ten thousand people to attend a performance of the "Wild + West." + </p> + <p> + Omaha, where the opening performance of this exhibition was given, honored + Will last year by setting apart one day as "Cody Day." August 31st was + devoted to his reception, and a large and enthusiastic crowd gathered to + do the Nebraska pioneer honor. The parade reached the fair-grounds at + eleven o'clock, where it was fittingly received by one hundred and fifty + mounted Indians from the encampment. A large square space had been + reserved for the reception of the party in front of the Sherman gate. As + it filed through, great applause was sent up by the waiting multitude, and + the noise became deafening when my brother made his appearance on a + magnificent chestnut horse, the gift of General Miles. He was accompanied + by a large party of officials and Nebraska pioneers, who dismounted to + seat themselves on the grand-stand. Prominent among these were the + governor of the state, Senator Thurston, and Will's old friend and first + employer, Mr. Alexander Majors. As Will ascended the platform he was met + by General Manager Clarkson, who welcomed him in the name of the president + of the exposition, whose official duties precluded his presence. Governor + Holcomb was then introduced, and his speech was a brief review of the + evolution of Nebraska from a wilderness of a generation ago to the great + state which produced this marvelous exposition. Manager Clarkson remarked, + as he introduced Mr. Majors: "Here is the father of them all, Alexander + Majors, a man connected with the very earliest history of Nebraska, and + the business father of Colonel Cody." + </p> + <p> + This old pioneer was accorded a reception only a shade less enthusiastic + than that which greeted the hero of the day. He said: + </p> + <p> + "<i>Gentlemen, and My Boy, Colonel Cody</i>: [Laughter.] Can I say a few + words of welcome? Friend Creighton and I came down here together to-day, + and he thought I was not equal to the occasion. Gentlemen, I do not know + whether I am equal to the occasion at this time, but I am going to do the + best for you that I can. Give me your hand, Colonel. Gentlemen, + forty-three years ago this day, this fine-looking physical specimen of + manhood was brought to me by his mother—a little boy nine years old—and + little did I think at that time that the boy that was standing before me, + asking for employment of some kind by which I could afford to pay his + mother a little money for his services, was going to be a boy of such + destiny as he has turned out to be. In this country we have great men, we + have great men in Washington, we have men who are famous as politicians in + this country; we have great statesmen, we have had Jackson and Grant, and + we had Lincoln; we have men great in agriculture and in stock-growing, and + in the manufacturing business men who have made great names for + themselves, who have stood high in the nation. Next, and even greater, we + have a Cody. He, gentlemen, stands before you now, known the wide world + over as the last of the great scouts. When the boy Cody came to me, + standing straight as an arrow, and looked me in the face, I said to my + partner, Mr. Russell, who was standing by my side, 'We will take this + little boy, and we will pay him a man's wages, because he can ride a pony + just as well as a man can.' He was lighter and could do service of that + kind when he was nine years old. I remember when we paid him twenty-five + dollars for the first month's work. He was paid in half-dollars, and he + got fifty of them. He tied them up in his little handkerchief, and when he + got home he untied the handkerchief and spread the money all over the + table." + </p> + <p> + Colonel Cody—"I have been spreading it ever since." + </p> + <p> + A few remarks followed indicative of Mr. Majors's appreciation of the + exhibition, and he closed with the remark, "Bless your precious heart, + Colonel Cody!" and sat down, amid great applause. + </p> + <p> + Senator Thurston's remarks were equally happy. He said: + </p> + <p> + "Colonel Cody, this is your day. This is your exposition. This is your + city. And we all rejoice that Nebraska is your state. You have carried the + fame of our country and of our state all over the civilized world; you + have been received and honored by princes, by emperors and by kings; the + titled women in the courts of the nations of the world have been + captivated by your charm of manner and your splendid manhood. You are + known wherever you go, abroad or in the United States, as Colonel Cody, + the best representative of the great and progressive West. You stand here + to-day in the midst of a wonderful assembly. Here are representatives of + the heroic and daring characters of most of the nations of the world. You + are entitled to the honor paid you to-day, and especially entitled to it + here. This people know you as a man who has carried this demonstration of + yours to foreign lands, and exhibited it at home. You have not been a + showman in the common sense of the word. You have been a great national + and international educator of men. You have furnished a demonstration of + the possibilities of our country that has advanced us in the opinion of + all the world. But we who have been with you a third, or more than a + third, of a century, we remember you more dearly and tenderly than others + do. We remember that when this whole Western land was a wilderness, when + these representatives of the aborigines were attempting to hold their own + against the onward tide of civilization, the settler and the hardy + pioneer, the women and the children, felt safe whenever Cody rode along + the frontier; he was their protector and defender. + </p> + <p> + "Cody, this is your home. You live in the hearts of the people of our + state. God bless you and keep you and prosper you in your splendid work." + </p> + <p> + Will was deeply touched by these strong expressions from his friends. As + he moved to the front of the platform to respond, his appearance was the + signal for a prolonged burst of cheers. He said: + </p> + <p> + "You cannot expect me to make adequate response for the honor which you + have bestowed upon me to-day. You have overwhelmed my speaking faculties. + I cannot corral enough ideas to attempt a coherent reply in response to + the honor which you have accorded me. How little I dreamed in the long ago + that the lonely path of the scout and the pony-express rider would lead me + to the place you have assigned me to-day. Here, near the banks of the + mighty Missouri, which flows unvexed to the sea, my thoughts revert to the + early days of my manhood. I looked eastward across this rushing tide to + the Atlantic, and dreamed that in that long-settled region all men were + rich and all women happy. My friends, that day has come and gone. I stand + among you a witness that nowhere in the broad universe are men richer in + manly integrity, and women happier in their domestic kingdom, than here in + our own Nebraska. + </p> + <p> + "I have sought fortune in many lands, but wherever I have wandered, the + flag of our beloved state has been unfurled to every breeze: from the + Platte to the Danube, from the Tiber to the Clyde, the emblem of our + sovereign state has always floated over the 'Wild West.' Time goes on and + brings with it new duties and responsibilities, but we 'old men,' we who + are called old-timers, cannot forget the trials and tribulations which we + had to encounter while paving the path for civilization and national + prosperity. + </p> + <p> + "The whistle of the locomotive has drowned the howl of the coyote; the + barb-wire fence has narrowed the range of the cow-puncher; but no material + evidence of prosperity can obliterate our contribution to Nebraska's + imperial progress. + </p> + <p> + "Through your kindness to-day I have tasted the sweetest fruit that grows + on ambition's tree. If you extend your kindness and permit me to fall back + into the ranks as a high private, my cup will be full. + </p> + <p> + "In closing, let me call upon the 'Wild West, the Congress of Rough Riders + of the World,' to voice their appreciation of the kindness you have shown + them to-day." + </p> + <p> + At a given signal the "Wild West" gave three ringing cheers for Nebraska + and the Trans-Mississippi Exposition. The cowboy band followed with the + "Red, White, and Blue," and an exposition band responded with the + "Star-Spangled Banner." The company fell into line for a parade around the + grounds, Colonel Cody following on his chestnut horse, Duke. After him + came the officials and invited guests in carriages; then came the + Cossacks, the Cubans, the German cavalry, the United States cavalry, the + Mexicans, and representatives of twenty-five countries. + </p> + <p> + As the parade neared its end, my brother turned to his friends and + suggested that as they had been detained long past the dinner-hour in + doing him honor, he would like to compensate them by giving an informal + spread. This invitation was promptly accepted, and the company adjourned + to a cafe, where a tempting luncheon was spread before them. Never before + had such a party of pioneers met around a banquet-table, and many were the + reminiscences of early days brought out. Mr. Majors, the originator of the + Pony Express line, was there. The two Creighton brothers, who put through + the first telegraph line, and took the occupation of the express riders + from them, had seats of honor. A. D. Jones was introduced as the man who + carried the first postoffice of Omaha around in his hat, and who still + wore the hat. Numbers of other pioneers were there, and each contributed + his share of racy anecdotes and pleasant reminiscences. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0030" id="link2HCH0030"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXI. — THE LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS. + </h2> + <p> + THE story of frontier days is a tale that is told. The "Wild West" has + vanished like mist in the sun before the touch of the two great magicians + of the nineteenth century—steam and electricity. + </p> + <p> + The route of the old historic Santa Fe trail is nearly followed by the + Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, which was completed in 1880. The + silence of the prairie was once broken by the wild war-whoop of the Indian + as he struggled to maintain his supremacy over some adjoining tribe; the + muffled roar caused by the heavy hoof-beats of thousands of buffaloes was + almost the only other sound that broke the stillness. To-day the shriek of + the engine, the clang of the bell, and the clatter of the car-wheels form + a ceaseless accompaniment to the cheerful hum of busy life which + everywhere pervades the wilderness of thirty years ago. Almost the only + memorials of the struggles and privations of the hardy trappers and + explorers, whose daring courage made the achievements of the present + possible, are the historic landmarks which bear the names of some of these + brave men. But these are very few in number. Pike's Peak lifts its snowy + head to heaven in silent commemoration of the early traveler whose name it + bears. Simpson's Rest, a lofty obelisk, commemorates the mountaineer whose + life was for the most part passed upon its rugged slopes, and whose last + request was that he should be buried on its summit. Another cloud-capped + mountain-height bears the name of Fisher's Peak, and thereby hangs a tale. + </p> + <p> + {illust. caption = {signature of} W. F. Cody} + </p> + <p> + Captain Fisher commanded a battery in the army engaged in the conquest of + New Mexico. His command encamped near the base of the mountain which now + bears his name. Deceived by the illusive effect of the atmosphere, he + started out for a morning stroll to the supposed near-by elevation, + announcing that he would return in time for breakfast. The day passed with + no sign of Captain Fisher, and night lengthened into a new day. When the + second day passed without his return, his command was forced to believe + that he had fallen a prey to lurking Indians, and the soldiers were sadly + taking their seats for their evening meal when the haggard and wearied + captain put in an appearance. His morning stroll had occupied two days and + a night; but he set out to visit the mountain, and he did it. + </p> + <p> + The transcontinental line which supplanted the Old Salt Lake trail, and is + now known as the Union Pacific Railroad, antedated the Atchison, Topeka + and Santa Fe by eleven years. The story of the difficulties encountered, + and the obstacles overcome in the building of this road, furnishes greater + marvels than any narrated in the Arabian Nights' Tales. + </p> + <p> + This railroad superseded the Pony Express line, the reeking, panting + horses of which used their utmost endeavor and carried their tireless + riders fifteen miles an hour, covering their circuit in eight days' time + at their swiftest rate of speed. The iron horse gives a sniff of disdain, + and easily traverses the same distance, from the Missouri line to the + Pacific Coast, in three days. + </p> + <p> + Travelers who step aboard the swiftly moving, luxurious cars of to-day + give little thought to their predecessors; for the dangers the early + voyagers encountered they have no sympathy. The traveler in the stagecoach + was beset by perils without from the Indians and the outlaws; he faced the + equally unpleasant companionship of fatigue and discomfort within. The + jolting, swinging coach bounced and jounced the unhappy passengers as the + reckless driver lashed the flying horses. Away they galloped over + mountains and through ravines, with no cessation of speed. Even the + shipper pays the low rate of transportation asked to-day with reluctance, + and forgets the great debt he owes this adjunct of our civilization. + </p> + <p> + But great as are the practical benefits derived from the railways, we + cannot repress a sigh as we meditate on the picturesque phases of the + vanished era. Gone are the bullwhackers and the prairie-schooners! Gone + are the stagecoaches and their drivers! Gone are the Pony Express riders! + Gone are the trappers, the hardy pioneers, the explorers, and the scouts! + Gone is the prairie monarch, the shaggy, unkempt buffalo! + </p> + <p> + In 1869, only thirty years ago, the train on the Kansas Pacific-road was + delayed eight hours in consequence of the passage of an enormous herd of + buffaloes over the track in front of it. But the easy mode of travel + introduced by the railroad brought hundreds of sportsmen to the plains, + who wantonly killed this noble animal solely for sport, and thousands of + buffaloes were sacrificed for their skins, for which there was a + widespread demand. From 1868 to 1881, in Kansas alone, there was paid out + $2,500,000 for the bones of this animal, which were gathered up on the + prairie and used in the carbon works of the country. This represents a + total death-rate of 31,000,000 buffaloes in one state. As far as I am able + to ascertain, there remains at this writing only one herd, of less than + twenty animals, out of all the countless thousands that roamed the prairie + so short a time ago, and this herd is carefully preserved in a private + park. There may be a few isolated specimens in menageries and shows, but + this wholesale slaughter has resulted in the practical extermination of + the species. + </p> + <p> + As with the animal native to our prairies, so has it been with the race + native to our land. We may deplore the wrongs of the Indian, and + sympathize with his efforts to wrest justice from his so-called + protectors. We may admire his poetic nature, as evidenced in the myths and + legends of the race. We may be impressed by the stately dignity and innate + ability as orator and statesman which he displays. We may preserve the + different articles of his picturesque garb as relics. But the old, old + drama of history is repeating itself before the eyes of this generation; + the inferior must give way to the superior civilization. The poetic, + picturesque, primitive red man must inevitably succumb before the + all-conquering tread of his pitiless, practical, progressive white + brother. + </p> + <p> + Cooper has immortalized for us the extinction of a people in the "Last of + the Mohicans." Many another tribe has passed away, unhonored and unsung. + Westward the "Star of Empire" takes its way; the great domain west of the + Mississippi is now peopled by the white race, while the Indians are shut + up in reservations. Their doom is sealed; their sun is set. "Kismet" has + been spoken of them; the total extinction of the race is only a question + of time. In the words of Rudyard Kipling: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Take up the White Man's burden— + Ye dare not stoop to less— + Nor call too loud on freedom + To cloke your weariness. + By all ye will or whisper, + By all ye leave or do, + The silent, sullen peoples + Shall weigh your God and you." +</pre> + <p> + Of this past epoch of our national life there remains but one well-known + representative. That one is my brother. He occupies a unique place in the + portrait gallery of famous Americans to-day. It is not alone his + commanding personality, nor the success he has achieved along various + lines, which gives him the strong hold he has on the hearts of the + American people, or the absorbing interest he possesses in the eyes of + foreigners. The fact that in his own person he condenses a period of + national history is a large factor in the fascination he exercises over + others. He may fitly be named the "Last of the Great Scouts." He has had + great predecessors. The mantle of Kit Carson has fallen upon his + shoulders, and he wears it worthily. He has not, and never can have, a + successor. He is the vanishing-point between the rugged wilderness of the + past in Western life and the vast achievement in the present. + </p> + <p> + When the "Wild West" disbands, the last vestige of our frontier life + passes from the scene of active realities, and becomes a matter of + history. + </p> + <p> + "Life is real, life is earnest," sings the poet, and real and earnest it + has been for my brother. It has been spent in others' service. I cannot + recall a time when he has not thus been laden with heavy burdens. Yet for + himself he has won a reputation, national and international. A naval + officer visiting in China relates that as he stepped ashore he was offered + two books for purchase—one the Bible, the other a "Life of Buffalo + Bill." + </p> + <p> + For nearly half a century, which comprises his childhood, youth, and + manhood, my brother has been before the public. He can scarcely be said to + have had a childhood, so early was he thrust among the rough scenes of + frontier life, therein to play a man's part at an age when most boys think + of nothing more than marbles and tops. He enlisted in the Union army + before he was of age, and did his share in upholding the flag during the + Civil War as ably as many a veteran of forty, and since then he has + remained, for the most part, in his country's service, always ready to go + to the front in any time of danger. He has achieved distinction in many + and various ways. He is president of the largest irrigation enterprise in + the world, president of a colonization company, of a town-site company, + and of two transportation companies. He is the foremost scout and champion + buffalo-hunter of America, one of the crack shots of the world, and its + greatest popular entertainer. He is broad-minded and progressive in his + views, inheriting from both father and mother a hatred of oppression in + any form. Taking his mother as a standard, he believes the franchise is a + birthright which should appertain to intelligence and education, rather + than to sex. It is his public career that lends an interest to his private + life, in which he has been a devoted and faithful son and brother, a kind + and considerate husband, a loving and generous father. "Only the names of + them that are upright, brave, and true can be honorably known," were the + mother's dying words; and honorably known has his name become, in his own + country and across the sea. + </p> + <p> + With the fondest expectation he looks forward to the hour when he shall + make his final bow to the public and retire to private life. It is his + long-cherished desire to devote his remaining years to the development of + the Big Horn Basin, in Wyoming. He has visited every country in Europe, + and has looked upon the most beautiful of Old World scenes. He is familiar + with all the most splendid regions of his own land, but to him this new El + Dorado of the West is the fairest spot on earth. + </p> + <p> + He has already invested thousands of dollars and given much thought and + attention toward the accomplishment of his pet scheme. An irrigating ditch + costing nearly a million dollars now waters this fertile region, and + various other improvements are under way, to prepare a land flowing with + milk and honey for the reception of thousands of homeless wanderers. Like + the children of Israel, these would never reach the promised land but for + the untiring efforts of a Moses to go on before; but unlike the ancient + guide and scout of sacred history, my brother has been privileged to + penetrate the remotest corner of this primitive land of Canaan. The log + cabin he has erected there is not unlike the one of our childhood days. + Here he finds his haven of rest, his health-resort, to which he hastens + when the show season is over and he is free again for a space. He finds + refreshment in the healthful, invigorating atmosphere of his chosen + retreat; he enjoys sweet solace from the cares of life under the influence + of its magnificent scenery. + </p> + <p> + And here, in the shadow of the Rockies, yet in the very "light of things," + it is his wish to finish his days as he began them, in opening up for + those who come after him the great regions of the still undeveloped West, + and in poring over the lesson learned as a boy on the plains: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "That nature never did betray + The heart that loved her." +</pre> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1248 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..da3eb5a --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #1248 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1248) diff --git a/old/1248-h.zip b/old/1248-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..304801b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1248-h.zip diff --git a/old/1248-h/1248-h.htm b/old/1248-h/1248-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ecf8960 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1248-h/1248-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,10956 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Last of the Great Scouts, by Helen Cody Wetmore + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +Project Gutenberg's Last of the Great Scouts, by Helen Cody Wetmore + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Last of the Great Scouts + The Life Story of William F. Cody ["Buffalo Bill"] + +Author: Helen Cody Wetmore + +Release Date: February 18, 2006 [EBook #1248] +Last Updated: February 7, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Keller and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS + </h1> + <h2> + The Life Story of William F. Cody ["Buffalo Bill" Cody] <br /> <br /> by + Helen Cody Wetmore + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> GENEALOGY OF BUFFALO BILL. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE. </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> <big><b>LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS.</b></big> + </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I.</a> THE OLD + HOMESTEAD IN IOWA. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. </a> + WILL'S FIRST INDIAN. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III. + </a> THE SHADOW OF PARTISAN STRIFE. <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. </a> PERSECUTION + CONTINUES. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V. </a> + THE "BOY EXTRA." <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI. </a> + FAMILY DEFENDER AND HOUSEHOLD TEASE. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0007"> + CHAPTER VII. </a> INDIAN ENCOUNTER AND SCHOOL-DAY INCIDENTS. + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII. </a> DEATH + AND BURIAL OF TURK. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX. </a> + WILL AS PONY EXPRESS RIDER. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER + X. </a> ECHOES FROM SUMTER. <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI. </a> A SHORT BUT DASHING + INDIAN CAMPAIGN. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII. </a> + THE MOTHER'S LAST ILLNESS. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER + XIII. </a> IN THE SECRET-SERVICE. <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XV. </a> WILL AS A BENEDICT. + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XVI. </a> HOW + THE SOBRIQUET OF "BUFFALO BILL" WAS WON. <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVII. </a> SATANTA, CHIEF OF + THE KIOWAS. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVIII. </a> + WILL MADE CHIEF OF SCOUTS. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER + XIX. </a> ARMY LIFE AT FORT M'PHERSON. <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XX. </a> PA-HAS-KA, THE + LONG-HAIRED CHIEF. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER XXI. </a> + THE HUNT OF THE GRAND DUKE ALEXIS. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0021"> + CHAPTER XXII. </a> THEATRICAL EXPERIENCES. <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0022"> CHAPTER XXIII. </a> THE GOVERNMENT'S + INDIAN POLICY. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0023"> CHAPTER XXIV. </a> + LITERARY WORK. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0024"> CHAPTER XXV. </a> + FIRST VISIT TO THE VALLEY OF THE BIG HORN. <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0025"> CHAPTER XXVI. </a> TOUR OF GREAT + BRITAIN. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0026"> CHAPTER XXVII. </a> + RETURN OF THE "WILD WEST" TO AMERICA. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0027"> + CHAPTER XXVIII. </a> A TRIBUTE TO GENERAL + MILES. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0028"> CHAPTER XXIX. </a> + THE "WILD WEST" AT THE WORLD'S FAIR. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0029"> + CHAPTER XXX. </a> CODY DAY AT THE OMAHA EXPOSITION. <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0030"> CHAPTER XXXI. </a> THE LAST OF THE + GREAT SCOUTS. + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + GENEALOGY OF BUFFALO BILL. + </h2> + <p> + The following genealogical sketch was compiled in 1897. The crest is + copied from John Rooney's "Genealogical History of Irish Families." + </p> + <p> + It is not generally known that genuine royal blood courses in Colonel + Cody's veins. He is a lineal descendant of Milesius, king of Spain, that + famous monarch whose three sons, Heber, Heremon, and Ir, founded the first + dynasty in Ireland, about the beginning of the Christian era. The Cody + family comes through the line of Heremon. The original name was Tireach, + which signifies "The Rocks." Muiredach Tireach, one of the first of this + line, and son of Fiacha Straivetine, was crowned king of Ireland, Anno + Domini 320. Another of the line became king of Connaught, Anno Domini 701. + The possessions of the Sept were located in the present counties of Clare, + Galway, and Mayo. The names Connaught-Gallway, after centuries, gradually + contracted to Connallway, Connellway, Connelly, Conly, Cory, Coddy, Coidy, + and Cody, and is clearly shown by ancient indentures still traceable among + existing records. On the maternal side, Colonel Cody can, without + difficulty, follow his lineage to the best blood of England. Several of + the Cody family emigrated to America in 1747, settling in Maryland, + Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The name is frequently mentioned in + Revolutionary history. Colonel Cody is a member of the Cody family of + Revolutionary fame. Like the other Spanish-Irish families, the Codys have + their proof of ancestry in the form of a crest, the one which Colonel Cody + is entitled to use being printed herewith. The lion signifies Spanish + origin. It is the same figure that forms a part of the royal coat-of-arms + of Spain to this day—Castile and Leon. The arm and cross denote that + the descent is through the line of Heremon, whose posterity were among the + first to follow the cross, as a symbol of their adherence to the Christian + faith. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PREFACE. + </h2> + <p> + In presenting this volume to the public the writer has a twofold purpose. + For a number of years there has been an increasing demand for an authentic + biography of "Buffalo Bill," and in response, many books of varying value + have been submitted; yet no one of them has borne the hall-mark of + veracious history. Naturally, there were incidents in Colonel Cody's life—more + especially in the earlier years—that could be given only by those + with whom he had grown up from childhood. For many incidents of his later + life I am indebted to his own and others' accounts. I desire to + acknowledge obligation to General P. H. Sheridan, Colonel Inman, Colonel + Ingraham, and my brother for valuable assistance furnished by Sheridan's + Memoirs, "The Santa Fe Trail," "The Great Salt Lake Trail," "Buffalo + Bill's Autobiography," and "Stories from the Life of Buffalo Bill." + </p> + <p> + A second reason that prompted the writing of my brother's life-story is + purely personal. The sobriquet of "Buffalo Bill" has conveyed to many + people an impression of his personality that is far removed from the + facts. They have pictured in fancy a rough frontier character, without + tenderness and true nobility. But in very truth has the poet sung: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "The bravest are the tenderest— + The loving are the daring." +</pre> + <p> + The public knows my brother as boy Indian-slayer, a champion + buffalo-hunter, a brave soldier, a daring scout, an intrepid frontiersman, + and a famous exhibitor. It is only fair to him that a glimpse be given of + the parts he played behind the scenes—devotion to a widowed mother, + that pushed the boy so early upon a stage of ceaseless action, continued + care and tenderness displayed in later years, and the generous + thoughtfulness of manhood's prime. + </p> + <p> + Thus a part of my pleasant task has been to enable the public to see my + brother through his sister's eyes—eyes that have seen truly if + kindly. If I have been tempted into praise where simple narrative might to + the reader seem all that was required, if I have seemed to exaggerate in + any of my history's details, I may say that I am not conscious of having + set down more than "a plain, unvarnished tale." Embarrassed with riches of + fact, I have had no thought of fiction. H. C. W. + </p> + <p> + CODYVIEW, DULUTH, MINNESOTA, February 26, 1899. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS. + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. — THE OLD HOMESTEAD IN IOWA. + </h2> + <p> + A PLEASANT, roomy farm-house, set in the sunlight against a background of + cool, green wood and mottled meadow—this is the picture that my + earliest memories frame for me. To this home my parents, Isaac and Mary + Cody, had moved soon after their marriage. + </p> + <p> + The place was known as the Scott farm, and was situated in Scott County, + Iowa, near the historic little town of Le Clair, where, but a few years + before, a village of the Fox Indians had been located; where Black Hawk + and his thousand warriors had assembled for their last war-dance; where + the marquee of General Scott was erected, and the treaty with the Sacs and + Foxes drawn up; and where, in obedience to the Sac chief's terms, Antoine + Le Clair, the famous half-breed Indian scholar and interpreter, had built + his cabin, and given to the place his name. Here, in this atmosphere of + pioneer struggle and Indian warfare—in the farm-house in the dancing + sunshine, with the background of wood and meadow—my brother, William + Frederick Cody, was born, on the 26th day of February, 1846. + </p> + <p> + Of the good, old-fashioned sort was our family, numbering five daughters + and two sons—Martha, Samuel, Julia, William, Eliza, Helen, and May. + Samuel, a lad of unusual beauty of face and nature, was killed through an + unhappy accident before he was yet fourteen. + </p> + <p> + He was riding "Betsy Baker," a mare well known among old settlers in Iowa + as one of speed and pedigree, yet displaying at times a most malevolent + temper, accompanied by Will, who, though only seven years of age, yet sat + his pony with the ease and grace that distinguished the veteran rider of + the future. Presently Betsy Baker became fractious, and sought to throw + her rider. In vain did she rear and plunge; he kept his saddle. Then, + seemingly, she gave up the fight, and Samuel cried, in boyish exultation: + </p> + <p> + "Ah, Betsy Baker, you didn't quite come it that time!" + </p> + <p> + His last words! As if she knew her rider was a careless victor off his + guard, the mare reared suddenly and flung herself upon her back, crushing + the daring boy beneath her. + </p> + <p> + Though to us younger children our brother Samuel was but a shadowy memory, + in him had centered our parents' fondest hopes and aims. These, naturally, + were transferred to the younger, now the only son, and the hope that + mother, especially, held for him was strangely stimulated by the + remembrance of the mystic divination of a soothsayer in the years agone. + My mother was a woman of too much intelligence and force of character to + nourish an average superstition; but prophecies fulfilled will temper, + though they may not shake, the smiling unbelief of the most hard-headed + skeptic. Mother's moderate skepticism was not proof against the strange + fulfillment of one prophecy, which fell out in this wise: + </p> + <p> + To a Southern city, which my mother visited when a girl, there came a + celebrated fortune-teller, and led by curiosity, my mother and my aunt one + day made two of the crowd that thronged the sibyl's drawing-rooms. + </p> + <p> + Both received with laughing incredulity the prophecy that my aunt and the + two children with her would be dead in a fortnight; but the dread augury + was fulfilled to the letter. All three were stricken with yellow fever, + and died within less than the time set. This startling confirmation of the + soothsayer's divining powers not unnaturally affected my mother's belief + in that part of the prophecy relating to herself that "she would meet her + future husband on the steamboat by which she expected to return home; that + she would be married to him in a year, and bear three sons, of whom only + the second would live, but that the name of this son would be known all + over the world, and would one day be that of the President of the United + States." The first part of this prophecy was verified, and Samuel's death + was another link in the curious chain of circumstances. Was it, then, + strange that mother looked with unusual hope upon her second son? + </p> + <p> + That 'tis good fortune for a boy to be only brother to five sisters is + open to question. The older girls petted Will; the younger regarded him as + a superior being; while to all it seemed so fit and proper that the + promise of the stars concerning his future should be fulfilled that never + for a moment did we weaken in our belief that great things were in store + for our only brother. We looked for the prophecy's complete fulfillment, + and with childish veneration regarded Will as one destined to sit in the + executive's chair. + </p> + <p> + My mother, always somewhat delicate, was so affected in health by the + shock of Samuel's death that a change of scene was advised. The California + gold craze was then at its height, and father caught the fever, though in + a mild form; for he had prospered as a farmer, and we not only had a + comfortable home, but were in easy circumstances. Influenced in part by a + desire to improve mother's health, and in part, no doubt, by the golden + day-dreams that lured so many Argonauts Pacificward, he disposed of his + farm, and bade us prepare for a Western journey. Before his plans were + completed he fell in with certain disappointed gold-seekers returning from + the Coast, and impressed by their representations, decided in favor of + Kansas instead of California. + </p> + <p> + Father had very extravagant ideas regarding vehicles and horses, and such + a passion for equestrian display, that we often found ourselves with a + stable full of thoroughbreds and an empty cupboard. For our Western + migration we had, in addition to three prairie-schooners, a large family + carriage, drawn by a span of fine horses in silver-mounted harness. This + carriage had been made to order in the East, upholstered in the finest + leather, polished and varnished as though for a royal progress. Mother and + we girls found it more comfortable riding than the springless + prairie-schooners. + </p> + <p> + Brother Will constituted himself an armed escort, and rode proudly + alongside on his pony, his gun slung across the pommel of his saddle, and + the dog Turk bringing up the rear. + </p> + <p> + To him this Western trip thrilled with possible Indian skirmishes and + other stirring adventures, though of the real dangers that lay in our path + he did not dream. For him, therefore, the first week of our travels held + no great interest, for we were constantly chancing upon settlers and + farm-houses, in which the night might be passed; but with every mile the + settlers grew fewer and farther between; until one day Will whispered to + us, in great glee: "I heard father tell mother that he expected we should + have to camp to-night. Now we'll have some fun!" + </p> + <p> + Will's hope was well founded. Shortly before nightfall we reached a stream + that demanded a ferry-boat for its crossing, and as the nearest dwelling + was a dozen miles away, it was decided that we should camp by the + stream-side. The family was first sent across the ferry, and upon the + eight-year-old lad of the house father placed the responsibility of + selecting the ground on which to pitch the tents. + </p> + <p> + My brother's career forcibly illustrates the fact that environment plays + as large a part as heredity in shaping character. Perhaps his love for the + free life of the plains is a heritage derived from some long-gone + ancestor; but there can be no doubt that to the earlier experiences of + which I am writing he owed his ability as a scout. The faculty for + obtaining water, striking trails, and finding desirable camping-grounds in + him seemed almost instinct. + </p> + <p> + The tents being pitched upon a satisfactory site, Will called to Turk, the + dog, and rifle in hand, set forth in search of game for supper. He was + successful beyond his fondest hopes. He had looked only for small game, + but scarcely had he put the camp behind him when Turk gave a signaling + yelp, and out of the bushes bounded a magnificent deer. Nearly every + hunter will confess to "buck fever" at sight of his first deer, so it is + not strange that a boy of Will's age should have stood immovable, staring + dazedly at the graceful animal until it vanished from sight. Turk gave + chase, but soon trotted back, and barked reproachfully at his young + master. But Will presently had an opportunity to recover Turk's good + opinion, for the dog, after darting away, with another signaling yelp + fetched another fine stag within gun range. This time the young hunter, + mastering his nerves, took aim with steady hand, and brought down his + first deer. + </p> + <p> + On the following Sabbath we were encamped by another deep, swift-running + stream. After being wearied and overheated by a rabbit chase, Turk + attempted to swim across this little river, but was chilled, and would + have perished had not Will rushed to the rescue. The ferryman saw the boy + struggling with the dog in the water, and started after him with his boat. + But Will reached the bank without assistance. + </p> + <p> + "I've hearn of dogs saving children, but this is the first time I ever + hearn of a child saving a dog from drowning," ejaculated the ferryman. + "How old be you?" + </p> + <p> + "Eight, going on nine," answered Will. + </p> + <p> + "You're a big boy for your age," said the man. "But it's a wonder you + didn't sink with that load; he's a big old fellow," referring to Turk, + who, standing on three feet, was vigorously shaking the water from his + coat. Will at once knelt down beside him, and taking the uplifted foot in + his hands, remarked: "He must have sprained one of his legs when he fell + over that log; he doesn't whine like your common curs when they get hurt." + </p> + <p> + "He's blooded stock, then," said the man. "What kind of dog do you call + him?" + </p> + <p> + "He's an Ulm dog," said Will. + </p> + <p> + "I never heard tell of that kind of dog before." + </p> + <p> + "Did you ever hear of a tiger-mastiff, German mastiff, boar-hound, great + Dane? Turk's all of them together." + </p> + <p> + "Well," said the ferryman, "you're a pretty smart little fellow, and got + lots of grit. You ought to make your mark in the world. But right now you + had better get into some dry clothes." And on the invitation of the + ferryman, Will and the limping dog got into the boat, and were taken back + to camp. + </p> + <p> + Turk played so conspicuous and important a part in our early lives that he + deserves a brief description. He was a large and powerful animal of the + breed of dogs anciently used in Germany in hunting the wild boars. Later + the dogs were imported into England, where they were particularly valued + by people desiring a strong, brave watch-dog. When specially trained, they + are more fierce and active than the English mastiff. Naturally they are + not as fond of the water as the spaniel, the stag-hound, or the + Newfoundland, though they are the king of dogs on land. Not alone Will, + but the rest of the family, regarded Turk as the best of his kind, and he + well deserved the veneration he inspired. His fidelity and almost human + intelligence were time and again the means of saving life and property; + ever faithful, loyal, and ready to lay down his life, if need be, in our + service. + </p> + <p> + Outlaws and desperadoes were always to be met with on Western trails in + those rugged days, and more than once Turk's constant vigilance warned + father in time to prevent attacks from suspicious night prowlers. The + attachment which had grown up between Turk and his young master was but + the natural love of boys for their dogs intensified. Will at that time + estimated dogs as in later years he did men, the qualities which he found + to admire in Turk being vigilance, strength, courage, and constancy. With + men, as with dogs, he is not lavishly demonstrative; rarely pats them on + the back. But deeds of merit do not escape his notice or want his + appreciation. The patience, unselfishness, and true nobility observed in + this faithful canine friend of his boyhood days have many times proved to + be lacking in creatures endowed with a soul; yet he has never lost faith + in mankind, or in the ultimate destiny of his race. This I conceive to be + a characteristic of all great men. + </p> + <p> + This trip was memorable for all of us, perhaps especially so for brother + Will, for it comprehended not only his first deer, but his first negro. + </p> + <p> + As we drew near the Missouri line we came upon a comfortable farm-house, + at which father made inquiry concerning a lodging for the night. A widow + lived there, and the information that father was brother to Elijah Cody, + of Platte County, Missouri, won us a cordial welcome and the hospitality + of her home. + </p> + <p> + We were yet in the road, waiting father's report, when our startled vision + and childish imagination took in a seeming apparition, which glided from + the bushes by the wayside. + </p> + <p> + It proved a full-blooded African, with thick lips, woolly hair, enormous + feet, and scant attire. To all except mother this was a new revelation of + humanity, and we stared in wild-eyed wonder; even Turk was surprised into + silence. At this point father rejoined us, to share in mother's amusement, + and to break the spell for us by pleasantly addressing the negro, who + returned a respectful answer, accompanied by an ample grin. He was a slave + on the widow's plantation. + </p> + <p> + Reassured by the grin, Will offered his hand, and tasted the joy of being + addressed as "Massa" in the talk that followed. It was with difficulty + that we prevailed upon "Masse" to come to supper. + </p> + <p> + After a refreshing night's sleep we went on our way, and in a few days + reached my uncle's home. A rest was welcome, as the journey had been long + and toilsome, despite the fact that it had been enlivened by many + interesting incidents, and was thoroughly enjoyed by all of the family. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. — WILL'S FIRST INDIAN. + </h2> + <p> + MY uncle's home was in Weston, Platte County, Missouri, at that time the + large city of the West. As father desired to get settled again as soon as + possible, he left us at Weston, and crossed the Missouri River on a + prospecting tour, accompanied by Will and a guide. More than one day went + by in the quest for a desirable location, and one morning Will, wearied in + the reconnoissance, was left asleep at the night's camping-place, while + father and the guide rode away for the day's exploring. + </p> + <p> + When Will opened his eyes they fell upon the most interesting object that + the world just then could offer him—an Indian! + </p> + <p> + The "noble red man," as he has been poetically termed by people who have + but known him from afar, was in the act of mounting Will's horse, while + near by stood his own, a miserable, scrawny beast. + </p> + <p> + Will's boyish dreams were now a reality; he looked upon his first Indian. + Here, too, was a "buck"—not a graceful, vanishing deer, but a dirty + redskin, who seemingly was in some hurry to be gone. Without a trace of + "buck fever," Will jumped up, rifle in hand, and demanded: + </p> + <p> + "Here, what are you doing with my horse?" + </p> + <p> + The Indian regarded the lad with contemptuous composure. + </p> + <p> + "Me swap horses with paleface boy," said he. + </p> + <p> + The red man was fully armed, and Will did not know whether his father and + the guide were within call or not; but to suffer the Indian to ride away + with Uncle Elijah's fine horse was to forfeit his father's confidence and + shake his mother's and sisters' belief in the family hero; so he put a + bold face upon the matter, and remarked carelessly, as if discussing a + genuine transaction: + </p> + <p> + "No; I won't swap." + </p> + <p> + "Paleface boy fool!" returned the Indian, serenely. + </p> + <p> + Now this was scarcely the main point at issue, so Will contented himself + with replying, quietly but firmly: + </p> + <p> + "You cannot take my horse." + </p> + <p> + The Indian condescended to temporize. "Paleface horse no good," said he. + </p> + <p> + "Good enough for me," replied Will, smiling despite the gravity of the + situation. The Indian shone rather as a liar than a judge of horseflesh. + "Good enough for me; so you can take your old rack of bones and go." + </p> + <p> + Much to Will's surprise, the red man dropped the rein, flung himself upon + his own pony, and made off. And down fell "Lo the poor Indian" from the + exalted niche that he had filled in Will's esteem, for while it was bad in + a copper hero to steal horses, it was worse to flee from a boy not yet in + his teens. But a few moments later Lo went back to his lofty pedestal, for + Will heard the guide's voice, and realized that it was the sight of a man, + and not the threats of a boy, that had sent the Indian about his business—if + he had any. + </p> + <p> + The guide had returned to escort Will to the spot which father, after a + search of nearly a week, had discovered, and where he had decided to + locate our home. It was in Salt Creek Valley, a fertile blue-grass region, + sheltered by an amphitheater range of hills. The old Salt Lake trail + traversed this valley. There were at this time two great highways of + Western travel, the Santa Fe and the Salt Lake trails; later the Oregon + trail came into prominence. Of these the oldest and most historic was the + Santa Fe trail, the route followed by explorers three hundred years ago. + It had been used by Indian tribes from time, to white men, immemorial. At + the beginning of this century it was first used as an artery of commerce. + Over it Zebulon Pike made his well-known Western trip, and from it + radiated his explorations. The trail lay some distance south of + Leavenworth. It ran westward, dipping slightly to the south until the + Arkansas River was reached; then, following the course of this stream to + Bent's Fort, it crossed the river and turned sharply to the south. It went + through Raton Pass, and below Las Vegas it turned west to Santa Fe. + </p> + <p> + Exploration along the line of the Salt Lake trail began also with this + century. It became a beaten highway at the time of the Mormon exodus from + Nauvoo to their present place of abode. The trail crossed the Missouri + River at Leavenworth, and ran northerly to the Platte, touching that + stream at Fort Kearny. With a few variations it paralleled the Platte to + its junction with the Sweetwater, and left this river valley to run + through South Pass to big Sandy Creek, turning south to follow this little + stream. At Fort Bridger it turned westward again, passed Echo Canon, and a + few miles farther on ran into Salt Lake City. Over this trail journeyed + thousands of gold-hunters toward California, hopeful and high-spirited on + the westerly way, disappointed and depressed, the large majority of them, + on the back track. Freighting outfits, cattle trains, emigrants—nearly + all the western travel—followed this track across the new land. A + man named Rively, with the gift of grasping the advantage of location, had + obtained permission to establish a trading-post on this trail three miles + beyond the Missouri, and as proximity to this depot of supplies was a + manifest convenience, father's selection of a claim only two miles distant + was a wise one. + </p> + <p> + The Kansas-Nebraska Bill, which provided for the organizing of those two + territories and opened them for settlement, was passed in May. 1854. This + bill directly opposed the Missouri Compromise, which restricted slavery to + all territory south of 36'0 30" north latitude. A clause in the new bill + provided that the settlers should decide for themselves whether the new + territories were to be free or slave states. Already hundreds of settlers + were camped upon the banks of the Missouri, waiting the passage of the + bill before entering and acquiring possession of the land. Across the + curtain of the night ran a broad ribbon of dancing camp-fires, stretching + for miles along the bank of the river. + </p> + <p> + None too soon had father fixed upon his claim. The act allowing settlers + to enter was passed in less than a week afterward. Besides the pioneers + intending actual settlement, a great rush was made into the territories by + members of both political parties. These became the gladiators, with + Kansas the arena, for a bitter, bloody contest between those desiring and + those opposing the extension of slave territory. + </p> + <p> + Having already decided upon his location, father was among the first, + after the bill was passed, to file a claim and procure the necessary + papers, and shortly afterward he had a transient abiding-place prepared + for us. Whatever mother may have thought of the one-roomed cabin, whose + chinks let in the sun by day and the moon and stars by night, and whose + carpet was nature's greenest velvet, life in it was a perennial picnic for + the children. Meantime father was at work on our permanent home, and + before the summer fled we were domiciled in a large double-log house—rough + and primitive, but solid and comfort-breeding. + </p> + <p> + This same autumn held an episode so deeply graven in my memory that time + has not blurred a dine of it. Jane, our faithful maid of all work, who + went with us to our Western home, had little time to play the governess. + Household duties claimed her every waking hour, as mother was delicate, + and the family a large one; so Turk officiated as both guardian and + playmate of the children. + </p> + <p> + One golden September day Eliza and I set out after wild flowers, + accompanied by Turk and mother's caution not to stray too far, as wild + beasts, 'twas said, lurked in the neighboring forest; but the prettiest + flowers were always just beyond, and we wandered afield until we reached a + fringe of timber half a mile from the house, where we tarried under the + trees. Meantime mother grew alarmed, and Will was dispatched after the + absent tots. + </p> + <p> + Turk, as we recalled, had sought to put a check upon our wanderings, and + when we entered the woods his restlessness increased. Suddenly he began to + paw up the carpet of dry leaves, and a few moments later the shrill scream + of a panther echoed through the forest aisles. + </p> + <p> + Eliza was barely six years old, and I was not yet four. We clung to each + other in voiceless terror. Then from afar came a familiar whistle—Will's + call to his dog. That heartened us, babes as we were, for was not our + brother our reliance in every emergency? Rescue was at hand; but Turk + continued tearing up the leaves, after signaling his master with a loud + bark. Then, pulling at our dresses, he indicated the refuge he had dug for + us. Here we lay down, and the dog covered us with the leaves, dragging to + the heap, as a further screen, a large dead branch. Then, with the heart + of a lion, he put himself on guard. + </p> + <p> + From our leafy covert we could see the panther's tawny form come gliding + through the brush. He saw Turk, and crouched for a spring. This came as an + arrow, but Turk dodged it; and then, with a scream such as I never heard + from dog before or since, our defender hurled himself upon the foe. + </p> + <p> + Turk was powerful, and his courage was flawless, but he was no match for + the panther. In a few moments the faithful dog lay stunned and bleeding + from one stroke of the forest-rover's steel-shod paw. The cruel beast had + scented other prey, and dismissing Turk, he paced to and fro, seeking to + locate us. We scarcely dared to breathe, and every throb of our frightened + little hearts was a prayer that Will would come to us in time. + </p> + <p> + At last the panther's roving eyes rested upon our inadequate hiding-place, + and as he crouched for the deadly leap we hid our faces. + </p> + <p> + But Turk had arisen. Wounded as he was, he yet made one last heroic effort + to save us by again directing the panther's attention to himself. + </p> + <p> + The helpless, hopeless ordeal of agony was broken by a rifle's sharp + report. The panther fell, shot through the heart, and out from the screen + of leaves rushed two hysterical little girls, with pallid faces drowned in + tears, who clung about a brother's neck and were shielded in his arms. + </p> + <p> + Will, himself but a child, caressed and soothed us in a most paternal + fashion; and when the stone of sobs was passed we turned to Turk. Happily + his injuries were not fatal, and he whined feebly when his master reached + him. + </p> + <p> + "Bravo! Good dog!" cried Will. "You saved them, Turk! You saved them!" And + kneeling beside our faithful friend, he put his arms about the shaggy + neck. + </p> + <p> + Dear old Turk! If there be a land beyond the sky for such as thou, may the + snuggest corner and best of bones be thy reward! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. — THE SHADOW OF PARTISAN STRIFE. + </h2> + <p> + OWING to the conditions, already spoken of, under which Kansas was + settled, all classes were represented in its population. Honest, thrifty + farmers and well-to-do traders leavened a lump of shiftless + ne'er-do-wells, lawless adventurers, and vagabonds of all sorts and + conditions. If father at times questioned the wisdom of coming to this new + and untried land, he kept his own counsel, and set a brave face against + the future. + </p> + <p> + He had been prominent in political circles in Iowa, and had filled + positions of public trust; but he had no wish to become involved in the + partisan strife that raged in Kansas. He was a Free Soil man, and there + were but two others in that section who did not believe in slavery. For a + year he kept his political views to himself; but it became rumored about + that he was an able public speaker, and the pro-slavery men naturally + ascribed to him the same opinions as those held by his brother Elijah, a + pronounced pro-slavery man; so they regarded father as a promising leader + in their cause. He had avoided the issue, and had skillfully contrived to + escape declaring for one side or the other, but on the scroll of his + destiny it was written that he should be one of the first victims offered + on the sacrificial altar of the struggle for human liberty. + </p> + <p> + The post-trader's was a popular rendezvous for all the settlers round. It + was a day in the summer of '55 that father visited the store, accompanied, + as usual, by Will and Turk. Among the crowd, which was noisy and excited, + he noted a number of desperadoes in the pro-slavery faction, and noted, + too, that Uncle Elijah and our two Free Soil neighbors, Mr. Hathaway and + Mr. Lawrence, were present. + </p> + <p> + Father's appearance was greeted by a clamor for a speech. To speak before + that audience was to take his life in his hands; yet in spite of his + excuses he was forced to the chair. + </p> + <p> + It was written! There was no escape! Father walked steadily to the + dry-goods box which served as a rostrum. As he passed Mr. Hathaway, the + good old man plucked him by the sleeve and begged him to serve out + platitudes to the crowd, and to screen his real sentiments. + </p> + <p> + But father was not a man that dealt in platitudes. + </p> + <p> + "Friends," said he, quietly, as he faced his audience and drew himself to + his full height,—"friends, you are mistaken in your man. I am sorry + to disappoint you. I have no wish to quarrel with you. But you have forced + me to speak, and I can do no less than declare my real convictions. I am, + and always have been, opposed to slavery. It is an institution that not + only degrades the slave, but brutalizes the slave-holder, and I pledge you + my word that I shall use my best endeavors—yes, that I shall lay + down my life, if need be—to keep this curse from finding lodgment + upon Kansas soil. It is enough that the fairest portions of our land are + already infected with this blight. May it spread no farther. All my energy + and my ability shall swell the effort to bring in Kansas as a Free Soil + state." + </p> + <p> + Up to this point the crowd had been so dumfounded by his temerity that + they kept an astonished silence. Now the storm broke. The rumble of angry + voices swelled into a roar of fury. An angry mob surrounded the speaker. + Several desperadoes leaped forward with deadly intent, and one, Charles + Dunn by name, drove his knife to the hilt into the body of the brave man + who dared thus openly to avow his principles. + </p> + <p> + As father fell, Will sprang to him, and turning to the murderous + assailant, cried out in boyhood's fury: + </p> + <p> + "You have killed my father! When I'm a man I'll kill you!" + </p> + <p> + The crowd slunk away, believing father dead. The deed appalled them; they + were not yet hardened to the lawlessness that was so soon to put the state + to blush. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Hathaway and Will then carried father to a hiding-place in the long + grass by the wayside. The crowd dispersed so slowly that dusk came on + before the coast was clear. At length, supported by Will, father dragged + his way homeward, marking his tortured progress with a trail of blood. + </p> + <p> + This path was afterward referred to in the early history of Kansas as "The + Cody Bloody Trail." + </p> + <p> + It was such wild scenes as these that left their impress on the youth and + fashioned the Cody of later years—cool in emergency, fertile in + resource, swift in decision, dashing and intrepid when the time for action + came. + </p> + <p> + Our troubles were but begun. Father's convalescence was long and tedious; + he never recovered fully. His enemies believed him dead, and for a while + we kept the secret guarded; but as soon as he was able to be about + persecution began. + </p> + <p> + About a month after the tragedy at Rively's, Will ran in one evening with + the warning that a band of horsemen were approaching. Suspecting trouble, + mother put some of her own clothes about father, gave him a pail, and bade + him hide in the cornfield. He walked boldly from the house, and sheltered + by the gathering dusk, succeeded in passing the horsemen unchallenged. The + latter rode up to the house and dismounted. + </p> + <p> + "Where's Cody?" asked the leader. He was informed that father was not at + home. + </p> + <p> + "Lucky for him!" was the frankly brutal rejoinder. "We'll make sure work + of the killing next time." + </p> + <p> + Disappointed in their main intention, the marauders revenged themselves in + their own peculiar way by looting the house of every article that took + their fancy; then they sat down with the announced purpose of waiting the + return of their prospective victim. + </p> + <p> + Fearing the effect of the night air upon father, though it was yet summer, + mother made a sign to Will, who slipped from the room, and guided by Turk, + carried blankets to the cornfield, returning before his absence had been + remarked. The ruffians soon tired of waiting, and rode away, after warning + mother of the brave deed they purposed to perform. Father came in for the + night, returning to his covert with the dawn. + </p> + <p> + In expectation of some such raid, we had secreted a good stock of + provisions; but as soon as the day was up Will was dispatched to Rively's + store to reconnoiter, under pretext of buying groceries. Keeping eyes and + ears open, he learned that father's enemies were on the watch for him; so + the cornfield must remain his screen. After several days, the exposure and + anxiety told on his strength. He decided to leave home and go to Fort + Leavenworth, four miles distant. When night fell he returned to the house, + packed a few needed articles, and bade us farewell. Will urged that he + ride Prince, but he regarded his journey as safer afoot. It was a sad + parting. None of us knew whether we should ever again see our father. + </p> + <p> + "I hope," he said to mother, "that these clouds will soon pass away, and + that we may have a happy home once more." Then, placing his hands on + Will's head, "You will have to be the man of the house until my return," + he said. "But I know I can trust my boy to watch over his mother and + sisters." + </p> + <p> + With such responsibilities placed upon his shoulders, such confidence + reposed in him, small wonder that Will should grow a man in thought and + feeling before he grew to be one in years. + </p> + <p> + Father reached Fort Leavenworth in safety, but the quarrel between the + pro-slavery party and the Free Soilers waxed more bitter, and he decided + that security lay farther on; so he took passage on an up-river boat to + Doniphan, twenty miles distant. This was then a mere landing-place, but he + found a small band of men in camp cooking supper. They were part of + Colonel Jim Lane's command, some three hundred strong, on their way West + from Indiana. + </p> + <p> + Colonel Lane was an interesting character. He had been a friend to Elijah + Lovejoy, who was killed, in 1836, for maintaining an anti-slavery + newspaper in Illinois. The Kansas contest speedily developed the fact that + the actual settlers sent from the North by the emigrant-aid societies + would enable the Free State party to outnumber the ruffians sent in by the + Southerners; and when the pro-slavery men were driven to substituting + bullets for ballots, Colonel Lane recruited a band of hardy men to protect + the anti-slavery settlers, and incidentally to avenge the murder of + Lovejoy. + </p> + <p> + The meeting of father and Lane's men was a meeting of friends, and he + chose to cast his lot with theirs. Shortly afterward he took part in "The + Battle of Hickory Point," in which the pro-slavery men were defeated with + heavy loss; and thenceforward the name of Jim Lane was a terror to the + lawless and a wall of protection to our family. + </p> + <p> + The storm and stress of battle had drawn heavily on what little strength + was left to father, and relying for safety upon the proximity of Colonel + Lane and his men, he returned to us secretly by night, and was at once + prostrated on a bed of sickness. + </p> + <p> + This proved a serious strain upon our delicate mother, for during father's + absence a little brother had been added to our home, and not only had she, + in addition to the care of Baby Charlie, the nursing of a sick man, but + she was constantly harassed by apprehensions for his safety as well. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. — PERSECUTION CONTINUES. + </h2> + <p> + MOTHER'S fears were well grounded. A few days after father had returned + home, a man named Sharpe, who disgraced the small office of justice of the + peace, rode up to our house, very much the worse for liquor, and informed + mother that his errand was to "search the house for that abolition husband + of yours." The intoxicated ruffian then demanded something to eat. While + mother, with a show of hospitality, was preparing supper for him, the + amiable Mr. Sharpe killed time in sharpening his bowie-knife on the sole + of his shoe. + </p> + <p> + "That," said he to Will, who stood watching him, "that's to cut the heart + out of that Free State father of yours!" And he tested the edge with + brutally suggestive care. + </p> + <p> + Will's comment was to take down his rifle and place himself on the + staircase leading up to father's room. There was trouble in that quarter + for Mr. Sharpe, if he attempted to ascend those stairs. + </p> + <p> + But the justice, as mother surmised, had no notion that father was at + home, else he would not have come alone. He ate heartily of the supper, + which Will hoped would choke him, and passing from drowsiness to drunken + slumber, soon tumbled from his chair. This so confused him that he forgot + his pretended errand, and shambled out of the house. He was not so drunk + that he could not tell a good bit of horseflesh, and he straightway took a + fancy to Prince, the pet pony of the family. An unwritten plank in the + platform of the pro-slavery men was that the Free Soil party had no rights + they were bound to respect, and Sharpe remarked to Will, with a malicious + grin: + </p> + <p> + "That's a nice pony of yours, sonny. Guess I'll take him along with me." + And he proceeded to exchange the saddle from the back of his own horse to + that of Prince. + </p> + <p> + "You old coward!" muttered Will, bursting with wrath. "I'll get even with + you some day." + </p> + <p> + The justice was a tall, burly fellow, and he cut so ridiculous a figure as + he rode away on Prince's back, his heels almost touching the ground, that + Will laughed outright as he thought of a plan to save his pony. + </p> + <p> + A shrill whistle brought Turk to the scene, and receiving his cue, the dog + proceeded to give Sharpe a very bad five minutes. He would nip at one of + the dangling legs, spring back out of reach of the whip with a triumphant + bark, then repeat the performance with the other leg. This little comedy + had a delighted spectator in Will, who had followed at a safe distance. + Just as Sharpe made one extra effort to reach Turk, the boy whistled a + signal to Prince, who responded with a bound that dumped his rider in the + dust. Here Turk stood over him and showed his teeth. + </p> + <p> + "Call off your dog, bub!" the justice shouted to Will, "and you may keep + your little sheep, for he's no good, anyway." + </p> + <p> + "That's a bargain!" cried Will, restored to good humor; and helping the + vanquished foe upon his own steed, he assured him that he need not fear + Turk so long as he kept his word. Sharpe departed, but we were far from + being rid of him. + </p> + <p> + About a fortnight later we were enjoying an evening with father, who was + now able to come downstairs. He was seated in a big arm-chair before the + open fire, with his family gathered round him, by his side our frail, + beautiful mother, with Baby Charlie on her knee, Martha and Julia, with + their sewing, and Will, back of mother's chair, tenderly smoothing the + hair from her brow, while he related spiritedly some new escapade of Turk. + Suddenly he checked his narrative, listened for a space, and announced: + </p> + <p> + "There are some men riding on the road toward the house. We'd better be + ready for trouble." + </p> + <p> + Mother, equal to every emergency, hurriedly disposed her slender forces + for defense. Martha and Julia were directed to help father to bed; that + done, to repair to the unfurnished front room above stairs; Will was + instructed to call the hired man and Jane, who was almost as large and + quite as strong as the average man; and the three were armed and given + their cue. They were all handy with their weapons, but mother sought to + win by strategy, if possible. She bade the older girls don heavy boots, + and gave them further instructions. By this time the horsemen had reached + the gate. Their leader was the redoubtable Justice Sharpe. He rode up to + the door, and rapped with the but of his riding-whip. Mother threw up the + window overhead. + </p> + <p> + "Who's there? and what do you want?" she demanded. + </p> + <p> + "We want that old abolition husband of yours, and, dead or alive, we mean + to have him!" + </p> + <p> + "All right, Mr. Sharpe," was the steady answer. "I'll ask Colonel Lane and + his men to wait on you." + </p> + <p> + The hired man, who had served in the Mexican War, here gave a sharp word + of command, which was responded to by trampling of heavy boots upon the + bare floor. Then, calling a halt, the pretended Colonel Lane advanced to + the window, and shouted to the horsemen: + </p> + <p> + "Set foot inside that gate and my men will fire on you!" + </p> + <p> + Sharpe, an arrant coward, had retreated at the first sound of a man's + voice, and after a short parley with his nonplused companions, he led them + away—outwitted by a woman. + </p> + <p> + As a sort of consolation prize, Sharpe again made off with Prince; but + Will's sorrow in the morning was short-lived, for the sagacious little + creature slipped his halter and came flying home before the forenoon was + half spent. + </p> + <p> + After this experience, father decided that, for our sakes as well as for + his own, he must again leave home, and as soon as he recovered a measure + of his strength he went to Grasshopper Falls, thirty-five miles west of + Leavenworth. Here he erected a sawmill, and hoped that he had put so many + miles between him and his enemies that he might be allowed to pursue a + peaceful occupation. He made us occasional visits, so timing his journey + that he reached home after nightfall, and left again before the sun was + up. + </p> + <p> + One day when we were looking forward to one of these visits, our good + friend Mr. Hathaway made his appearance about eleven o'clock. + </p> + <p> + "It is too bad to be the bearer of ill tidings," said he, "but the news of + your husband's expected visit has been noised about in some way, and + another plot to kill him is afoot. Some of his enemies are camped at Big + Stranger's Creek, and intend to shoot him as he passes there." + </p> + <p> + Then followed a long and anxious consultation, which ended without any + plan of rescue. + </p> + <p> + All of which had been overheard by Will, who was confined to his bed with + an attack of ague. In him, he decided, lay the only hope for father's + safety; so, dressing, he presented his fever-flushed face to mother. As he + held out a handkerchief, "Tie it tight around my head, mother," said he; + "then it won't ache so hard." + </p> + <p> + A remonstrance against his getting out of bed brought out the fact that he + contemplated riding to Grasshopper Falls! + </p> + <p> + He was almost too weak to stand, a storm threatened, and thirty miles lay + between him and father; yet he was not to be dissuaded from his + undertaking. So Julia and Martha saddled Prince and helped the ague-racked + courier to his saddle. + </p> + <p> + The plunge into the open air and the excitement of the start encouraged + Will to believe that he could hold out. As he settled down to his long, + hard ride he reflected that it was not yet noon, and that father would not + set out until late in the day. Prince seemed to discern that something + extraordinary was afoot, and swung along at a swift, steady gait. + </p> + <p> + Big Stranger's Creek cut the road half-way to the Falls, and Will + approached it before the afternoon was half gone. The lowering sky + darkened the highway, and he hoped to pass the ambush unrecognized; but as + he came up to the stream he made out a camp and campers, one of whom + called out carelessly to him as he passed: + </p> + <p> + "Are you all right on the goose?"—the cant phrase of the pro-slavery + men. + </p> + <p> + "Never rode a goose in my life, gentlemen," was the reply. + </p> + <p> + "That's Cody's boy!" shouted another voice; and the word "Halt!" rang out + just as Will had galloped safely past the camp. + </p> + <p> + Will's answer was to drive the spurs into Prince and dart ahead, followed + by a rain of bullets. He was now well out of range, and the pony still + strong and fleet. + </p> + <p> + The chase was on, and in the thrill of it Will forgot his weakness. A new + strength came with the rush of air and the ring of hoofs, and "I'll reach + the Falls in time!" was his heartening thought, as pursurer and pursued + sped through the forests, clattered over bridges, and galloped up hill and + down. + </p> + <p> + Then broke the long-impending storm, and the hard road became the bed of a + muddy stream. The pursuit was abandoned, and this stimulus removed, Will + felt the chills and weakness coming on again. He was drenched to the skin, + and it was an effort to keep his saddle, but he set his teeth firmly in + his resolve to accomplish his heroic purpose. + </p> + <p> + At last! A welcome light gleamed between the crystal bars of the rain. His + mission was accomplished. + </p> + <p> + His ride had been longer by ten miles than that famous gallop of the + friend of his after years—Phil Sheridan. Like Sheridan, he reached + the goal in time, for father was just mounting his horse. + </p> + <p> + But the ride proved too much for his strength, and Will collapsed. Father + started with him, a few days later, for Topeka, which was headquarters for + the Free State party. + </p> + <p> + Father acquainted mother of their safety, and explained that he had gone + to Topeka because he feared his life was no longer safe at Grasshopper + Falls. + </p> + <p> + Party strife in Kansas was now at its height. Thousands came into the + territory from adjacent slave states simply to vote, and the pro-slavery + party elected a legislature, whose first meeting was held at Le Compton. + This election the Free Soilers declared illegal, because of fraudulent + voting, and assembling at Topeka in the winter of 1855-56, they framed a + constitution excluding slavery, and organized a rival government. Of this + first Free-Soil Legislature father was a member. + </p> + <p> + Thenceforth war was the order of the day, and in the fall of 1856 a + military governor was appointed, with full authority to maintain law and + order in Kansas. + </p> + <p> + Recognizing the good work effected by the emigrant-aid societies, and + realizing that in a still larger Northern emigration to Kansas lay the + only hope of its admission as a free state, father went to Ohio in the + following spring, to labor for the salvation of the territory he had + chosen for his home. Here his natural gift of oratory had free play, and + as the result of his work on the stump he brought back to Kansas sixty + families, the most of whom settled in the vicinity of Grasshopper Falls, + now Valley Falls. + </p> + <p> + This meant busy times for us, for with that magnificent disregard for + practical matters that characterizes many men of otherwise great gifts, + father had invited each separate family to make headquarters at his home + until other arrangements could be perfected. As a result, our house + overflowed, while the land about us was dotted with tents; but these + melted away, as one by one the families selected claims and put up cabins. + </p> + <p> + Among the other settlers was Judge Delahay, who, with his family, located + at Leavenworth, and began the publishing of the first abolition newspaper + in Kansas. The appointing of the military governor was the means of + restoring comparative tranquillity; but hundreds of outrages were + committed, and the judge and his newspaper came in for a share of + suffering. The printing-office was broken into, and the type and press + thrown into the Missouri River. Undaunted, the judge procured a new press, + and the paper continued. + </p> + <p> + A semi-quiet now reigned in the territory; father resumed work at the + sawmill, and we looked forward to a peaceful home and the joy of being + once more permanently united. But it was not to be. The knife wound had + injured father's lung. With care and nursing it might have healed, but + constant suffering attended on the life that persecution had led him, and + in the spring of '57 he again came home, and took to his bed for the last + time. + </p> + <p> + All that could be was done, but nothing availed. After a very short + illness he passed away—one of the first martyrs in the cause of + freedom in Kansas. + </p> + <p> + The land of his adoption became his last, long resting-place. His remains + now lie on Pilot Knob, which overlooks the beautiful city of Leavenworth. + His death was regretted even by his enemies, who could not help but grant + a tribute of respect to a man who had been upright, just, and generous to + friend and foe. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. — THE "BOY EXTRA." + </h2> + <p> + AT this sorrowful period mother was herself almost at death's door with + consumption, but far from sinking under the blow, she faced the new + conditions with a steadfast calm, realizing that should she, too, be + taken, her children would be left without a protector, and at the mercy of + the enemies whose malignity had brought their father to an untimely end. + Her indomitable will opposed her bodily weakness. "I will not die," she + told herself, "until the welfare of my children is assured." She was + needed, for our persecution continued. + </p> + <p> + Hardly was the funeral over when a trumped-up claim for a thousand + dollars, for lumber and supplies, was entered against our estate. Mother + knew the claim was fictitious, as all the bills had been settled, but the + business had been transacted through the agency of Uncle Elijah, and + father had neglected to secure the receipts. In those bitter, troublous + days it too often happened that brother turned against brother, and Elijah + retained his fealty to his party at the expense of his dead brother's + family. + </p> + <p> + This fresh affliction but added fuel to the flame of mother's energy. Our + home was paid for, but father's business had been made so broken and + irregular that our financial resources were of the slenderest, and should + this unjust claim for a thousand dollars be allowed, we would be homeless. + </p> + <p> + The result of mother's study of the situation was, "If I had the ready + money, I should fight the claim." + </p> + <p> + "You fight the claim, and I'll get the money," Will replied. + </p> + <p> + Mother smiled, but Will continued: + </p> + <p> + "Russell, Majors & Waddell will give me work. Jim Willis says I am + capable of filling the position of 'extra.' If you'll go with me and ask + Mr. Majors for a job, I'm sure he'll give me one." + </p> + <p> + Russell, Majors & Waddell were overland freighters and contractors, + with headquarters at Leavenworth. To Will's suggestion mother entered a + demurrer, but finally yielded before his insistence. Mr. Majors had known + father, and was more than willing to aid us, but Will's youth was an + objection not lightly overridden. + </p> + <p> + "What can a boy of your age do?" he asked, kindly. + </p> + <p> + "I can ride, shoot, and herd cattle," said Will; "but I'd rather be an + 'extra' on one of your trains.' + </p> + <p> + "But that is a man's work, and is dangerous besides." Mr. Majors + hesitated. "But I'll let you try it one trip, and if you do a man's work, + I'll give you a man's pay." + </p> + <p> + So Will's name was put on the company roll, and he signed a pledge that + illustrates better than a description the character and disposition of Mr. + Majors. + </p> + <p> + "I, William F. Cody," it read, "do hereby solemnly swear, before the great + and living God, that during my engagement with, and while I am in the + employ of, Russell, Majors & Waddell, I will, under no circumstances, + use profane language, that I will not quarrel or fight with any other + employee of the firm, and that in every respect I will conduct myself + honestly, be faithful to my duties, and so direct all my acts as to win + the confidence of my employers. So help me God!" + </p> + <p> + Mr Majors employed many wild and reckless men, but the language of the + pledge penetrated to the better nature of them all. They endeavored, with + varying success, to live up to its conditions, although most of them held + that driving a bull-team constituted extenuating circumstances for an + occasional expletive. + </p> + <p> + The pledge lightened mother's heart; she knew that Will would keep his + word; she felt, too, that a man that required such a pledge of his + employees was worthy of their confidence and esteem. + </p> + <p> + The train was to start in a day, and all of us were busy with the + preparations for Will's two months' trip. The moment of parting came, and + it was a trying ordeal for mother, so recently bereaved of husband. Will + sought to soothe her, but the younger sisters had better success, for with + tears in our eyes we crowded about him, imploring him to "run if he saw + any Indians." + </p> + <p> + 'Tis but a step from tears to smiles; the situation was relieved, and Will + launched his life bark amid adieus of hope and confidence and love. His + fortitude lasted only till he was out of sight of the house; but youth is + elastic, the plains lay before him, and mother and sisters were to be + helped; so he presented a cheerful face to his employers. + </p> + <p> + That night the bed of the "boy extra" was a blanket under a wagon; but he + slept soundly, and was ready when the train started with the dawn. + </p> + <p> + The "bull-train" took its name from the fact that each of the thirty-five + wagons making up a full train was hauled by several yoke of oxen, driven + by one man, known as a bullwhacker. This functionary's whip cracked like a + rifle, and could be heard about as far. The wagons resembled the ordinary + prairie-schooner, but were larger and more strongly built; they were + protected from the weather by a double covering of heavy canvas, and had a + freight capacity of seven thousand pounds. + </p> + <p> + Besides the bullwhackers there were cavallard drivers (who cared for the + loose cattle), night herders, and sundry extra hands, all under the charge + of a chief wagon-master, termed the wagon-boss, his lieutenants being the + boss of the cattle train and the assistant wagon-master. The men were + disposed in messes, each providing its own wood and water, doing its own + cooking, and washing up its own tin dinner service, while one man in each + division stood guard. Special duties were assigned to the "extras," and + Will's was to ride up and down the train delivering orders. This suited + his fancy to a dot, for the oxen were snail-gaited, and to plod at their + heels was dull work. Kipling tells us it is quite impossible to "hustle + the East"; it were as easy, as Will discovered, to hustle a bull-train. + </p> + <p> + From the outset the "boy extra" was a favorite with the men. They liked + his pluck in undertaking such work, and when it was seen that he took + pride in executing orders promptly, he became a favorite with the bosses + as well. In part his work was play to him; he welcomed an order as a break + in the monotony of the daily march, and hailed the opportunity of a gallop + on a good horse. + </p> + <p> + The world of Will's fancy was bounded by the hazy rim where plain and sky + converge, and when the first day's journey was done, and he had staked out + and cared for his horse, he watched with fascinated eyes the strange and + striking picture limned against the black hills and the sweeping stretch + of darkening prairie. Everything was animation; the bullwhackers + unhitching and disposing of their teams, the herders staking out the + cattle, and—not the least interesting—the mess cooks preparing + the evening meal at the crackling camp-fires, with the huge, + canvas-covered wagons encircling them like ghostly sentinels; the ponies + and oxen blinking stupidly as the flames stampeded the shadows in which + they were enveloped; and more weird than all, the buckskin-clad + bullwhackers, squatted around the fire, their beards glowing red in its + light, their faces drawn in strange black and yellow lines, while the + spiked grasses shot tall and sword-like over them. + </p> + <p> + It was wonderful—that first night of the "boy extra." + </p> + <p> + But Will discovered that life on the plains is not all a supper under the + stars when the sparks fly upward; it has its hardships and privations. + There were days, as the wagons dragged their slow lengths along, when the + clouds obscured the sky and the wind whistled dismally; days when torrents + fell and swelled the streams that must be crossed, and when the mud lay + ankle-deep; days when the cattle stampeded, and the round-up meant long, + extra hours of heavy work; and, hardest but most needed work of all, the + eternal vigil 'gainst an Indian attack. + </p> + <p> + Will did not share the anxiety of his companions. To him a brush with + Indians would prove that boyhood's dreams sometimes come true, and in + imagination he anticipated the glory of a first encounter with the "noble + red man," after the fashion of the heroes in the hair-lifting Western + tales he had read. He was soon to learn, as many another has learned, that + the Indian of real Life is vastly different from the Indian of fiction. He + refuses to "bite the dust" at sight of a paleface, and a dozen of them + have been known to hold their own against as many white men. + </p> + <p> + Some twenty miles west of Fort Kearny a halt was made for dinner at the + bank of a creek that emptied into the Platte River. No signs of Indians + had been observed, and there was no thought of special danger. + Nevertheless, three men were constantly on guard. Many of the trainmen + were asleep under the wagons while waiting dinner, and Will was watching + the maneuvers of the cook in his mess. Suddenly a score of shots rang out + from the direction of a neighboring thicket, succeeded by a chorus of + savage yells. + </p> + <p> + Will saw the three men on the lookout drop in their tracks, and saw the + Indians divide, one wing stampeding the cattle, the other charging down + upon the camp. + </p> + <p> + The trainmen were old frontiersmen, and although taken wholly by surprise, + they lined up swiftly in battle array behind the wagons, with the bosses, + Bill and Frank McCarthy, at their head, and the "boy extra" under the + direction of the wagon-master. + </p> + <p> + A well-placed volley of rifle-balls checked the Indians, and they wheeled + and rode away, after sending in a scattering cloud of arrows, which + wounded several of the trainmen. The decision of a hasty council of war + was, that a defensive stand would be useless, as the Indians outnumbered + the whites ten to one, and red reinforcements were constantly coming up, + until it seemed to Will as if the prairie were alive with them. The only + hope of safety lay in the shelter of the creek's high bank, so a run was + made for it. The Indians charged again, with the usual accompaniment of + whoops, yells, and flying arrows; but the trainmen had reached the creek, + and from behind its natural breastwork maintained a rifle fire that drove + the foe back out of range. + </p> + <p> + To follow the creek and river to Fort Kearny was not accounted much of a + chance for escape, but it was the only avenue that lay open; so, with a + parting volley to deceive the besiegers into thinking that the fort was + still held, the perilous and difficult journey was begun. + </p> + <p> + The Indians quickly penetrated the ruse, and another charge had to be + repulsed. Besides the tiresome work of wading, there were wounded men to + help along, and a ceaseless watch to keep against another rush of the + reds. It was a trying ordeal for a man, doubly so for a boy like Will; but + he was encouraged to coolness and endurance by a few words from Frank + McCarthy, who remarked, admiringly, "Well, Billy, you didn't scare worth a + cent." + </p> + <p> + After a few miles of wading the little party issued out upon the Platte + River. By this time the wounded men were so exhausted that a halt was + called to improvise a raft. On this the sufferers were placed, and three + or four men detailed to shove it before them. In consideration of his + youth, Will was urged to get upon the raft, but he declined, saying that + he was not wounded, and that if the stream got too deep for him to wade, + he could swim. This was more than some of the men could do, and they, too, + had to be assisted over the deep places. + </p> + <p> + Thus wore the long and weary hours away, and though the men, who knew how + hard a trip it was, often asked, "How goes it, Billy?" he uttered no word + of complaint. + </p> + <p> + But half a day's wading, without rest or food, gradually weighted his + heels, and little by little he lagged behind his companions. The moon came + out and silvered tree and river, but the silent, plodding band had no eyes + for the glory of the landscape. + </p> + <p> + Will had fallen behind some twenty rods, but in a moment fatigue was + forgotten, the blood jumped in his veins, for just ahead of him the + moonlight fell upon the feathered head-dress of an Indian chief, who was + peering over the bank. Motionless, he watched the head, shoulders, and + body of the brave come into view. The Indian supposed the entire party + ahead, and Will made no move until the savage bent his bow. + </p> + <p> + Then he realized, with a thumping heart, that death must come to one of + his comrades or the Indian. + </p> + <p> + Even in direst necessity it is a fearful thing to deliberately take a + human life, but Will had no time for hesitation. There was a shot, and the + Indian rolled down the bank into the river. + </p> + <p> + His expiring yell was answered by others. The reds were not far away. + Frank McCarthy, missing Will, stationed guards, and ran back to look for + him. He found the lad hauling the dead warrior ashore, and seizing his + hand, cried out: "Well done, my boy; you've killed your first Indian, and + done it like a man!" + </p> + <p> + Will wanted to stop and bury the body, but being assured that it was not + only an uncustomary courtesy, but in this case quite impossible, he + hastened on. As they came up with the waiting group McCarthy called out: + </p> + <p> + "Pards, little Billy has killed his first redskin!" + </p> + <p> + The announcement was greeted with cheers, which grated on Will's ears, for + his heart was sick, and the cheers seemed strangely out of place. + </p> + <p> + Little time, however, was afforded for sentiment of any sort. Enraged at + the death of their scout, the Indians made a final charge, which was + repulsed, like the others, and after this Bill McCarthy took the lead, + with Frank at the rear, to prevent further straggling of the forces. + </p> + <p> + It was a haggard-faced band that came up to Fort Kearny with the dawn. The + wounded men were left at the post, while the others returned to the + wrecked bull-train under escort of a body of troops. They hoped to make + some salvage, but the cattle had either been driven away or had joined one + of the numerous herds of buffalo; the wagons and their freight had been + burned, and there was nothing to do but bury the three pickets, whose + scalped and mutilated bodies were stretched where they had fallen. + </p> + <p> + Then the troops and trainmen parted company, the former to undertake a + bootless quest for the red marauders, the latter to return to Leavenworth, + their occupation gone. The government held itself responsible for the + depredations of its wards, and the loss of the wagons and cattle was + assumed at Washington. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. — FAMILY DEFENDER AND HOUSEHOLD TEASE. + </h2> + <p> + THE fame to which Byron woke one historic morning was no more unexpected + to him than that which now greeted Will. The trainmen had not been + over-modest in their accounts of his pluck; and when a newspaper reporter + lent the magic of his imagination to the plain narrative, it became quite + a story, headed in display type, "The Boy Indian Slayer." + </p> + <p> + But Will was speedily concerned with other than his own affairs, for as + soon as his position with the freighters was assured, mother engaged a + lawyer to fight the claim against our estate. This legal light was John C. + Douglass, then unknown, unhonored, and unsung, but talented and + enterprising notwithstanding. He had just settled in Leavenworth, and he + could scarcely have found a better case with which to storm the heights of + fame—the dead father, the sick mother, the helpless children, and + relentless persecution, in one scale; in the other, an eleven-year-old boy + doing a man's work to earn the money needed to combat the family's + enemies. Douglass put his whole strength into the case. + </p> + <p> + He knew as well as we that our cause was weak; it hung by a single thread—a + missing witness, Mr. Barnhart. This man had acted as bookkeeper when the + bills were paid, but he had been sent away, and the prosecution—or + persecution—had thus far succeeded in keeping his where-abouts a + secret. To every place where he was likely to be Lawyer Douglass had + written; but we were as much in the dark as ever when the morning for the + trial of the suit arrived. + </p> + <p> + The case had excited much interest, and the court-room was crowded, many + persons having been drawn thither by a curiosity to look upon "The Boy + Indian Slayer." There was a cheerful unanimity of opinion upon the utter + hopelessness of the Cody side of the case. Not only were prominent and + wealthy men arrayed against us, but our young and inexperienced lawyer + faced the heaviest legal guns of the Leavenworth bar. Our only witnesses + were a frail woman and a girl of eighteen, though by their side, with his + head held high, was the family protector, our brave young brother. Against + us were might and malignity; upon our side, right and the high courage + with which Christianity steels the soul of a believer. Mother had faith + that the invisible forces of the universe were fighting for our cause. + </p> + <p> + She and Martha swore to the fact that all the bills had been settled; and + after the opposition had rested its case, Lawyer Douglass arose for the + defense. His was a magnificent plea for the rights of the widow and the + orphan, and was conceded to be one of the finest speeches ever heard in a + Kansas court-room; but though all were moved by our counsel's eloquence—some + unto tears by the pathos of it—though the justice of our cause was + freely admitted throughout the court-room, our best friends feared the + verdict. + </p> + <p> + But the climax was as stunning to our enemies as it was unexpected. As + Lawyer Douglass finished his last ringing period, the missing witness, Mr. + Barnhart, hurried into the court-room. He had started for Leavenworth upon + the first intimation that his presence there was needed, and had reached + it just in time. He took the stand, swore to his certain knowledge that + the bills in question had been paid, and the jury, without leaving their + seats, returned a verdict for the defense. + </p> + <p> + Then rose cheer upon cheer, as our friends crowded about us and offered + their congratulations. Our home was saved, and Lawyer Douglass had won a + reputation for eloquence and sterling worth that stood undimmed through + all his long and prosperous career. + </p> + <p> + The next ripple on the current of our lives was sister Martha's wedding + day. Possessed of remarkable beauty, she had become a belle, and as young + ladies were scarce in Kansas at that time, she was the toast of all our + country round. But her choice had fallen on a man unworthy of her. Of his + antecedents we knew nothing; of his present life little more, save that he + was fair in appearance and seemingly prosperous. In the sanction of the + union Will stood aloof. Joined to a native intuition were the sharpened + faculties of a lad that lived beyond his years. Almost unerring in his + insight, he disliked the object of our sister's choice so thoroughly that + he refused to be a witness of the nuptials. This dislike we attributed to + jealousy, as brother and sister worshiped each other, but the sequel + proved a sad corroboration of his views. + </p> + <p> + Nature seemed to join her protest to Will's silent antagonism. A terrific + thunder-storm came up with the noon hour of the wedding. So deep and + sullen were the clouds that we were obliged to light the candles. When the + wedding pair took their places before Hymen's altar, a crash of thunder + rocked the house and set the casements rattling. + </p> + <p> + The couple had their home awaiting them in Leavenworth, and departed + almost immediately after the ceremony. + </p> + <p> + The cares and responsibilities laid upon our brother's shoulders did not + quench his boyish spirits and love of fun. Not Buffalo Bill's! He gave us + a jack-o'-lantern scare once upon a time, which I don't believe any of us + will ever forget. We had never seen that weird species of pumpkin, and + Will embroidered a blood-and-thunder narrative. + </p> + <p> + "The pumpkins all rise up out of the ground," said he, "on fire, with the + devil's eyes, and their mouths open, like blood-red lions, and grab you, + and go under the earth. You better look out!" + </p> + <p> + "That ain't so!" all of us little girls cried; "you know it's a fib. Ain't + it, mother?" and we ran as usual to mother. + </p> + <p> + "Will, you mustn't tell the children such tales. Of course they're just + fibs," said mother. + </p> + <p> + "So there!" we cried, in triumph. But Will had a "so there" answer for us + a few nights later. We were coming home late one evening, and found the + gate guarded by mad-looking yellow things, all afire, and grinning + hideously like real live men in the moon dropped down from the sky. + </p> + <p> + "Jack-o'-lanterns!" screamed Eliza, grabbing May by the hand, and starting + to run. I began to say my prayers, of course, and cry for mother. All at + once the heads moved! Even Turk's tail shot between his legs, and he + howled in fright. We saw the devil's eyes, the blood-red lion's mouths, + and all the rest, and set up such a chorus of wild yells that the whole + household rushed to our rescue. While we were panting out our story, we + heard Will snickering behind the door. + </p> + <p> + "So there, smarties! You'll believe what I tell you next time. You bet—ter—had!" + </p> + <p> + But he liked best to invade our play-room and "work magic" on our dolls. + Mother had set aside one apartment in our large log house for a play-room, + and here each one of our doll families dwelt in peace and harmony, when + Will wasn't around. But there was tragedy whenever he came near. He would + scalp the mother dolls, and tie their babies to the bedposts, and would + storm into their pasteboard-box houses at night, after we had fixed them + all in order, and put the families to standing on their heads. He was a + dreadful tease. It was in this play-room that the germ of his Wild West + took life. He formed us into a regular little company—Turk and the + baby, too—and would start us in marching order for the woods. He + made us stick horses and wooden tomahawks, spears, and horsehair strings, + so that we could be cowboys, Indians, bullwhackers, and cavalrymen. All + the scenes of his first freighting trip were acted out in the woods of + Salt Creek Valley. We had stages, robbers, "hold-ups," and most ferocious + Indian battles. + </p> + <p> + Will was always the "principal scalper," however, and we had few of our + feathers left after he was on the warpath. We were so little we couldn't + reach his feathers. He always wore two long shiny ones, which had been the + special pride of our black rooster, and when he threw a piece of an old + blanket gotten from the Leavenworth barracks around his shoulders, we + considered him a very fine general indeed. + </p> + <p> + All of us were obedient to the letter on "show days," and scarcely ever + said "Now, stop," or "I'll tell mother on you!" But during one of these + exciting performances Will came to a short stop. + </p> + <p> + "I believe I'll run a show when I get to be a man," said he. + </p> + <p> + "That fortune lady said you'd got to be President of the United States," + said Eliza. + </p> + <p> + "How could ze presiman won a show?" asked May. + </p> + <p> + "How could that old fortune-teller know what I'm going to be?" Will would + answer, disdainfully. "I rather guess I can have a show, in spite of all + the fortune-tellers in the country. I'll tell you right now, girls, I + don't propose to be President, but I do mean to have a show!" + </p> + <p> + Such temerity in disputing one's destiny was appalling; and though our + ideas of destiny were rather vague, we could grasp one dreadful fact: Will + had refused to be President of the United States! So we ran crying to + mother, and burying our faces in her lap, sobbed out: "Oh, mother! Will + says he ain't going to be President. Don't he have to be?" + </p> + <p> + Still, in spite of Will's fine scorn of fortune-tellers, the prophecy + concerning his future must have been sometimes in his mind. This was shown + in an episode that the writer is in duty bound, as a veracious chronicler, + to set down. + </p> + <p> + Our neighbor, Mr. Hathaway, had a son, Eugene, of about Will's age, and + the two were fast friends. One day, when Will was visiting at Eugene's + house, the boys introduced themselves to a barrel of hard cider. + Temperance sentiment had not progressed far enough to bring hard cider + under the ban, and Mr. Hathaway had lately pressed out a quantity of the + old-fashioned beverage. The boys, supposing it a harmless drink, took all + they desired—much more than they could carry. They were in a + deplorable condition when Mr. Hathaway found them; and much distressed, + the good old man put Eugene to bed and brought Will home. + </p> + <p> + The family hero returned to us with a flourish of trumpets. He stood up in + the wagon and sang and shouted; and when Mr. Hathaway reproved him, "Don't + talk to me," was his lofty rejoinder. "You forget that I am to be + President of the United States." + </p> + <p> + There is compensation for everything. Will never touched cider again; and + never again could he lord it over his still admiring but no longer docile + sisters. If he undertook to boss or tease us more than to our fancy, we + would subdue him with an imitation of his grandiloquent, "You forget that + I am to be President of the United States." Indeed, so severe was this + retaliation that we seldom saw him the rest of the day. + </p> + <p> + But he got even with us when "preacher day" came around. + </p> + <p> + Like "Little Breeches" father, Will never did go in much on religion, and + when the ministers assembled for "quarterly meeting" at our house, we + never knew what to expect from him. Mother was a Methodist, and as our log + house was larger than the others in the valley, it fell to our lot to + entertain the preachers often. We kept our preparations on the quiet when + Will was home, but he always managed to find out what was up, and then + trouble began. His first move was to "sick" Turk on the yellow-legged + chickens. They were our best ones, and the only thing we had for the + ministers to eat. Then Will would come stalking in: + </p> + <p> + "Say, mother, just saw all the yellow-legged chickens a-scooting up the + road. Methodist preachers must be in the wind, for the old hens are flying + like sixty!" + </p> + <p> + "Now, Will, you call Turk off, and round up those chickens right away." + </p> + <p> + "Catch meself!" And Will would dance around and tease so he nearly drove + us all distracted. It was with the greatest difficulty that mother could + finally prevail upon him to round up the chickens. That done, he would tie + up the pump-handle, milk the cows dry, strew the path to the gate with + burrs and thistles, and stick up a sign, "Thorney is the path and stickery + the way that leedith unto the kingdom of heaven. Amen!" + </p> + <p> + Then when mother had put a nice clean valance, freshly starched and + ruffled, around the big four-poster bed in the sitting-room, Will would + daub it up with smearcase, and just before the preachers arrived, sneak in + under it, and wait for prayers. + </p> + <p> + Mother always desired us to file in quietly, but we couldn't pass the bed + without our legs being pinched; so we "hollered," but were afraid to tell + mother the reason before the ministers. We had to bear it, but we + snickered ourselves when the man Will called "Elder Green Persimmon," + because when he prayed his mouth went inside out, came mincing into the + room, and as he passed the valance and got a pinch, jerked out a + sour-grape sneeze: + </p> + <p> + "Mercy on us! I thought I was bitten by that fierce dog of yours, Mrs. + Cody; but it must have been a burr." + </p> + <p> + Then the "experiences" would begin. Will always listened quietly, until + the folks began telling how wicked they had been before they got religion; + then he would burst in with a vigorous "Amen!" + </p> + <p> + The elders did not know Will's voice; so they would get warmed up by + degree as the amens came thicker and faster. When he had worked them all + up to a red-hot pitch, Will would start that awful snort of his that + always made us double up with giggles, and with a loud cockle-doodle-doo! + would bolt from the bed like a lightning flash and make for the window. + </p> + <p> + So "preacher day," as Will always called it, became the torment of our + lives. + </p> + <p> + To tell the truth, Will always was teasing us, but if he crooked his + finger at us we would bawl. We bawled and squalled from morning till + night. Yet we fairly worshiped him, and cried harder when he went away + than when he was home. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII. — INDIAN ENCOUNTER AND SCHOOL-DAY INCIDENTS. + </h2> + <p> + WILL was not long at home. The Mormons, who were settled in Utah, rebelled + when the government, objecting to the quality of justice meted out by + Brigham Young, sent a federal judge to the territory. Troops, under the + command of General Albert Sidney Johnston, were dispatched to quell the + insurrection, and Russell, Majors & Waddell contracted to transport + stores and beef cattle to the army massing against the Mormons in the fall + of 1857. The train was a large one, better prepared against such an attack + as routed the McCarthy brothers earlier in the summer; yet its fate was + the same. + </p> + <p> + Will was assigned to duty as "extra" under Lew Simpson, an experienced + wagon-master, and was subject to his orders only. There was the double + danger of Mormons and Indians, so the pay was good. Forty dollars a month + in gold looked like a large sum to an eleven-year-old. + </p> + <p> + Will's second departure was quite as tragic as the first. We girls, as + before, were loud in our wailings, and offered to forgive him the + depredations in the doll-house and all his teasings, if only he would not + go away and be scalped by the Indians. Mother said little, but her anxious + look, as she recalled the perils of the former trip, spoke volumes. He + carried with him the memory of the open-mouthed admiration of little + Charlie, to whom "Brother Will" was the greatest hero in the world. Turk's + grief at the parting was not a whit less than ours, and the faithful old + fellow seemed to realize that in Will's absence the duty of the family + protector devolved on him; so he made no attempt to follow Will beyond the + gate. + </p> + <p> + The train made good progress, and more than half the journey to Fort + Bridger was accomplished without a setback. When the Rockies were reached, + a noon halt was made near Green River, and here the men were surrounded + and overcome by a large force of Danites, the "Avenging Angels" of the + Mormon Church, who had "stolen the livery of the court of heaven to serve + the devil in." These were responsible for the atrocious Mountain Meadow + Massacre, in June of this same year, though the wily "Saints" had planned + to place the odium of an unprovoked murder of innocent women and children + upon the Indians, who had enough to answer for, and in this instance were + but the tools of the Mormon Church. Brigham Young repudiated his + accomplice, and allowed John D. Lee to become the scapegoat. The dying + statement of this man is as pathetic as Cardinal Wolsey's arraignment of + Henry VIII. + </p> + <p> + "A victim must be had," said he, "and I am that victim. For thirty years I + studied to make Brigham Young's will my law. See now what I have come to + this day. I have been sacrificed in a cowardly, dastardly manner. I do not + fear death. I cannot go to a worse place than I am now in." + </p> + <p> + John D. Lee deserved his fate, but Brigham Young was none the less a + coward. + </p> + <p> + The Danites spared the lives of the trainmen, but they made sad havoc of + the supplies. These they knew to be intended for the use of the army + opposed to Brigham Young. They carried off all the stores they could + handle, drove with them or stampeded the cattle, and burned the wagons. + The trainmen were permitted to retain one wagon and team, with just enough + supplies to last them to army headquarters. + </p> + <p> + It was a disheartened, discomfited band that reached Fort Bridger. The + information that two other trains had been destroyed added to their + discouragement, for that meant that they, in common with the other + trainmen and the soldiers at the fort, must subsist on short rations for + the winter. There were nearly four hundred of these trainmen, and it was + so late in the season that they had no choice but to remain where they + were until spring opened. + </p> + <p> + It was an irksome winter. The men at the fort hauled their firewood two + miles; as the provisions dwindled, one by one the oxen were slaughtered, + and when this food supply was exhausted, starvation reared its gaunt form. + Happily the freighters got word of the situation, and a relief team + reached the fort before the spring was fairly opened. + </p> + <p> + As soon as practicable the return journey was undertaken. At Fort Laramie + two large trains were put in charge of Lew Simpson, as brigade + wagon-master, and Will was installed as courier between the two caravans, + which traveled twenty miles apart—plenty of elbow room for camping + and foraging. + </p> + <p> + One morning, Simpson, George Woods, and Will, who were in the rear train, + set out for the forward one, mounted upon mules, and armed, as the + trainmen always were, with rifle, knife, and a brace of revolvers. About + half of the twenty miles had been told off when the trio saw a band of + Indians emerge from a clump of trees half a mile away and sweep toward + them. Flight with the mules was useless; resistance promised hardly more + success, as the Indians numbered a full half-hundred: but surrender was + death and mutilation. + </p> + <p> + "Shoot the mules, boys!" ordered Simpson, and five minutes later two men + and a boy looked grimly over a still palpitating barricade. + </p> + <p> + The defense was simple; rifles at range, revolvers for close quarters, + knives at the last. The chief, easily distinguished by his feathered + head-dress, was assigned to Will. Already his close shooting was the pride + of the frontiersmen. Simpson's coolness steadied the lad, who realized + that the situation was desperate. + </p> + <p> + The Indians came on with the rush and scream of the March wind. "Fire!" + said Simpson, and three ponies galloped riderless as the smoke curled from + three rifle barrels. + </p> + <p> + Dismayed by the fall of their chief, the redskins wheeled and rode out of + range. Will gave a sigh of relief. + </p> + <p> + "Load up again, Billy!" smiled Simpson. "They'll soon be back." + </p> + <p> + "They've only three or four rifles," said Woods. There had been little + lead in the cloud of arrows. + </p> + <p> + "Here they come!" warned Simpson, and the trio ran their rifles out over + the dead mules. + </p> + <p> + Three more riderless ponies; but the Indians kept on, supposing they had + drawn the total fire of the whites. A revolver fusillade undeceived them, + and the charging column wavered and broke for cover. + </p> + <p> + Simpson patted Will on the shoulder as they reloaded. "You're a game one, + Billy!" said he. + </p> + <p> + "You bet he is," echoed Woods, coolly drawing an arrow from his shoulder. + "How is that, Lew—poisoned?" + </p> + <p> + Will waited breathless for the decision, and his relief was as great as + Woods's when Simpson, after a critical scrutiny, answered "No." + </p> + <p> + The wound was hastily dressed, and the little company gave an undivided + attention to the foe, who were circling around their quarry, hanging to + the off sides of their ponies and firing under them. With a touch of the + grim humor that plain life breeds, Will declared that the mules were + veritable pincushions, so full of arrows were they stuck. + </p> + <p> + The besieged maintained a return fire, dropping pony after pony, and + occasionally a rider. This proved expensive sport to the Indians, and the + whole party finally withdrew from range. + </p> + <p> + There was a long breathing spell, which the trio improved by strengthening + their defense, digging up the dirt with their knives and piling it upon + the mules. It was tedious work, but preferable to inactivity and cramped + quarters. + </p> + <p> + Two hours went by, and the plan of the enemy was disclosed. A light breeze + arose, and the Indians fired the prairie. Luckily the grass near the trail + was short, and though the heat was intense and the smoke stifling, the + barricade held off the flame. Simpson had kept a close watch, and + presently gave the order to fire. A volley went through the smoke and + blaze, and the yell that followed proved that it was not wasted. This last + ruse failing, the Indians settled down to their favorite game—waiting. + </p> + <p> + A thin line of them circled out of range; ponies were picketed and tents + pitched; night fell, and the stars shot out. + </p> + <p> + As Woods was wounded, he was excused from guard duty, Will and Simpson + keeping watch in turn. Will took the first vigil, and, tired though he + was, experienced no difficulty in keeping awake, but he went soundly to + sleep the moment he was relieved. He was wakened by a dream that Turk was + barking to him, and vaguely alarmed, he sat up to find Simpson sleeping + across his rifle. + </p> + <p> + The midnight hush was unbroken, and the darkness lay thick upon the plain, + but shapes blacker than night hovered near, and Will laid his hand on + Simpson's shoulder. + </p> + <p> + The latter was instantly alive, and Woods was wakened. A faint click went + away on the night breeze, and a moment later three jets of flame carried + warning to the up-creeping foe that the whites were both alive and on the + alert. + </p> + <p> + There was no more sleep within the barricade. The dawn grew into day, and + anxious eyes scanned the trail for reinforcements—coming surely, but + on what heavy and slow-turning wheels! + </p> + <p> + Noon came and passed. The anxious eyes questioned one another. Had the + rear train been overcome by a larger band of savages? But suddenly half a + dozen of the Indians were seen to spring up with gestures of excitement, + and spread the alarm around the circle. + </p> + <p> + "They hear the cracking of the bull-whips," said Simpson. + </p> + <p> + The Indians who had seen the first team pass, and had assumed that Simpson + and his companions were straggling members of it, did not expect another + train so soon. There was "mounting in hot haste," and the Indians rode + away in one bunch for the distant foothills, just as the first ox-team + broke into view. + </p> + <p> + And never was there fairer picture to more appreciative eyes than those + same lumbering, clumsy animals, and never sweeter music than the harsh + staccato of the bullwhips. + </p> + <p> + When hunger was appeased, and Woods's wound properly dressed, Will, for + the second time, found himself a hero among the plainsmen. His nerve and + coolness were dwelt upon by Simpson, and to the dream that waked him in + season was ascribed the continued life on earth of the little company. + Will, however, was disposed to allow Turk the full credit for the service. + </p> + <p> + The remainder of the trip was devoid of special incident, and as Will + neared home he hurried on in advance of the train. His heart beat high as + he thought of the dear faces awaiting him, unconscious that he was so + near. + </p> + <p> + But the home toward which he was hastening with beating heart and winged + heels was shadowed by a great grief. Sister Martha's married life, though + brief, had amply justified her brother's estimate of the man into whose + hands she had given her life. She was taken suddenly ill, and it was not + until several months later that Will learned that the cause of her + sickness was the knowledge that had come to her of the faithless nature of + her husband. The revelation was made through the visit of one of Mr. C——'s + creditors, who, angered at a refusal to liquidate a debt, accused Mr. C——of + being a bigamist, and threatened to set the law upon him. The blow was + fatal to one of Martha's pure and affectionate nature, already crushed by + neglect and cruelty. All that night she was delirious, and her one thought + was "Willie," and the danger he was in—not alone the physical + danger, but the moral and spiritual peril that she feared lay in + association with rough and reckless men. She moaned and tossed, and + uttered incoherent cries; but as the morning broke the storm went down, + and the anxious watchers fancied that she slept. Suddenly she sat up, the + light of reason again shining in her eyes, and with a joyous cry, "Tell + mother Willie's saved! Willie's saved!" she fell back on her pillow, and + her spirit passed away. On her face was the peace that the world can + neither give nor take away. The veil of the Unknown had been drawn aside + for a space. She had "sent her soul through the Invisible," and it had + found the light that lit the last weary steps through the Valley of the + Shadow. + </p> + <p> + Mr. C—— had moved from Leavenworth to Johnson County, + twenty-five miles away, and as there were neither telegraph nor mail + facilities, he had the body sent home, himself accompanying it. Thus our + first knowledge of Martha's sickness came when her lifeless clay was borne + across our threshold, the threshold that, less than a year before, she had + crossed a bright and bonny bride. Dazed by the shock, we longed for Will's + return before we must lay his idolized sister forever in her narrow cell. + </p> + <p> + All of the family, Mr. C—— included, were gathered in the + sitting-room, sad and silent, when Turk suddenly raised his head, listened + a second, and bounded out of doors. + </p> + <p> + "Will is coming!" cried mother, and we all ran to the door. Turk was + racing up the long hill, at the top of which was a moving speck that the + dog knew to be his master. His keen ears had caught the familiar whistle + half a mile away. + </p> + <p> + When Turk had manifested his joy at the meeting, he prepared Will for the + bereavement that awaited him; he put his head down and emitted a long and + repeated wail. Will's first thought was for mother, and he fairly ran down + the hill. The girls met him some distance from the house, and sobbed out + the sad news. + </p> + <p> + And when he had listened, the lad that had passed unflinching through two + Indian fights, broke down, and sobbed with the rest of us. + </p> + <p> + "Did that rascal, C——, have anything to do with her death?" he + asked, when the first passion of grief was over. + </p> + <p> + Julia, who knew no better at the time, replied that Mr. C——was + the kindest of husbands, and was crushed with sorrow at his loss; but + spite of the assurance, Will, when he reached the house, had neither look + nor word for him. He just put his arms about mother's neck, and mingled + his grief with her words of sympathy and love. + </p> + <p> + Martha was shortly after laid by father's side, and as we stood weeping in + that awful moment when the last spadeful of earth completes the sepulture, + Will, no longer master of himself, stepped up before Mr. C——: + </p> + <p> + "Murderer," he said, "one day you shall answer to me for the death of her + who lies there!" + </p> + <p> + When Will next presented himself at Mr. Majors's office, he was told that + his services had been wholly satisfactory, and that he could have work at + any time he desired. This was gratifying, but a sweeter pleasure was to + lay his winter's wages in mother's lap. Through his help, and her business + ability, our pecuniary affairs were in good condition. We were comfortably + situated, and as Salt Creek Valley now boasted of a schoolhouse, mother + wished Will to enter school. He was so young when he came West that his + school-days had been few; nor was the prospect of adding to their number + alluring. After the excitement of life on the plains, going to school was + dull work; but Will realized that there was a world beyond the prairie's + horizon, and he entered school, determined to do honest work. + </p> + <p> + Our first teacher was of the good, old-fashioned sort. He taught because + he had to live. He had no love for his work, and knew nothing of children. + The one motto he lived up to was, "Spare the rod and spoil the child." As + Will was a regular Tartar in the schoolroom, he, more than all the other + scholars, made him put his smarting theory into practice. Almost every + afternoon was attended with the dramatic attempt to switch Will. The + schoolroom was separated into two grand divisions, "the boys on teacher's + side," and those "on the Cody side." The teacher would send his pets out + to get switches, and part of our division—we girls, of course—would + begin to weep; while those who had spunk would spit on their hands, clench + their fists, and "dare 'em to bring them switches in!" Those were hot + times in old Salt Creek Valley! + </p> + <p> + One morning Turk, too, was seized with educational ambition, and + accompanied Will to school. We tried to drive him home, but he followed at + a distance, and as we entered the schoolhouse, he emerged from the + shrubbery by the roadside and crept under the building. + </p> + <p> + Alas for the scholars, and alas for the school! Another ambitious dog + reposed beneath the temple of learning. + </p> + <p> + Will, about that time, was having a bad quarter of an hour. An examination + into his knowledge, or lack of it, was under way, and he was hard pressed. + Had he been asked how to strike a trail, locate water, or pitch a tent, + his replies would have been full and accurate, but the teacher's queries + seemed as foolish as the "Reeling and Writhing, Ambition, Distraction, + Uglification, and Derision" of the Mock Turtle in "Alice in Wonderland." + </p> + <p> + Turk effected an unexpected rescue. Snarls were heard beneath the + schoolhouse; then savage growls and yelps, while the floor resounded with + the whacks of the canine combatants. With a whoop that would not have + disgraced an Indian, Will was out of doors, shouting, "Eat him up, Turk! + Eat him up!" + </p> + <p> + The owner of the opposing dog was one Steve Gobel. 'Twixt him and Will a + good-sized feud existed. Steve was also on the scene, with a defiant, "Sic + 'em, Nigger!" and the rest of the school followed in his wake. + </p> + <p> + Of the twisting, yelping bundle of dog-flesh that rolled from under the + schoolhouse it was difficult to say which was Turk and which Nigger. Eliza + and I called to Turk, and wept because he would not hear. The teacher + ordered the children back to their studies, but they were as deaf as Turk; + whereat the enraged pedagogue hopped wildly about, flourishing a stick and + whacking every boy that strayed within reach of it. + </p> + <p> + Nigger soon had enough of the fight, and striking his tail-colors, fled + yelping from the battle-ground. His master, Steve Gobel, a large youth of + nineteen or twenty years, pulled off his coat to avenge upon Will the + dog's defeat, but the teacher effected a Solomon-like compromise by + whipping both boys for bringing their dogs to school, after which the + interrupted session was resumed. + </p> + <p> + But Gobel nursed his wrath, and displayed his enmity in a thousand small + ways. Will paid no attention to him, but buckled down to his school work. + Will was a born "lady's man," and when Miss Mary Hyatt complicated the + feud 'twixt him and Steve, it hurried to its climax. Mary was older than + Will, but she plainly showed her preference for him over Master Gobel. + Steve had never distinguished himself in an Indian fight; he was not a + hero, but just a plain boy. + </p> + <p> + Now, indeed, was Will's life unendurable; "patience had had its perfect + work." He knew that a boy of twelve, however strong and sinewy, was not a + match for an almost full-grown man; so, to balance matters, he secreted on + his person an old bowie-knife. When next he met Steve, the latter climaxed + his bullying tactics by striking the object of his resentment; but he was + unprepared for the sudden leap that bore him backward to the earth. Size + and strength told swiftly in the struggle that succeeded, but Will, with a + dextrous thrust, put the point of the bowie into the fleshy part of + Steve's lower leg, a spot where he knew the cut would not be serious. + </p> + <p> + The stricken bully shrieked that he was killed; the children gathered + round, and screamed loudly at the sight of blood. "Will Cody has killed + Steve Gobel!" was the wailing cry, and Will, though he knew Steve was but + pinked, began to realize that frontier styles of combat were not esteemed + in communities given up to the soberer pursuits of spelling, arithmetic, + and history. Steve, he knew, was more frightened than hurt; but the + picture of the prostrate, ensanguined youth, and the group of awestricken + children, bore in upon his mind the truth that his act was an infraction + of the civil code; that even in self-defense, he had no right to use a + knife unless his life was threatened. + </p> + <p> + The irate pedagogue was hastening to the scene, and after one glance at + him, Will incontinently fled. At the road he came upon a wagon train, and + with a shout of joy recognized in the "boss" John Willis, a wagon-master + employed by Russell, Majors & Waddell, and a great friend of the "boy + extra." Will climbed up behind Willis on his horse, and related his + escapade to a close and sympathetic listener. + </p> + <p> + "If you say so, Billy," was his comment, "I'll go over and lick the whole + outfit, and stampede the school." + </p> + <p> + "No, let the school alone," replied Will; "but I guess I'll graduate, if + you'll let me go along with you this trip." + </p> + <p> + Willis readily agreed, but insisted upon returning to the schoolhouse. "I + m not going," said he, "to let you be beaten by a bully of a boy, and a + Yankee school-teacher, with a little learning, but not a bit of sand." His + idea of equalizing forces was that he and "Little Billy" should fight + against the pedagogue and Steve. + </p> + <p> + Will consented, and they rode back to the schoolhouse, on the door of + which Willis pounded with his revolver butt, and when the door was opened + he invited Gobel and the "grammar man" to come forth and do battle. But + Steve had gone home, and the teacher, on seeing the two gladiators, fled, + while the scholars, dismissing themselves, ran home in a fright. + </p> + <p> + That night mother received a note from the teacher. + </p> + <p> + He was not hired, he wrote, to teach desperadoes; therefore Will was + dismissed. But Will had already dismissed himself, and had rejoined the + larger school whose walls are the blue bowl called the sky. And long after + was his name used by the pedagogue to conjure up obedience in his pupils; + unless they kissed the rod, they, too, might go to the bad, and follow in + Will Cody's erring footsteps. + </p> + <p> + Willis and Will had gone but a piece on the road when horsemen were seen + approaching. + </p> + <p> + "Mr. Gobel and the officers are after me," said Will. + </p> + <p> + "Being after you and gittin' you are two different things," said the + wagon-master. "Lie low, and I'll settle the men." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Gobel and his party rode up with the information that they had come to + arrest Will; but they got no satisfaction from Willis. He would not allow + them to search the wagons, and they finally rode away. That night, when + the camp was pitched, the wagon-master gave Will a mule, and accompanied + him home. We were rejoiced to see him, especially mother, who was much + concerned over his escapade. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, Will, how could you do such a thing?" she said, sorrowfully. "It is a + dreadful act to use a knife on any one." + </p> + <p> + Will disavowed any homicidal intentions; but his explanations made little + headway against mother's disapproval and her disappointment over the + interruption of his school career. As it seemed the best thing to do, she + consented to his going with the wagon train under the care of John Willis, + and the remainder of the night was passed in preparations for the journey. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII. — DEATH AND BURIAL OF TURK. + </h2> + <p> + THIS trip of Will's covered only two months, and was succeeded by another + expedition, to the new post at Fort Wallace, at Cheyenne Pass. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile mother had decided to improve the opportunity afforded by her + geographical position, and under her supervision "The Valley Grove House" + was going up. + </p> + <p> + The hotel commanded a magnificent prospect. Below lay the beautiful Salt + Creek Valley. It derived its name from the saline properties of the little + stream that rushed along its pebbly bed to empty its clear waters into the + muddy Missouri. From the vantage-ground of our location Salt Creek looked + like a silver thread, winding its way through the rich verdure of the + valley. The region was dotted with fertile farms; from east to west ran + the government road, known as the Old Salt Lake Trail, and back of us was + Cody Hill, named for my father. Our house stood on the side hill, just + above the military road, and between us and the hilltop lay the grove that + gave the hotel its name. Government hill, which broke the eastern + sky-line, hid Leavenworth and the Missouri River, culminating to the south + in Pilot Knob, the eminence on which my father was buried, also beyond our + view. + </p> + <p> + Mother's business sagacity was justified in the hotel venture. The trail + began its half-mile ascent of Cody Hill just below our house, and at this + point the expedient known as "doubling" was employed. Two teams hauled a + wagon up the steep incline, the double team returning for the wagon left + behind. Thus the progress of a wagon train, always slow, became a very + snail's pace, and the hotel was insured a full quota of hungry trainmen. + </p> + <p> + Will found that his wages were of considerable aid to mother in the large + expense incurred by the building of the hotel; and the winter drawing on, + forbidding further freighting trips, he planned an expedition with a party + of trappers. More money was to be made at this business during the winter + than at any other time. + </p> + <p> + The trip was successful, and contained only one adventure spiced with + danger, which, as was so often the case, Will twisted to his own advantage + by coolness and presence of mind. + </p> + <p> + One morning, as he was making the round of his traps, three Indians + appeared on the trail, each leading a pony laden with pelts. One had a + gun; the others carried bows and arrows. The odds were three to one, and + the brave with the gun was the most to be feared. + </p> + <p> + This Indian dropped his bridle-rein and threw up his rifle; but before it + was at his shoulder Will had fired, and he fell forward on his face. His + companions bent their bows, one arrow passing through Will's hat and + another piercing his arm—the first wound he ever received. Will + swung his cap about his head. + </p> + <p> + "This way! Here they are!" he shouted to an imaginary party of friends at + his back. Then with his revolver he wounded another of the Indians, who, + believing reinforcements were at hand, left their ponies and fled. + </p> + <p> + Will took the ponies on the double-quick back to camp, and the trappers + decided to pull up stakes at once. It had been a profitable season, and + the few more pelts to be had were not worth the risk of an attack by + avenging Indians; so they packed their outfit, and proceeded to Fort + Laramie. Will realized a handsome sum from the sale of his captured furs, + besides those of the animals he had himself trapped. + </p> + <p> + At the fort were two men bound east, and impatient to set out, and Will, + in his haste to reach home, joined forces with them. Rather than wait for + an uncertain wagon train, they decided to chance the dangers of the road. + They bought three ponies and a pack-mule for the camp outfit, and sallied + forth in high spirits. + </p> + <p> + Although the youngest of the party, Will was the most experienced + plainsman, and was constantly on the alert. They reached the Little Blue + River without sign of Indians, but across the stream Will espied a band of + them. The redskins were as keen of eye, and straightway exchanged the + pleasures of the chase for the more exciting pursuit of human game. But + they had the river to cross; and this gave the white men a good start. The + pursuit was hot, and grew hotter, but the kindly darkness fell, and under + cover of it the trio got safely away. That night they camped in a little + ravine that afforded shelter from both Indians and weather. + </p> + <p> + A look over the ravine disclosed a cave that promised a snug harbor, and + therein Will and one of his companions spread their blankets and fell + asleep. The third man, whose duty it was to prepare the supper, kindled a + fire just inside the cave, and returned outside for a supply of fuel. When + he again entered the cave the whole interior was revealed by the bright + firelight, and after one look he gave a yell of terror, dropped his + firewood, and fled. + </p> + <p> + Will and the other chap were on their knees instantly, groping for their + rifles, in the belief that the Indians were upon them; but the sight that + met their eyes was more terror-breeding than a thousand Indians. A dozen + bleached and ghastly skeletons were gathered with them around the + camp-fire, and seemed to nod and sway, and thrust their long-chilled bones + toward the cheery blaze. + </p> + <p> + Ghastly as it was within the cave, Will found it more unpleasant in the + open. The night was cold, and a storm threatened. + </p> + <p> + "Well," said he to his companions, "we know the worst that's in there now. + Those old dead bones won't hurt us. Let's go back." + </p> + <p> + "Not if I know myself, sonny," returned one of the men decidedly, and the + other heartily agreed with him, swearing that as it was, he should not be + able to close his eyes for a week. So, after a hurried lunch upon the cold + provisions, the party mounted their ponies and pushed on. The promised + snowstorm materialized, and shortly became a young blizzard, and obliged + to dismount and camp in the open prairie, they made a miserable night of + it. + </p> + <p> + But it had an end, as all things have, and with the morning they resumed + the trail, reaching Marysville, on the Big Blue, after many trials and + privations. + </p> + <p> + From here the trail was easier, as the country was pretty well settled, + and Will reached home without further adventure or misadventure. Here + there was compensation for hardship in the joy of handing over to mother + all his money, realizing that it would lighten her burdens—burdens + borne that she might leave her children provided for when she could no + longer repel the dread messenger, that in all those years seemed to hover + so near that even our childish hearts felt its presence ere it actually + crossed the threshold. + </p> + <p> + It was early in March when Will returned from his trapping expedition. + Mother's business was flourishing, though she herself grew frailer with + the passing of each day. The summer that came on was a sad one for us all, + for it marked Turk's last days on earth. One evening he was lying in the + yard, when a strange dog came up the road, bounded in, gave Turk a vicious + bite, and went on. We dressed the wound, and thought little of it, until + some horsemen rode up, with the inquiry, "Have you seen a dog pass here?" + </p> + <p> + We answered indignantly that a strange dog had passed, and had bitten our + dog. + </p> + <p> + "Better look out for him, then," warned the men as they rode away. "The + dog is mad." + </p> + <p> + Consternation seized us. It was dreadful to think of Turk going mad—he + who had been our playmate from infancy, and who, through childhood's + years, had grown more dear to us than many human beings could; but mother + knew the matter was serious, and issued her commands. Turk must be shut + up, and we must not even visit him for a certain space. And so we shut him + up, hoping for the best; but it speedily became plain that the poison was + working in his veins, and that the greatest kindness we could do him was + to kill him. + </p> + <p> + That was a frightful alternative. Will utterly refused to shoot him, and + the execution was delegated to the hired man, Will stipulating that none + of his weapons should be used, and that he be allowed to get out of + ear-shot. + </p> + <p> + Late that afternoon, just before sunset, we assembled in melancholy + silence for the funeral. A grave had been dug on the highest point of the + eastern extremity of Cody Hill, and decorated in black ribbons, we slowly + filed up the steep path, carrying Turk's body on a pine board softened + with moss. Will led the procession with his hat in his hand, and every now + and then his fist went savagely at his eyes. When we reached the grave, we + formed around it in a tearful circle, and Will, who always called me "the + little preacher," told me to say the Lord's Prayer. The sun was setting, + and the brilliant western clouds were shining round about us. There was a + sighing in the treetops far below us, and the sounds in the valley were + muffled and indistinct. + </p> + <p> + "Our Father which art in heaven," I whispered softly, as all the children + bent their heads, "Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be + done in earth as it is in heaven." I paused, and the other children said + the rest in chorus. The next day Will procured a large block of red + bloodstone, which abounds in that country, squared it off, carved the name + of Turk upon it in large letters, and we placed it at the head of the + grave. + </p> + <p> + To us there had been no incongruity in the funeral ceremonials and burial. + Turk had given us all that dog could give; we, for our part, gave him + Christian sepulture. Our sorrow was sincere. We had lost an honest, loyal + friend. For many succeeding days his grave was garlanded with fresh + flowers, placed there by loving hands. Vale Turk! Would that our friends + of the higher evolution were all as stanch as thou! + </p> + <p> + THE BURIAL OF TURK. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Only a dog! but the tears fall fast. + As we lay him to rest underneath the green sod, + Where bountiful nature, the sweet summer through, + Will deck him with daisies and bright goldenrod. + + The loving thought of a boyish heart + Marks the old dog's grave with a bloodstone red; + The name, carved in letters rough and rude, + Keeps his memory green, though his life be sped. + For the daring young hero of wood and plain, + + Like all who are generous, strong, and brave, + Has a heart that is loyal and kind and true, + And shames not to weep o'er his old friend's grave. + + Only a dog, do you say? but I deem + A dog who with faithfulness fills his trust, + More worthy than many a man to be given + A tribute of love, when but ashes and dust. +</pre> + <p> + An unusually good teacher now presided at the schoolhouse in our + neighborhood, and Will was again persuaded into educational paths. He put + in a hard winter's work; but with the coming of spring and its unrest, the + swelling of buds and the springing of grass, the return of the birds and + the twittering from myriad nests, the Spirits of the Plains beckoned to + him, and he joined a party of gold-hunters on the long trail to Pike's + Peak. + </p> + <p> + The gold excitement was at its apogee in 1860. By our house had passed the + historic wagon bearing on its side the classic motto, "Pike's Peak or + Bust!" Afterward, stranded by the wayside, a whole history of failure and + disappointment, borne with grim humor, was told by the addition of the + eloquent word, "Busted!" + </p> + <p> + For all his adventures, Will was only fourteen, and although tall for his + age, he had not the physical strength that might have been expected from + his hardy life. It was not strange that he should take the gold fever; + less so that mother should dread to see him again leave home to face + unknown perils; and it is not at all remarkable that upon reaching + Auraria, now Denver, he should find that fortunes were not lying around + much more promiscuously in a gold country than in any other. + </p> + <p> + Recent events have confirmed a belief that under the excitement of a gold + craze men exercise less judgment than at any other time. Except in placer + mining, which almost any one can learn, gold mining is a science. Now and + again a nugget worth a fortune is picked up, but the average mortal can + get a better livelihood, with half the work, in almost any other field of + effort. To become rich a knowledge of ores and mining methods is + indispensable. + </p> + <p> + But Will never reached the gold-fields. Almost the first person he met on + the streets of Julesberg was George Chrisman, who had been chief + wagon-master for Russell, Majors & Waddell. Will had become well + acquainted with Chrisman on the various expeditions he had made for the + firm. + </p> + <p> + This man was located at Julesberg as agent for the Pony Express line, + which was in process of formation. This line was an enterprise of Russell, + Majors & Waddell. Mr. Russell met in Washington the Senator from + California. This gentleman knew that the Western firm of contractors was + running a daily stagecoach from the Missouri River to Sacramento, and he + urged upon Mr. Russell the desirability of operating a pony express line + along the same route. There was already a line known as the "Butterfield + Route," but this was circuitous; the fastest time ever made on it was + twenty-one days. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Russell laid the matter before his partners. They were opposed to it, + as they were sure it would be a losing venture; but the senior member + urged the matter so strongly that they consented to try it, for the good + of the country, with no expectation of profit. They utilized the + stagecoach stations already established, and only about two months were + required to put the Pony Express line in running order. + </p> + <p> + Riders received from a hundred and twenty to a hundred and twenty-five + dollars a month, but they earned it. In order to stand the life great + physical strength and endurance were necessary; in addition, riders must + be cool, brave, and resourceful. Their lives were in constant peril, and + they were obliged to do double duty in case the comrade that was to + relieve them had been disabled by outlaws or Indians. + </p> + <p> + Two hundred and fifty miles was the daily distance that must be made; this + constituted an average of a little over ten miles an hour. In the + exceedingly rough country this average could not be kept up; to balance + it, there were a few places in the route where the rider was expected to + cover twenty-five miles an hour. + </p> + <p> + In making such a run, it is hardly necessary to say that no extra weight + was carried. Letters were written on the finest tissue paper; the charge + was at the rate of five dollars for half an ounce. A hundred of these + letters would make a bulk not much larger than an ordinary writing-tablet. + </p> + <p> + The mail-pouches were never to carry more than twenty pounds. They were + leather bags, impervious to moisture; the letters, as a further + protection, were wrapped in oiled silk. The pouches were locked, sealed, + and strapped to the rider's side. They were not unlocked during the + journey from St. Joseph to Sacramento. + </p> + <p> + The first trip was made in ten days; this was a saving of eleven days over + the best time ever made by the "Butterfield Route." Sometimes the time was + shortened to eight days; but an average trip was made in nine. The + distance covered in this time was nineteen hundred and sixty-six miles. + </p> + <p> + President Buchanan's last presidential message was carried in December, + 1860, in a few hours over eight days. President Lincoln's inaugural, the + following March, was transmitted in seven days and seventeen hours. This + was the quickest trip ever made. + </p> + <p> + The Pony Express line made its worth at once felt. It would have become a + financial success but that a telegraph line was put into operation over + the same stretch of territory, under the direction of Mr. Edward + Creighton. The first message was sent over the wires the 24th of October, + 1861. The Pony Express line had outlived its usefulness, and was at once + discontinued. But it had accomplished its main purpose, which was to + determine whether the route by which it went could be made a permanent + track for travel the year through. The cars of the Union Pacific road now + travel nearly the same old trails as those followed by the daring riders + of frontier days. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Chrisman gave Will a cordial greeting. He explained the business of + the express line to his young friend, and stated that the company had + nearly perfected its arrangements. It was now buying ponies and putting + them into good condition, preparatory to beginning operations. He added, + jokingly: + </p> + <p> + "It's a pity you're not a few years older, Billy. I would give you a job + as Pony Express rider. There's good pay in it." + </p> + <p> + Will was at once greatly taken with the idea, and begged so hard to be + given a trial that Mr. Chrisman consented to give him work for a month. If + the life proved too hard for him, he was to be laid off at the end of that + time. He had a short run of forty-five miles; there were three relay + stations, and he was expected to make fifteen miles an hour. + </p> + <p> + The 3d of April, 1860, Mr. Russell stood ready to receive the mail from a + fast New York train at St. Joseph. He adjusted the letter-pouch on the + pony in the presence of an excited crowd. Besides the letters, several + large New York papers printed special editions on tissue paper for this + inaugural trip. The crowd plucked hairs from the tail of the first animal + to start on the novel journey, and preserved these hairs as talismans. The + rider mounted, the moment for starting came, the signal was given, and off + he dashed. + </p> + <p> + At the same moment Sacramento witnessed a similar scene; the rider of that + region started on the two thousand mile ride eastward as the other started + westward. All the way along the road the several other riders were ready + for their initial gallop. + </p> + <p> + Will looked forward eagerly to the day when the express line should be set + in motion, and when the hour came it found him ready, standing beside his + horse, and waiting for the rider whom he was to relieve. There was a + clatter of hoofs, and a horseman dashed up and flung him the saddlebags. + Will threw them upon the waiting pony, vaulted into the saddle, and was + off like the wind. + </p> + <p> + The first relay station was reached on time, and Will changed with hardly + a second's loss of time, while the panting, reeking animal he had ridden + was left to the care of the stock-tender. This was repeated at the end of + the second fifteen miles, and the last station was reached a few minutes + ahead of time. The return trip was made in good order, and then Will wrote + to us of his new position, and told us that he was in love with the life. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX. — WILL AS PONY EXPRESS RIDER. + </h2> + <p> + AFTER being pounded against a saddle three dashes daily for three months, + to the tune of fifteen miles an hour, Will began to feel a little loose in + his joints, and weary withal, but he was determined to "stick it out." + Besides the daily pounding, the track of the Pony Express rider was strewn + with perils. A wayfarer through that wild land was more likely to run + across outlaws and Indians than to pass unmolested, and as it was known + that packages of value were frequently dispatched by the Pony Express + line, the route was punctuated by ambuscades. + </p> + <p> + Will had an eye out every trip for a hold-up, but three months went by + before he added that novelty to his other experiences. One day, as he flew + around a bend in a narrow pass, he confronted a huge revolver in the grasp + of a man who manifestly meant business, and whose salutation was: + </p> + <p> + "Halt! Throw up your hands!" + </p> + <p> + Most people do, and Will's hands were raised reluctantly. The highwayman + advanced, saying, not unkindly: + </p> + <p> + "I don't want to hurt you, boy, but I do want them bags." + </p> + <p> + Money packages were in the saddlebags, and Will was minded to save them if + he could, so, as the outlaw reached for the booty, Will touched the pony + with his foot, and the upshot was satisfactory to an unexpected degree. + The plunge upset the robber, and as the pony swept over him he got a + vicious blow from one hoof. Will wheeled for a revolver duel, but the foe + was prostrate, stunned, and bleeding at the head. Will disarmed the + fellow, and pinioned his arms behind him, and then tied up his broken + head. Will surmised that the prisoner must have a horse hidden hard by, + and a bit of a search disclosed it. When he returned with the animal, its + owner had opened his eyes and was beginning to remember a few things. Will + helped him to mount, and out of pure kindness tied him on; then he + straddled his own pony, and towed the dismal outfit along with him. + </p> + <p> + It was the first time that he had been behind on his run, but by way of + excuse he offered to Mr. Chrisman a broken-headed and dejected gentleman + tied to a horse's back; and Chrisman, with a grin, locked the excuse up + for future reference. + </p> + <p> + A few days after this episode Will received a letter from Julia, telling + him that mother was ill, and asking him to come home. He at once sought + out Mr. Chrisman, and giving his reason, asked to be relieved. + </p> + <p> + "I'm sorry your mother is sick," was the answer, "but I'm glad something + has occurred to make you quit this life. It's wearing you out, Billy, and + you're too gritty to give it up without a good reason." + </p> + <p> + Will reached home to find mother slightly improved. For three weeks was he + content to remain idly at home; then (it was November of 1860) his unquiet + spirit bore him away on another trapping expedition, this time with a + young friend named David Phillips. + </p> + <p> + They bought an ox-team and wagon to transport the traps, camp outfit, and + provisions, and took along a large supply of ammunition, besides extra + rifles. Their destination was the Republican River. It coursed more than a + hundred miles from Leavenworth, but the country about it was reputed rich + in beaver. Will acted as scout on the journey, going ahead to pick out + trails, locate camping grounds, and look out for breakers. The information + concerning the beaver proved correct; the game was indeed so plentiful + that they concluded to pitch a permanent camp and see the winter out. + </p> + <p> + They chose a hollow in a sidehill, and enlarged it to the dimensions of a + decent-sized room. A floor of logs was put in, and a chimney fashioned of + stones, the open lower part doing double duty as cook-stove and heater; + the bed was spread in the rear, and the wagon sheltered the entrance. A + corral of poles was built for the oxen, and one corner of it protected by + boughs. Altogether, they accounted their winter quarters thoroughly + satisfactory and agreeable. + </p> + <p> + The boys had seen no Indians on their trip out, and were not concerned in + that quarter, though they were too good plainsmen to relax their + vigilance. There were other foes, as they discovered the first night in + their new quarters. They were aroused by a commotion in the corral where + the oxen were confined, and hurrying out with their rifles, they found a + huge bear intent upon a feast of beef. The oxen were bellowing in terror, + one of them dashing crazily about the inclosure, and the other so badly + hurt that it could not get up. + </p> + <p> + Phillips, who was in the lead, fired first, but succeeded only in wounding + the bear. Pain was now added to the savagery of hunger, and the infuriated + monster rushed upon Phillips. Dave leaped back, but his foot slipped on a + bit of ice, and he went down with a thud, his rifle flying from his hand + as he struck. + </p> + <p> + But there was a cool young head and a steady hand behind him. A ball from + Will's rifle entered the distended mouth of the onrushing bear and pierced + the brain, and the huge mass fell lifeless almost across Dave's body. + </p> + <p> + Phillips's nerves loosened with a snap, and he laughed for very relief as + he seized Will's hands. + </p> + <p> + "That's the time you saved my life, old fellow!" said he. "Perhaps I can + do as much for you sometime." + </p> + <p> + "That's the first bear I ever killed," said Will, more interested in that + topic than in the one Dave held forth on. + </p> + <p> + One of the oxen was found to be mortally hurt, and a bullet ended its + misery. Will then took his first lesson in the gentle art of skinning a + bear. + </p> + <p> + Dave's chance to square his account with Will came a fortnight later. They + were chasing a bunch of elk, when Will fell, and discovered that he could + not rise. + </p> + <p> + "I'm afraid I've broken my leg," said he, as Dave ran to him. + </p> + <p> + Phillips had once been a medical student, and he examined the leg with a + professional eye. "You're right, Billy; the leg's broken," he reported. + </p> + <p> + Then he went to work to improvise splints and bind up the leg; and this + done, he took Will on his back and bore him to the dugout. Here the leg + was stripped, and set in carefully prepared splints, and the whole bound + up securely. + </p> + <p> + The outlook was unpleasant, cheerfully as one might regard it. Living in + the scoop of a sidehill when one is strong and able to get about and keep + the blood coursing is one thing; living there pent up through a tedious + winter is quite another. Dave meditated as he worked away at the pair of + crutches. + </p> + <p> + "Tell you what I think I'd better do," said he. "The nearest settlement is + some hundred miles away, and I can get there and back in twenty days. + Suppose I make the trip, get a team for our wagon, and come back for you?" + </p> + <p> + The idea of being left alone and well-nigh helpless struck dismay to + Will's heart, but there was no help for it, and he assented. Dave put + matters into shipshape, piled wood in the dugout, cooked a quantity of + food and put it where Will could reach it without rising, and fetched + several days' supply of water. Mother, ever mindful of Will's education, + had put some school-books in the wagon, and Dave placed these beside the + food and water. When Phillips finally set out, driving the surviving ox + before him, he left behind a very lonely and homesick boy. + </p> + <p> + During the first day of his confinement Will felt too desolate to eat, + much less to read; but as he grew accustomed to solitude he derived real + pleasure from the companionship of books. Perhaps in all his life he never + extracted so much benefit from study as during that brief period of + enforced idleness, when it was his sole means of making the dragging hours + endurable. Dave, he knew, could not return in less than twenty days, and + one daily task, never neglected, was to cut a notch in the stick that + marked the humdrum passage of the days. Within the week he could hobble + about on his crutches for a short distance; after that he felt more + secure. + </p> + <p> + A fortnight passed. And one day, weary with his studies, he fell asleep + over his books. Some one touched his shoulder, and looking up, he saw an + Indian in war paint and feathers. + </p> + <p> + "How?" said Will, with a show of friendliness, though he knew the brave + was on the war-path. + </p> + <p> + Half a score of bucks followed at the heels of the first, squeezing into + the little dugout until there was barely room for them to sit down. + </p> + <p> + With a sinking heart Will watched them enter, but he plucked up spirit + again when the last, a chief, pushed in, for in this warrior he recognized + an Indian that he had once done a good turn. + </p> + <p> + Whatever Lo's faults, he never forgets a kindness any more than he forgets + an injury. The chief, who went by the name of Rain-in-the-Face, at once + recognized Will, and asked him what he was doing in that place. Will + displayed his bandages, and related the mishap that had made them + necessary, and refreshed the chief's memory of a certain occasion when a + blanket and provisions had drifted his way. Rain-in-the-Face replied, with + proper gravity, that he and his chums were out after scalps, and confessed + to designs upon Will's, but in consideration of Auld Lang Syne he would + spare the paleface boy. + </p> + <p> + Auld Lang Syne, however, did not save the blankets and provisions, and the + bedizened crew stripped the dugout almost bare of supplies; but Will was + thankful enough to see the back of the last of them. + </p> + <p> + Two days later a blizzard set in. Will took an inventory, and found that, + economy considered, he had food for a week; but as the storm would surely + delay Dave, he put himself on half rations. + </p> + <p> + Three weeks were now gone, and he looked for Dave momentarily; but as + night followed day, and day grew into night again, he was given over to + keen anxiety. Had Phillips lost his way? Had he failed to locate the + snow-covered dugout? Had he perished in the storm? Had he fallen victim to + Indians? These and like questions haunted the poor lad continually. Study + became impossible, and he lost his appetite for what food there was left; + but the tally on the stick was kept. + </p> + <p> + The twenty-ninth day dawned. Starvation stalked into the dugout. The wood, + too, was nigh gone. But great as was Will's physical suffering, his mental + distress was greater. He sat before a handful of fire, shivering and + hungry, wretched and despondent. + </p> + <p> + Hark! Was that his name? Choking with emotion, unable to articulate, he + listened intently. Yes; it was his name, and Dave's familiar voice, and + with all his remaining energy he made an answering call. + </p> + <p> + His voice enabled Phillips to locate the dugout, and a passage was cleared + through the snow. And when Will saw the door open, the tension on his + nerves let go, and he wept—"like a girl," as he afterward told us. + </p> + <p> + "God bless you, Dave!" he cried, as he clasped his friend around the neck. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X. — ECHOES FROM SUMTER. + </h2> + <p> + THE guns that opened on Fort Sumter set the country all ablaze. In Kansas, + where blood had already been shed, the excitement reached an extraordinary + pitch. Will desired to enlist, but mother would not listen to the idea. + </p> + <p> + My brother had never forgotten the vow made in the post-trader's, and now + with the coming of war his opportunity seemed ripe and lawful; he could at + least take up arms against father's old-time enemies, and at the same time + serve his country. This aspect of the case was presented to mother in + glowing colors, backed by most eloquent pleading; but she remained + obdurate. + </p> + <p> + "You are too young to enlist, Willie," she said. "They would not accept + you, and if they did, I could not endure it. I have only a little time to + live; for my sake, then, wait till I am no more before you enter the + army." + </p> + <p> + This request was not to be disregarded, and Will promised that he would + not enlist while mother lived. + </p> + <p> + Kansas had long been the scene of bitter strife between the two parties, + and though there was a preponderance of the Free-Soil element when it was + admitted to the Union in 1861, we were fated to see some of the horrors of + slavery. Suffering makes one wondrous kind; mother had suffered so much + herself that the misery of others ever vibrated a chord of sympathy in her + breast, and our house became a station on "the underground railway." Many + a fugitive slave did we shelter, many here received food and clothing, + and, aided by mother, a great number reached safe harbors. + </p> + <p> + One old man, named Uncle Tom, became so much attached to us that he + refused to go on. We kept him as help about the hotel. He was with us + several months, and we children grew very fond of him. Every evening when + supper was over, he sat before the kitchen fire and told a breathless + audience strange stories of the days of slavery. And one evening, never to + be forgotten, Uncle Tom was sitting in his accustomed place, surrounded by + his juvenile listeners, when he suddenly sprang to his feet with a cry of + terror. Some men had entered the hotel sitting-room, and the sound of + their voices drove Uncle Tom to his own little room, and under the bed. + </p> + <p> + "Mrs. Cody," said the unwelcome visitors, "we understand that you are + harboring our runaway slaves. We propose to search the premises; and if we + find our property, you cannot object to our removing it." + </p> + <p> + Mother was sorely distressed for the unhappy Uncle Tom, but she knew + objection would be futile. She could only hope that the old colored man + had made good his escape. + </p> + <p> + But no! Uncle Tom lay quaking under his bed, and there his brutal master + found him. It is not impossible that there were slaveholders kind and + humane, but the bitter curse of slavery was the open door it left for + brutality and inhumanity; and never shall I forget the barbarity displayed + by the owner of Uncle Tom before our horrified eyes. The poor slave was so + old that his hair was wholly white; yet a rope was tied to it, and, + despite our pleadings, he was dragged from the house, every cry he uttered + evoking only a savage kick from a heavy riding-boot. When he was out of + sight, and his screams out of hearing, we wept bitterly on mother's loving + breast. + </p> + <p> + Uncle Tom again escaped, and made his way to our house, but he reached it + only to die. We sorrowed for the poor old slave, but thanked God that he + had passed beyond the inhumanity of man. + </p> + <p> + Debarred from serving his country as a soldier, Will decided to do so in + some other capacity, and accordingly took service with a United States + freight caravan, transporting supplies to Fort Laramie. On this trip his + frontier training and skill as a marksman were the means of saving a life. + </p> + <p> + In Western travel the perils from outlaws and Indians were so real that + emigrants usually sought the protection of a large wagon-train. Several + families of emigrants journeyed under the wing of the caravan to which + Will was attached. + </p> + <p> + When in camp one day upon the bank of the Platte River, and the members of + the company were busied with preparations for the night's rest and the + next day's journey, Mamie Perkins, a little girl from one of the emigrant + families, was sent to the river for a pail of water. A moment later a + monster buffalo was seen rushing upon the camp. A chorus of yells and a + fusillade from rifles and revolvers neither checked nor swerved him. + Straight through the camp he swept, like a cyclone, leaping ropes and + boxes, overturning wagons, and smashing things generally. + </p> + <p> + Mamie, the little water-bearer, had filled her pail and was returning in + the track selected by the buffalo. Too terrified to move, she watched, + with white face and parted lips, the maddened animal sweep toward her, + head down and tail up, its hoofs beating a thunderous tattoo on the plain. + </p> + <p> + Will had been asleep, but the commotion brought him to his feet, and + snatching up his rifle, he ran toward the little girl, aimed and fired at + the buffalo. The huge animal lurched, staggered a few yards farther, then + dropped within a dozen feet of the terrified child. + </p> + <p> + A shout of relief went up, and while a crowd of praising men gathered + about the embryo buffalo-hunter, Mamie was taken to her mother. Will never + relished hearing his praises sung, and as the camp was determined to + pedestal him as a hero, he ran away and hid in his tent. + </p> + <p> + Upon reaching Fort Laramie, Will's first business was to look up Alf + Slade, agent of the Pony Express line, whose headquarters were at + Horseshoe Station, twenty miles from the fort. He carried a letter of + recommendation from Mr. Russell, but Slade demurred. + </p> + <p> + "You're too young for a Pony Express rider," said he. + </p> + <p> + "I rode three months a year ago, sir, and I'm much stronger now," said + Will. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, are you the boy rider that was on Chrisman's division?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, sir." + </p> + <p> + "All right; I'll try you. If you can't stand it, I 'll give you something + easier." + </p> + <p> + Will's run was from Red Buttes, on the North Platte, to Three Crossings, + on the Sweetwater—seventy-six miles. + </p> + <p> + The wilderness was of the kind that is supposed to howl, and no person + fond of excitement had reason to complain of lack of it. One day Will + arrived at his last station to find that the rider on the next run had + been mortally hurt by Indians. There being no one else to do it, he + volunteered to ride the eighty-five miles for the wounded man. He + accomplished it, and made his own return trip on time—a continuous + ride of three hundred and twenty-two miles. There was no rest for the + rider, but twenty-one horses were used on the run—the longest ever + made by a Pony Express rider. + </p> + <p> + Shortly afterward Will fell in with California Joe, a remarkable frontier + character. He was standing beside a group of bowlders that edged the trail + when Will first clapped eyes on him, and the Pony Express man instantly + reached for his revolver. The stranger as quickly dropped his rifle, and + held up his hands in token of friendliness. Will drew rein, and ran an + interested eye over the man, who was clad in buckskin. + </p> + <p> + California Joe, who was made famous in General Custer's book, entitled + "Life on the Plains," was a man of wonderful physique, straight and stout + as a pine. His red-brown hair hung in curls below his shoulders; he wore a + full beard, and his keen, sparkling eyes were of the brightest hue. He + came from an Eastern family, and possessed a good education, somewhat + rusty from disuse. + </p> + <p> + "Hain't you the boy rider I has heard of—the youngest rider on the + trail?" he queried, in the border dialect. Will made an affirmative + answer, and gave his name. + </p> + <p> + "Waal," said Joe, "I guess you've got some money on this trip. I was + strikin' fer the Big Horn, and I found them two stiffs up yonder layin' + fer ye. We had a little misunderstandin', and now I has 'em to plant." + </p> + <p> + Will thanked him warmly, and begged him not to risk the perils of the Big + Horn; but California Joe only laughed, and told him to push ahead. + </p> + <p> + When Will reached his station he related his adventure, and the + stock-tender said it was "good by, California Joe" But Will had conceived + a better opinion of his new friend, and he predicted his safe return. + </p> + <p> + This confidence was justified by the appearance of California Joe, three + months later, in the camp of the Pony Riders on the Overland trail. He + received a cordial greeting, and was assured by the men that they had not + expected to see him alive again. In return he told them his story, and a + very interesting story it was. + </p> + <p> + "Some time ago," said he (I shall not attempt to reproduce his dialect), + "a big gang of gold-hunters went into the Big Horn country. They never + returned, and the general sent me to see if I could get any trace of them. + The country is full of Indians, and I kept my eye skinned for them, but I + wasn't looking for trouble from white men. I happened to leave my revolver + where I ate dinner one day, and soon after discovering the loss I went + back after the gun. Just as I picked it up I saw a white man on my trail. + I smelled trouble, but turned and jogged along as if I hadn't seen + anything. That night I doubled back over my trail until I came to the camp + where the stranger belonged. As I expected, he was one of a party of + three, but they had five horses. I'll bet odds, Pard Billy"—this to + Will—"that the two pilgrims laying for you belonged to this outfit. + </p> + <p> + "They thought I'd found gold, and were going to follow me until I struck + the mine, then do me up and take possession. + </p> + <p> + "The gold is there, too, lots of it. There's silver, iron, copper, and + coal, too, but no one will look at them so long as gold is to be had; but + those that go for gold will, many of them, leave their scalps behind. + </p> + <p> + "We kept the trail day after day; the men stuck right to me, the chap + ahead keeping me in sight and marking out the trail for his pard. When we + got into the heart of the Indian country I had to use every caution; I + steered clear of every smoke that showed a village or camp, and didn't use + my rifle on game, depending on the rations I had with me. + </p> + <p> + "At last I came to a spot that showed signs of a battle. Skulls and bones + were strewn around, and after a look about I was satisfied beyond doubt + that white men had been of the company. The purpose of my trip was + accomplished; I could safely report that the party of whites had been + exterminated by Indians. + </p> + <p> + "The question now was, could I return without running into Indians? The + first thing was to give my white pursuers the slip. + </p> + <p> + "That night I crept down the bed of a small stream, passed their camp, and + struck the trail a half mile or so below. + </p> + <p> + "It was the luckiest move I ever made. I had ridden but a short distance + when I heard the familiar war-whoop, and knew that the Indians had + surprised my unpleasant acquaintances and taken their scalps. I should + have shared the same fate if I hadn't moved. + </p> + <p> + "But, boys, it is a grand and beautiful country, full of towering + mountains, lovely valleys, and mighty trees." + </p> + <p> + About the middle of September the Indians became very troublesome along + the Sweetwater. Will was ambushed one day, but fortunately he was mounted + on one of the fleetest of the company's horses, and lying flat on the + animal's back, he distanced the redskins. At the relay station he found + the stock-tender dead, and as the horses had been driven off, he was + unable to get a fresh mount; so he rode the same horse to Plontz Station, + twelve miles farther. + </p> + <p> + A few days later the station boss of the line hailed Will with the + information: + </p> + <p> + "There's Injun signs about; so keep your eyes open." + </p> + <p> + "I'm on the watch, boss," was Will's answer, as he exchanged ponies and + dashed away. + </p> + <p> + The trail ran through a grim wild. It was darkened by mountains, overhung + with cliffs, and fringed with monster pines. The young rider's every sense + had been sharpened by frontier dangers. Each dusky rock and tree was + scanned for signs of lurking foes as he clattered down the twilight track. + </p> + <p> + One large bowlder lay in plain view far down the valley, and for a second + he saw a dark object appear above it. + </p> + <p> + He kept his course until within rifle-shot, and then suddenly swerved away + in an oblique line. The ambush had failed, and a puff of smoke issued from + behind the bowlder. Two braves, in gorgeous war paint, sprang up, and at + the same time a score of whooping Indians rode out of timber on the other + side of the valley. + </p> + <p> + Before Will the mountains sloped to a narrow pass; could he reach that he + would be comparatively safe. The Indians at the bowlder were unmounted, + and though they were fleet of foot, he easily left them behind. The + mounted reds were those to be feared, and the chief rode a very fleet + pony. As they neared the pass Will saw that it was life against life. He + drew his revolver, and the chief, for his part, fitted an arrow to his + bow. + </p> + <p> + Will was a shade the quicker. His revolver cracked, and the warrior + pitched dead from his saddle. His fall was the signal for a shower of + arrows, one of which wounded the pony slightly; but the station was + reached on time. + </p> + <p> + The Indians were now in evidence all the time. Between Split Rock and + Three Crossings they robbed a stage, killed the driver and two passengers, + and wounded Lieutenant Flowers, the assistant division agent. They drove + the stock from the stations, and continually harassed the Pony Express + riders and stage-drivers. So bold did the reds become that the Pony riders + were laid off for six weeks, though stages were to make occasional runs if + the business were urgent. A force was organized to search for missing + stock. There were forty men in the party—stage-drivers, + express-riders, stock-tenders, and ranchmen; and they were captained by a + plainsman named Wild Bill, who was a good friend of Will for many years. + </p> + <p> + He had not earned the sobriquet through lawlessness. It merely denoted his + dashing and daring. Physically he was well-nigh faultless—tall, + straight, and symmetrical, with broad shoulders and splendid chest. He was + handsome of face, with a clear blue eye, firm and well-shaped mouth, + aquiline nose, and brown, curling hair, worn long upon his shoulders. Born + of a refined and cultured family, he, like Will, seemingly inherited from + some remote ancestor his passion for the wild, free life of the plains. + </p> + <p> + At this time Wild Bill was a well-known scout, and in this capacity served + the United States to good purpose during the war. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI. — A SHORT BUT DASHING INDIAN CAMPAIGN. + </h2> + <p> + AS Will was one of the laid-off riders, he was allowed to join the + expedition against the Indian depredators, though he was the youngest + member of the company. + </p> + <p> + The campaign was short and sharp. The Indian trail was followed to Powder + River, and thence along the banks of the stream the party traveled to + within forty miles of the spot where old Fort Reno now stands; from here + the trail ran westerly, at the foot of the mountains, and was crossed by + Crazy Woman's Fork, a tributary of the Powder. + </p> + <p> + Originally this branch stream went by the name of the Big Beard, because + of a peculiar grass that fringed it. On its bank had stood a village of + the Crow Indians, and here a half-breed trader had settled. He bought the + red man's furs, and gave him in return bright-colored beads and pieces of + calico, paints, and blankets. In a short time he had all the furs in the + village; he packed them on ponies, and said good by to his Indian friends. + They were sorry to see him go, but he told them he would soon return from + the land of the paleface, bringing many gifts. Months passed; one day the + Indian sentinels reported the approach of a strange object. The village + was alarmed, for the Crows had never seen ox, horse, or wagon; but the + excitement was allayed when it was found that the strange outfit was the + property of the half-breed trader. + </p> + <p> + He had brought with him his wife, a white woman; she, too, was an object + of much curiosity to the Indians. + </p> + <p> + The trader built a lodge of wood and stones, and exposed all his goods for + sale. He had brought beads, ribbons, and brass rings as gifts for all the + tribe. + </p> + <p> + One day the big chief visited the store; the trader led him into a back + room, swore him to secrecy, and gave him a drink of black water. The chief + felt strangely happy. Usually he was very dignified and stately; but under + the influence of the strange liquid he sang and danced on the streets, and + finally fell into a deep sleep, from which he could not be wakened. This + performance was repeated day after day, until the Indians called a council + of war. They said the trader had bewitched their chief, and it must be + stopped, or they would kill the intruder. A warrior was sent to convey + this intelligence to the trader; he laughed, took the warrior into the + back room, swore him to secrecy, and gave him a drink of the black water. + The young Indian, in his turn, went upon the street, and laughed and sang + and danced, just as the chief had done. Surprised, his companions gathered + around him and asked him what was the matter. "Oh, go to the trader and + get some of the black water!" said he. + </p> + <p> + They asked for the strange beverage. The trader denied having any, and + gave them a drink of ordinary water, which had no effect. When the young + warrior awoke, they again questioned him. He said he must have been sick, + and have spoken loosely. + </p> + <p> + After this the chief and warrior were both drunk every day, and all the + tribe were sorely perplexed. Another council of war was held, and a young + chief arose, saying that he had made a hole in the wall of the trader's + house, and had watched; and it was true the trader gave their friends + black water. The half-breed and the two unhappy Indians were brought + before the council, and the young chief repeated his accusation, saying + that if it were not true, they might fight him. The second victim of the + black water yet denied the story, and said the young chief lied; but the + trader had maneuvered into the position he desired, and he confessed. They + bade him bring the water, that they might taste it; but before he departed + the young chief challenged to combat the warrior that had said he lied. + This warrior was the best spearsman of the tribe, and all expected the + death of the young chief; but the black water had palsied the warrior's + arm, his trembling hand could not fling true, he was pierced to the heart + at the first thrust. The tribe then repaired to the trader's lodge, and he + gave them all a drink of the black water. They danced and sang, and then + lay upon the ground and slept. + </p> + <p> + After two or three days the half-breed declined to provide black water + free; if the warriors wanted it, they must pay for it. At first he gave + them a "sleep," as they called it, for one robe or skin, but as the stock + of black water diminished, two, then three, then many robes were demanded. + At last he said he had none left except what he himself desired. The + Indians offered their ponies, until the trader had all the robes and all + the ponies of the tribe. + </p> + <p> + Now, he said, he would go back to the land of the paleface and procure + more of the black water. Some of the warriors were willing he should do + this; others asserted that he had plenty of black water left, and was + going to trade with their enemy, the Sioux. The devil had awakened in the + tribe. The trader's stores and packs were searched, but no black water was + found. 'Twas hidden, then, said the Indians. The trader must produce it, + or they would kill him. Of course he could not do this. He had sowed the + wind; he reaped the whirlwind. He was scalped before the eyes of his + horrified wife, and his body mutilated and mangled. The poor woman + attempted to escape; a warrior struck her with his tomahawk, and she fell + as if dead. The Indians fired the lodge. As they did so, a Crow squaw saw + that the white woman was not dead. She took the wounded creature to her + own lodge, bound up her wounds, and nursed her back to strength. But the + unfortunate woman's brain was crazed, and could not bear the sight of a + warrior. + </p> + <p> + As soon as she could get around she ran away. The squaws went out to look + for her, and found her crooning on the banks of the Big Beard. She would + talk with the squaws, but if a warrior appeared, she hid herself till he + was gone. The squaws took her food, and she lived in a covert on the bank + of the stream for many months. One day a warrior, out hunting, chanced + upon her. Thinking she was lost, he sought to catch her, to take her back + to the village, as all Indian tribes have a veneration for the insane; but + she fled into the hills, and was never seen afterward. The stream became + known as the "Place of the Crazy Woman," or Crazy Woman's Fork, and has + retained the name to this day. + </p> + <p> + At this point, to return to my narrative, the signs indicated that + reinforcements had reached the original body of Indians. The plainsmen + were now in the heart of the Indian country, the utmost caution was + required, and a sharp lookout was maintained. When Clear Creek, another + tributary of the Powder, was come up with, an Indian camp, some three + miles distant, was discovered on the farther bank. + </p> + <p> + A council of war was held. Never before had the white man followed the red + so far into his domain, and 'twas plain the Indian was off his guard; not + a scout was posted. + </p> + <p> + At Wild Bill's suggestion, the attack waited upon nightfall. Veiled by + darkness, the company was to surprise the Indian camp and stampede the + horses. + </p> + <p> + The plan was carried out without a hitch. The Indians outnumbered the + white men three to one, but when the latter rushed cyclonically through + the camp, no effort was made to repel them, and by the time the Indians + had recovered from their surprise the plainsmen had driven off all the + horses—those belonging to the reds as well as those that had been + stolen. A few shots were fired, but the whites rode scathless away, and + unpursued. + </p> + <p> + The line of march was now taken up for Sweetwater Bridge, and here, four + days later, the plainsmen brought up, with their own horses and about a + hundred Indian ponies. + </p> + <p> + This successful sadly repressed the hostilities for a space. The recovered + horses were put back on the road, and the stage-drivers and express-riders + resumed their interrupted activity. + </p> + <p> + "Billy," said Mr. Slade, who had taken a great fancy to Will—"Billy, + this is a hard life, and you're too young to stand it. You've done good + service, and in consideration of it I'll make you a supernumerary. You'll + have to ride only when it's absolutely necessary." + </p> + <p> + There followed for Will a period of <i>dolce far niente</i>; days when he + might lie on his back and watch the clouds drift across the sky; when he + might have an eye to the beauty of the woodland and the sweep of the + plain, without the nervous strain of studying every tree and knoll that + might conceal a lurking redskin. Winter closed in, and with it came the + memories of the trapping season of 1860-61, when he had laid low his first + and last bear. But there were other bears to be killed—the mountains + were full of them; and one bracing morning he turned his horse's head + toward the hills that lay down the Horseshoe Valley. Antelope and deer fed + in the valley, the sage-hen and the jack-rabbit started up under his + horse's hoofs, but such small game went by unnoticed. + </p> + <p> + Two o'clock passed without a sign of bear, save some tracks in the snow. + The wintry air had put a keen edge on Will's appetite, and hitching his + tired horse, he shot one of the lately scorned sage-hens, and broiled it + over a fire that invited a longer stay than an industrious bear-hunter + could afford. But nightfall found him and his quarry still many miles + asunder, and as he did not relish the prospect of a chaffing from the men + at the station, he cast about for a camping-place, finding one in an open + spot on the bank of a little stream. Two more sage-hens were added to the + larder, and he was preparing to kindle a fire when the whinnying of a + horse caught his ear. He ran to his own horse to check the certain + response, resaddled him, and disposed everything for flight, should it be + necessary. Then, taking his rifle, he put forth on a reconnoissance. + </p> + <p> + He shortly came upon a bunch of horses, a dozen or more, around a crook of + the stream. Above them, on the farther bank, shone a light. Drawing + nearer, he saw that it came from a dugout, and he heard his own language + spoken. Reassured, he walked boldly up to the door and rapped. + </p> + <p> + Silence—followed by a hurried whispering, and the demand: + </p> + <p> + "Who's there?" + </p> + <p> + "Friend and white man," answered Will. + </p> + <p> + The door opened reluctantly, and an ugly-looking customer bade him enter. + The invitation was not responded to with alacrity, for eight such + villainous-looking faces as the dugout held it would have been hard to + match. Too late to retreat, there was nothing for it but a determined + front, and let wit point the way of escape. Two of the men Will recognized + as discharged teamsters from Lew Simpson's train, and from his knowledge + of their longstanding weakness he assumed, correctly, that he had thrust + his head into a den of horsethieves. + </p> + <p> + "Who's with you?" was the first query; and this answered, with sundry + other information esteemed essential, "Where's your horse?" demanded the + most striking portrait in the rogues' gallery. + </p> + <p> + "Down by the creek," said Will. + </p> + <p> + "All right, sonny; we'll go down and get him," was the obliging rejoinder. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, don't trouble yourself," said Will. "I'll fetch him and put up here + over night, with your permission. I'll leave my gun here till I get back." + </p> + <p> + "That's right; leave your gun, you won't need it," said the leader of the + gang, with a grin that was as near amiability as his rough, stern calling + permitted him. "Jim and I will go down with you after the horse." + </p> + <p> + This offer compelled an acquiescence, Will consoling himself with the + reflection that it is easier to escape from two men than from eight. + </p> + <p> + When the horse was reached, one of the outlaws obligingly volunteered to + lead it. + </p> + <p> + "All right," said Will, carelessly. "I shot a couple of sage-hens here; + I'll take them along. Lead away!" + </p> + <p> + He followed with the birds, the second horsethief bringing up the rear. As + the dugout was neared he let fall one of the hens, and asked the chap + following to pick it up, and as the obliging rear guard stopped, Will + knocked him senseless with the butt of his revolver. The man ahead heard + the blow, and turned, with his hand on his gun, but Will dropped him with + a shot, leaped on his horse, and dashed off. + </p> + <p> + The sextet in the dugout sprang to arms, and came running down the bank, + and likely getting the particulars of the escape from the ruffian by the + sage-hen, who was probably only stunned for the moment, they buckled + warmly to the chase. The mountain-side was steep and rough, and men on + foot were better than on horseback; accordingly Will dismounted, and + clapping his pony soundly on the flank, sent him clattering on down the + declivity, and himself stepped aside behind a large pine. The pursuing + party rushed past him, and when they were safely gone, he climbed back + over the mountain, and made his way as best he could to the Horseshoe. It + was a twenty-five mile plod, and he reached the station early in the + morning, weary and footsore. + </p> + <p> + He woke the plainsmen, and related his adventure, and Mr. Slade at once + organized a party to hunt out the bandits of the dugout. Twenty well-armed + stock-tenders, stage-drivers, and ranchmen rode away at sunrise, and, + notwithstanding his fatigue, Will accompanied them as guide. + </p> + <p> + But the ill-favored birds had flown; the dugout was deserted. + </p> + <p> + Will soon tired of this nondescript service, and gladly accepted a + position as assistant wagon-master under Wild Bill, who had taken a + contract to fetch a load of government freight from Rolla, Missouri. + </p> + <p> + He returned with a wagon-train to Springfield, in that state, and thence + came home on a visit. It was a brief one, however, for the air was too + full of war for him to endure inaction. Contented only when at work, he + continued to help on government freight contracts, until he received word + that mother was dangerously ill. Then he resigned his position and + hastened home. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII. — THE MOTHER'S LAST ILLNESS. + </h2> + <p> + IT was now the autumn of 1863, and Will was a well-grown young man, tall, + strong, and athletic, though not yet quite eighteen years old. Our oldest + sister, Julia, had been married, the spring preceding, to Mr. J. A. + Goodman. + </p> + <p> + Mother had been growing weaker from day to day; being with her constantly, + we had not remarked the change for the worse; but Will was much shocked by + the transformation which a few months had wrought. Only an indomitable + will power had enabled her to overcome the infirmities of the body, and + now it seemed to us as if her flesh had been refined away, leaving only + the sweet and beautiful spirit. + </p> + <p> + Will reached home none too soon, for only three weeks after his return the + doctor told mother that only a few hours were left to her, and if she had + any last messages, it were best that she communicate them at once. That + evening the children were called in, one by one, to receive her blessing + and farewell. Mother was an earnest Christian character, but at that time + I alone of all the children appeared religiously disposed. Young as I was, + the solemnity of the hour when she charged me with the spiritual welfare + of the family has remained with me through all the years that have gone. + Calling me to her side, she sought to impress upon my childish mind, not + the sorrow of death, but the glory of the resurrection. Then, as if she + were setting forth upon a pleasant journey, she bade me good by, and I + kissed her for the last time in life. When next I saw her face it was cold + and quiet. The beautiful soul had forsaken its dwelling-place of clay, and + passed on through the Invisible, to wait, a glorified spirit, on the + farther shore for the coming of the loved ones whose life-story was as yet + unfinished. + </p> + <p> + Julia and Will remained with her throughout the night. Just before death + there came to her a brief season of long-lost animation, the last flicker + of the torch before darkness. She talked to them almost continuously until + the dawn. Into their hands was given the task of educating the others of + the family, and on their hearts and consciences the charge was graven. + Charlie, who was born during the early Kansas troubles, had ever been a + delicate child, and he lay an especial burden on her mind. + </p> + <p> + "If," she said, "it be possible for the dead to call the living, I shall + call Charlie to me." + </p> + <p> + Within the space of a year, Charlie, too, was gone; and who shall say that + the yearning of a mother's heart for her child was not stronger than the + influences of the material world? + </p> + <p> + Upon Will mother sought to impress the responsibilities of his destiny. + She reminded him of the prediction of the fortune-teller, that "his name + would be known the world over." + </p> + <p> + "But," said she, "only the names of them that are upright, brave, + temperate, and true can be honorably known. Remember always that 'he that + overcometh his own soul is greater than he who taketh a city.' Already you + have shown great abilities, but remember that they carry with them grave + responsibilities. You have been a good son to me. In the hour of need you + have always aided me so that I can die now feeling that my children are + not unprovided for. I have not wished you to enlist in the war, partly + because I knew you were too young, partly because my life was drawing near + its close. But now you are nearly eighteen, and if when I am gone your + country needs you in the strife of which we in Kansas know the bitterness, + I bid you go as soldier in behalf of the cause for which your father gave + his life." + </p> + <p> + She talked until sleep followed exhaustion. When she awoke she tried to + raise herself in bed. Will sprang to aid her, and with the upward look of + one that sees ineffable things, she passed away, resting in his arms. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Oh, the glory and the gladness + Of a life without a fear; + Of a death like nature fading + In the autumn of the year; + Of a sweet and dreamless slumber, + In a faith triumphant borne, + Till the bells of Easter wake her + On the resurrection morn! + + Ah, for such a blessed falling + Into quiet sleep at last, + When the ripening grain is garnered, + And the toil and trial past; + When the red and gold of sunset + Slowly changes into gray; + Ah, for such a quiet passing, + Through the night into the day! +</pre> + <p> + The morning of the 22d day of November, 1863, began the saddest day of our + lives. We rode in a rough lumber wagon to Pilot Knob Cemetery, a long, + cold, hard ride; but we wished our parents to be united in death as they + had been in life, so buried mother in a grave next to father's. + </p> + <p> + The road leading from the cemetery forked a short distance outside of + Leavenworth, one branch running to that city, the other winding homeward + along Government Hill. When we were returning, and reached this fork, Will + jumped out of the wagon. + </p> + <p> + "I can't go home when I know mother is no longer there," said he. "I am + going to Leavenworth to see Eugene Hathaway. I shall stay with him + to-night." + </p> + <p> + We, pitied Will—he and mother had been so much to each other—and + raised no objection, as we should have done had we known the real purpose + of his visit. + </p> + <p> + The next morning, therefore, we were much surprised to see him and Eugene + ride into the yard, both clothed in, the blue uniforms of United States + soldiers. Overwhelmed with grief over mother's death, it seemed more than + we could bear to see our big brother ride off to war. We threatened to + inform the recruiting officers that he was not yet eighteen; but he was + too thoroughly in earnest to be moved by our objections. The regiment in + which he had enlisted was already ordered to the front, and he had come + home to say good by. He then rode away to the hardships, dangers, and + privations of a soldier's life. The joy of action balanced the account for + him, while we were obliged to accept the usual lot of girlhood and + womanhood—the weary, anxious waiting, when the heart is torn with + uncertainty and suspense over the fate of the loved ones who bear the + brunt and burden of the day. + </p> + <p> + The order sending Will's regiment to the front was countermanded, and he + remained for a time in Fort Leavenworth. His Western experiences were well + known there, and probably for this reason he was selected as a bearer of + military dispatches to Fort Larned. Some of our old pro-slavery enemies, + who were upon the point of joining the Confederate army, learned of Will's + mission, which they thought afforded them an excellent chance to gratify + their ancient grudge against the father by murdering the son. The killing + could be justified on the plea of service rendered to their cause. + Accordingly a plan was made to waylay Will and capture his dispatches at a + creek he was obliged to ford. + </p> + <p> + He received warning of this plot. On such a mission the utmost vigilance + was demanded at all times, and with an ambuscade ahead of him, he was + alertness itself. His knowledge of Indian warfare stood him in good stead + now. Not a tree, rock, or hillock escaped his keen glance. When he neared + the creek at which the attack was expected, he left the road, and + attempted to ford the stream four or five hundred yards above the common + crossing, but found it so swollen by recent rains that he was unable to + cross; so he cautiously picked his way back to the trail. + </p> + <p> + The assassins' camp was two or three hundred feet away from the creek. + Darkness was coming on, and he took advantage of the shelter afforded by + the bank, screening himself behind every clump of bushes. His enemies + would look for his approach from the other direction, and he hoped to give + them the slip and pass by unseen. + </p> + <p> + When he reached the point where he could see the little cabin where the + men were probably hiding, he ran upon a thicket in which five + saddle-horses were concealed. + </p> + <p> + "Five to one! I don't stand much show if they see me," he decided as he + rode quietly and slowly along, his carbine in his hand ready for use. + </p> + <p> + "There he goes, boys! he's at the ford!" came a sudden shout from the + camp, followed by the crack of a rifle. Two or three more shots rang out, + and from the bound his horse gave Will knew one bullet had reached a mark. + He rode into the water, then turned in his saddle and aimed like a flash + at a man within range. The fellow staggered and fell, and Will put spurs + to his horse, turning again only when the stream was crossed. The men were + running toward the ford, firing as they came, and getting a warm return + fire. As Will was already two or three hundred yards in advance, pursuers + on foot were not to be feared, and he knew that before they could reach + and mount their horses he would be beyond danger. Much depended on his + horse. Would the gallant beast, wounded as he was, be able to long + maintain the fierce pace he had set? Mile upon mile was put behind before + the stricken creature fell. Will shouldered the saddle and bridle and + continued on foot. He soon reached a ranch where a fresh mount might be + procured, and was shortly at Fort Larned. + </p> + <p> + After a few hours' breathing-spell, he left for Fort Leavenworth with + return dispatches. As he drew near the ford, he resumed his sharp lookout, + though scarcely expecting trouble. The planners of the ambuscade had been + so certain that five men could easily make away with one boy that there + had been no effort at disguise, and Will had recognized several of them. + He, for his part, felt certain that they would get out of that part of the + country with all dispatch; but he employed none the less caution in + crossing the creek, and his carbine was ready for business as he + approached the camp. + </p> + <p> + The fall of his horse's hoofs evoked a faint call from one of the + buildings. It was not repeated; instead there issued hollow moans. + </p> + <p> + It might be a trap; again, a fellow-creature might be at death's door. + Will rode a bit nearer the cabin entrance. + </p> + <p> + "Who's there?" he called. + </p> + <p> + "Come in, for the love of God! I am dying here alone!" was the reply. + </p> + <p> + "Who are you?" + </p> + <p> + "Ed Norcross." + </p> + <p> + Will jumped from his horse. This was the man at whom he had fired. He + entered the cabin. + </p> + <p> + "What is the matter?" he asked. + </p> + <p> + "I was wounded by a bullet," moaned Norcross, "and my comrades deserted + me." + </p> + <p> + Will was now within range of the poor fellow lying on the floor. + </p> + <p> + "Will Cody!" he cried. + </p> + <p> + Will dropped on his knee beside the dying man, choking with the emotion + that the memory of long years of friendship had raised. + </p> + <p> + "My poor Ed!" he murmured. "And it was my bullet that struck you." + </p> + <p> + "It was in defense of your own life, Will," said Norcross. "God knows, I + don't blame you. Don't think too hard of me. I did everything I could to + save you. It was I who sent you warning. I hoped you might find some other + trail." + </p> + <p> + "I didn't shoot with the others," continued Norcross, after a short + silence. "They deserted me. They said they would send help back, but they + haven't." + </p> + <p> + Will filled the empty canteen lying on the floor, and rearranged the + blanket that served as a pillow; then he offered to dress the neglected + wound. But the gray of death was already upon the face of Norcross. + </p> + <p> + "Never mind, Will," he whispered; "it's not worth while. Just stay with me + till I die." + </p> + <p> + It was not a long vigil. Will sat beside his old friend, moistening his + pallid lips with water. In a very short time the end came. Will disposed + the stiffening limbs, crossing the hands over the heart, and with a last + backward look went out of the cabin. + </p> + <p> + It was his first experience in the bitterness and savagery of war, and he + set a grave and downcast face against the remainder of his journey. + </p> + <p> + As he neared Leavenworth he met the friend who had conveyed the dead man's + warning message, and to him he committed the task of bringing home the + body. His heaviness of spirit was scarcely mitigated by the + congratulations of the commander of Fort Leavenworth upon his pluck and + resources, which had saved both his life and the dispatches. + </p> + <p> + There followed another period of inaction, always irritating to a lad of + Will's restless temperament. Meantime, we at home were having our own + experiences. + </p> + <p> + We were rejoiced in great measure when sister Julia decided that we had + learned as much as might be hoped for in the country school, and must + thereafter attend the winter and spring terms of the school at + Leavenworth. The dresses she cut for us, however, still followed the + country fashion, which has regard rather to wear than to appearance, and + we had not been a day in the city school before we discovered that our + apparel had stamped "provincial" upon us in plain, large characters. In + addition to this, our brother-in-law, in his endeavor to administer the + estate economically, bought each of us a pair of coarse calfskin shoes. To + these we were quite unused, mother having accustomed us to serviceable but + pretty ones. The author of our "extreme" mortification, totally ignorant + of the shy and sensitive nature of girls, only laughed at our protests, + and in justice to him it may be said that he really had no conception of + the torture he inflicted upon us. + </p> + <p> + We turned to Will. In every emergency he was our first thought, and here + was an emergency that taxed his powers to an extent we did not dream of. + He made answer to our letter that he was no longer an opulent trainman, + but drew only the slender income of a soldier, and even that pittance was + in arrears. Disappointment was swallowed up in remorse. Had we reflected + how keenly he must feel his inability to help us, we would not have sent + him the letter, which, at worst, contained only a sly suggestion of a fine + opportunity to relieve sisterly distress. All his life he had responded to + our every demand; now allegiance was due his country first. But, as was + always the way with him, he made the best of a bad matter, and we were + much comforted by the receipt of the following letter: + </p> + <p> + "MY DEAR SISTERS: + </p> + <p> + "I am sorry that I cannot help you and furnish you with such clothes as + you wish. At this writing I am so short of funds myself that if an entire + Mississippi steamer could be bought for ten cents I couldn't purchase the + smokestack. I will soon draw my pay, and I will send it, every cent, to + you. So brave it out, girls, a little longer. In the mean time I will + write to Al. + </p> + <p> + "Lovingly, + </p> + <p> + "WILL." + </p> + <p> + We were comforted, yes; but my last hope was gone, and I grew desperate. I + had never worn the obnoxious shoes purchased by my guardian, and I + proceeded to dispose of them forever. I struck what I regarded as a famous + bargain with an accommodating Hebrew, and came into possession of a pair + of shiny morocco shoes, worth perhaps a third of what mine had cost. One + would say they were designed for shoes, and they certainly looked like + shoes, but as certainly they were not wearable. Still they were of + service, for the transaction convinced my guardian that the truest economy + did not lie in the pur-chasing of calfskin shoes for at least one of his + charges. A little later he received a letter from Will, presenting our + grievances and advocating our cause. Will also sent us the whole of his + next month's pay as soon as he drew it. + </p> + <p> + In February, 1864, Sherman began his march through Mississippi. The + Seventh Kansas regiment, known as "Jennison's Jayhawkers," was reorganized + at Fort Leavenworth as veterans, and sent to Memphis, Tenn., to join + General A. J. Smith's command, which was to operate against General + Forrest and cover the retreat of General Sturgis, who had been so badly + whipped by Forrest at Cross-Roads. Will was exceedingly desirous of + engaging in a great battle, and through some officers with whom he was + acquainted preferred a petition to be transferred to this regiment. The + request was granted, and his delight knew no bounds. He wrote to us that + his great desire was about to be gratified, that he should soon know what + a real battle was like. + </p> + <p> + He was well versed in Indian warfare; now he was ambitious to learn, from + experience, the superiority of civilized strife—rather, I should + say, of strife between civilized people. + </p> + <p> + General Smith had acquainted himself with the record made by the young + scout of the plains, and shortly after reaching Memphis he ordered Will to + report to headquarters for special service. + </p> + <p> + "I am anxious," said the general, "to gain reliable information concerning + the enemy's movements and position. This can only be done by entering the + Confederate camp. You possess the needed qualities—nerve, coolness, + resource—and I believe you could do it." + </p> + <p> + "You mean," answered Will, quietly, "that you wish me to go as a spy into + the rebel camp." + </p> + <p> + "Exactly. But you must understand the risk you run. If you are captured, + you will be hanged." + </p> + <p> + "I am ready to take the chances, sir," said Will; "ready to go at once, if + you wish." + </p> + <p> + General Smith's stern face softened into a smile at the prompt response. + </p> + <p> + "I am sure, Cody," said he, kindly, "that if any one can go through + safely, you will. Dodging Indians on the plains was good training for the + work in hand, which demands quick intelligence and ceaseless vigilance. I + never require such service of any one, but since you volunteer to go, take + these maps of the country to your quarters and study them carefully. + Return this evening for full instructions." + </p> + <p> + During the few days his regiment had been in camp, Will had been on one or + two scouting expeditions, and was somewhat familiar with the immediate + environments of the Union forces. The maps were unusually accurate, + showing every lake, river, creek, and highway, and even the by-paths from + plantation to plantation. + </p> + <p> + Only the day before, while on a reconnoissance, Will had captured a + Confederate soldier, who proved to be an old acquaintance named Nat + Golden. Will had served with Nat on one of Russell, Majors & Waddell's + freight trains, and at one time had saved the young man's life, and + thereby earned his enduring friendship. Nat was born in the East, became + infected with Western fever, and ran away from home in order to become a + plainsman. + </p> + <p> + "Well, this is too bad," said Will, when he recognized his old friend. "I + would rather have captured a whole regiment than you. I don't like to take + you in as a prisoner. What did you enlist on the wrong side for, anyway?" + </p> + <p> + "The fortunes of war, Billy, my boy," laughed Nat. "Friend shall be turned + against friend, and brother against brother, you know. You wouldn't have + had me for a prisoner, either, if my rifle hadn't snapped; but I'm glad it + did, for I shouldn't want to be the one that shot you." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I don't want to see you strung up," said Will; "so hand me over + those papers you have, and I will turn you in as an ordinary prisoner." + </p> + <p> + Nat's face paled as he asked, "Do you think I'm a spy, Billy?" + </p> + <p> + "I know it." + </p> + <p> + "Well," was the reply, "I've risked my life to obtain these papers, but I + suppose they will be taken from me anyway; so I might as well give them up + now, and save my neck." + </p> + <p> + Examination showed them to be accurate maps of the location and position + of the Union army; and besides the maps, there were papers containing much + valuable information concerning the number of soldiers and officers and + their intended movements. Will had not destroyed these papers, and he now + saw a way to use them to his own advantage. When he reported for final + instructions, therefore, at General Smith's tent, in the evening, Will + said to him: + </p> + <p> + "I gathered from a statement dropped by the prisoner captured yesterday, + that a Confederate spy has succeeded in making out and carrying to the + enemy a complete map of the position of our regiment, together with some + idea of the projected plan of campaign." + </p> + <p> + "Ah," said the general; "I am glad that you have put me on my guard. I + will at once change my position, so that the information will be of no + value to them." + </p> + <p> + Then followed full instructions as to the duty required of the volunteer. + </p> + <p> + "When will you set out?" asked the general. + </p> + <p> + "To-night, sir. I have procured my uniform, and have everything prepared + for an early start." + </p> + <p> + "Going to change your colors, eh?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, for the time being, but not my principles." + </p> + <p> + The general looked at Will approvingly. "You will need all the wit, pluck, + nerve, and caution of which you are possessed to come through this ordeal + safely," said he. "I believe you can accomplish it, and I rely upon you + fully. Good by, and success go with you!" + </p> + <p> + After a warm hand-clasp, Will returned to his tent, and lay down for a few + hours' rest. By four o'clock he was in the saddle, riding toward the + Confederate lines. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII. — IN THE SECRET-SERVICE. + </h2> + <p> + IN common walks of life to play the spy is an ignoble role; yet the work + has to be done, and there must be men to do it. There always are such men—nervy + fellows who swing themselves into the saddle when their commander lifts + his hand, and ride a mad race, with Death at the horse's flank every mile + of the way. They are the unknown heroes of every war. + </p> + <p> + It was with a full realization of the dangers confronting him that Will + cantered away from the Union lines, his borrowed uniform under his arm. As + soon as he had put the outposts behind him, he dismounted and exchanged + the blue clothes for the gray. Life on the plains had bronzed his face. + For aught his complexion could tell, the ardent Southern sun might have + kissed it to its present hue. Then, if ever, his face was his fortune in + good part; but there was, too, a stout heart under his jacket, and the + light of confidence in his eyes. + </p> + <p> + The dawn had come up when he sighted the Confederate outposts. What lay + beyond only time could reveal; but with a last reassuring touch of the + papers in his pocket, he spurred his horse up to the first of the outlying + sentinels. Promptly the customary challenge greeted him: + </p> + <p> + "Halt! Who goes there?" + </p> + <p> + "Friend." + </p> + <p> + "Dismount, friend! Advance and give the countersign!" + </p> + <p> + "Haven't the countersign," said Will, dropping from his horse, "but I have + important information for General Forrest. Take me to him at once." + </p> + <p> + "Are you a Confederate soldier?" + </p> + <p> + "Not exactly. But I have some valuable news about the Yanks, I reckon. + Better let me see the general." + </p> + <p> + "Thus far," he added to himself, "I have played the part. The combination + of 'Yank' and 'I reckon' ought to establish me as a promising candidate + for Confederate honors." + </p> + <p> + His story was not only plausible, but plainly and fairly told; but caution + is a child of war, and the sentinel knew his business. The + pseudo-Confederate was disarmed as a necessary preliminary, and marched + between two guards to headquarters, many curious eyes (the camp being now + astir) following the trio. + </p> + <p> + When Forrest heard the report, he ordered the prisoner brought before him. + One glance at the general's handsome but harsh face, and the young man + steeled his nerves for the encounter. There was no mercy in those cold, + piercing eyes. This first duel of wits was the one to be most dreaded. + Unless confidence were established, his after work must be done at a + disadvantage. + </p> + <p> + The general's penetrating gaze searched the young face before him for + several seconds. + </p> + <p> + "Well, sir," said he, "what do you want with me?" + </p> + <p> + Yankee-like, the reply was another question: + </p> + <p> + "You sent a man named Nat Golden into the Union lines, did you not, sir?" + </p> + <p> + "And if I did, what then?" + </p> + <p> + "He is an old friend of mine. He tried for the Union camp to verify + information that he had received, but before he started he left certain + papers with me in case he should be captured." + </p> + <p> + "Ah!" said Forrest, coldly. "And he was captured?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, sir; but, as I happen to know, he wasn't hanged, for these weren't + on him." + </p> + <p> + As he spoke, Will took from his pocket the papers he had obtained from + Golden, and passed them over with the remark, "Golden asked me to take + them to you." + </p> + <p> + General Forrest was familiar with the hapless Golden's handwriting, and + the documents were manifestly genuine. His suspicion was not aroused. + </p> + <p> + "These are important papers," said he, when he had run his eye over them. + "They contain valuable information, but we may not be able to use it, as + we are about to change our location. Do you know what these papers + contain?" + </p> + <p> + "Every word," was the truthful reply. "I studied them, so that in case + they were destroyed you would still have the information from me." + </p> + <p> + "A wise thing to do," said Forrest, approvingly. "Are you a soldier?" + </p> + <p> + "I have not as yet joined the army, but I am pretty well acquainted with + this section, and perhaps could serve you as a scout." + </p> + <p> + "Um!" said the general, looking the now easy-minded young man over. "You + wear our uniform." + </p> + <p> + "It's Golden's," was the second truthful answer. "He left it with me when + he put on the blue." + </p> + <p> + "And what is your name?" + </p> + <p> + "Frederick Williams." + </p> + <p> + Pretty near the truth. Only a final "s" and a rearrangement of his given + names. + </p> + <p> + "Very well," said the general, ending the audience; "you may remain in + camp. If I need you, I'll send for you." + </p> + <p> + He summoned an orderly, and bade him make the volunteer scout comfortable + at the couriers' camp. Will breathed a sigh of relief as he followed at + the orderly's heels. The ordeal was successfully passed. The rest was + action. + </p> + <p> + Two days went by. In them Will picked up valuable information here and + there, drew maps, and was prepared to depart at the first favorable + opportunity. It was about time, he figured, that General Forrest found + some scouting work for him. That was a passport beyond the lines, and he + promised himself the outposts should see the cleanest pair of heels that + ever left unwelcome society in the rear. But evidently scouting was a drug + in the general's market, for the close of another day found Will + impatiently awaiting orders in the couriers' quarters. This sort of + inactivity was harder on the nerves than more tangible perils, and he + about made up his mind that when he left camp it would be without orders, + but with a hatful of bullets singing after him. And he was quite sure that + his exit lay that way when, strolling past headquarters, he clapped eyes + on the very last person that he expected or wished to see—Nat + Golden. + </p> + <p> + And Nat was talking to an adjutant-general! + </p> + <p> + There were just two things to do, knock Golden on the head, or cut and + run. Nat would not betray him knowingly, but unwittingly was certain to do + so the moment General Forrest questioned him. There could be no choice + between the two courses open; it was cut and run, and as a preliminary + Will cut for his tent. First concealing his papers, he saddled his horse + and rode toward the outposts with a serene countenance. + </p> + <p> + {illust. caption = "NOW RIDE FOR YOUR LIVES!"} + </p> + <p> + The same sergeant that greeted him when he entered the lines chanced to be + on duty, and of him Will asked an unimportant question concerning the + outer-flung lines. Yet as he rode along he could not forbear throwing an + apprehensive glance behind. No pursuit was making, and the farthest + picket-line was passed by a good fifty yards. Ahead was a stretch of + timber. Suddenly a dull tattoo of horses' hoofs caught his ear, and he + turned to see a small cavalcade bearing down upon him at a gallop. He sank + the spurs into his horse's side and plunged into the timber. It was out of + the frying-pan into the fire. He ran plump into a half-dozen Confederate + cavalrymen, guarding two Union prisoners. "Men, a Union spy is escaping!" + shouted Will. "Scatter at once, and head him off. I'll look after your + prisoners." There was a ring of authority in the command; it came at least + from a petty officer; and without thought of challenging it, the + cavalrymen hurried right and left in search of the fugitive. "Come," said + Will, in a hurried but smiling whisper to the dejected pair of Union men. + "I'm the spy! There!" cutting the ropes that bound their wrists. "Now ride + for your lives!" Off dashed the trio, and not a minute too soon. Will's + halt had been brief, but it had been of advantage to his pursuers, who, + with Nat Golden at their head, came on in full cry, not a hundred yards + behind. Here was a race with Death at the horse's flanks. The timber + stopped a share of the singing bullets, but there were plenty that got by + the trees, one of them finding lodgment in the arm of one of the fleeing + Union soldiers. Capture meant certain death for Will; for his companions + it meant Andersonville or Libby, at the worst, which was perhaps as bad as + death; but Will would not leave them, though his horse was fresh, and he + could easily have distanced them. Of course, if it became necessary, he + was prepared to cut their acquaintance, but for the present he made one of + the triplicate targets on which the galloping marksmen were endeavoring to + score a bull's-eye. The edge of the wood was shortly reached, and beyond—inspiring + sight!—lay the outposts of the Union army. The pickets, at sight of + the fugitives, sounded the alarm, and a body of blue-coats responded. Will + would have gladly tarried for the skirmish that ensued, but he esteemed it + his first duty to deliver the papers he had risked his life to obtain; so, + leaving friend and foe to settle the dispute as best they might, he put + for the clump of trees where he had hidden his uniform, and exchanged it + for the gray, that had served its purpose and was no longer endurable. + Under his true colors he rode into camp. General Forrest almost + immediately withdrew from that neighborhood, and after the atrocious + massacre at Fort Pillow, on the 12th of April, left the state. General + Smith was recalled, and Will was transferred, with the commission of guide + and scout for the Ninth Kansas Regiment. The Indians were giving so much + trouble along the line of the old Santa Fe trail that troops were needed + to protect the stagecoaches, emigrants, and caravans traveling that great + highway. Like nearly all our Indian wars, this trouble was precipitated by + the injustice of the white man's government of certain of the native + tribes. In 1860 Colonel A. G. Boone, a worthy grandson of the immortal + Daniel, made a treaty with the Comanches, Kiowas, Cheyennes, and + Arapahoes, and at their request he was made agent. During his wise, just, + and humane administration all of these savage nations were quiet, and held + the kindliest feelings toward the whites. Any one could cross the plains + without fear of molestation. In 1861 a charge of disloyalty was made + against Colonel Boone by Judge Wright, of Indiana, and he succeeded in + having the right man removed from the right place. Russell, Majors & + Waddell, recognizing his influence over the Indians, gave him fourteen + hundred acres of land near Pueblo, Colorado. Colonel Boone moved there, + and the place was named Booneville. Fifty chieftains from the tribes + referred to visited Colonel Boone in the fall of 1862, and implored him to + return to them. He told them that the President had sent him away. They + offered to raise money, by selling their horses, to send him to + Washington, to tell the Great Father what their agent was doing—that + he stole their goods and sold them back again; and they bade the colonel + say that there would be trouble unless some one were put in the dishonest + man's place. With the innate logic for which the Indian is noted, they + declared that they had as much right to steal from passing caravans as the + agent had to steal from them. No notice was taken of so trifling a matter + as an injustice to the Indian. The administration had its hands more than + full in the attempt to right the wrongs of the negro. In the fall of 1863 + a caravan passed along the trail. It was a small one, but the Indians had + been quiet for so long a time that travelers were beginning to lose fear + of them. A band of warriors rode up to the wagon-train and asked for + something to eat. The teamsters thought they would be doing humanity a + service if they killed a redskin, on the ancient principle that "the only + good Indian is a dead one." Accordingly, a friendly, inoffensive Indian + was shot. The bullet that reached his heart touched that of every warrior + in these nations. Every man but one in the wagon-train was slain, the + animals driven off, and the wagons burned. The fires of discontent that + had been smoldering for two years in the red man's breast now burst forth + with volcanic fury. Hundreds of atrocious murders followed, with wholesale + destruction of property. The Ninth Kansas Regiment, under the command of + Colonel Clark, was detailed to protect the old trail between Fort Lyon and + Fort Larned, and as guide and scout Will felt wholly at home. He knew the + Indian and his ways, and had no fear of him. His fine horse and glittering + trappings were an innocent delight to him; and who will not pardon in him + the touch of pride—say vanity—that thrilled him as he led his + regiment down the Arkansas River? During the summer there were sundry + skirmishes with the Indians. The same old vigilance, learned in earlier + days on the frontier, was in constant demand, and there was many a rough + and rapid ride to drive the hostiles from the trail. Whatever Colonel + Clark's men may have had to complain of, there was no lack of excitement, + no dull days, in that summer. In the autumn the Seventh Kansas was again + ordered to the front, and at the request of its officers Will was detailed + for duty with his old regiment. General Smith's orders were that he should + go to Nashville. Rosecrans was then in command of the Union forces in + Missouri. His army was very small, numbering only about 6,500 men, while + the Confederate General Price was on the point of entering the state with + 20,000. This superiority of numbers was so great that General Smith + received an order countermanding the other, and remained in Missouri, + joining forces with Rosecrans to oppose Price. Rosecrans's entire force + still numbered only 11,000, and he deemed it prudent to concentrate his + army around St. Louis. General Ewing's forces and a portion of General + Smith's command occupied Pilot Knob. On Monday, the 24th of September, + 1864, Price advanced against this position, but was repulsed with heavy + losses. An adjacent fort in the neighborhood of Ironton was assaulted, but + the Confederate forces again sustained a severe loss. This fort held a + commanding lookout on Shepard Mountain, which the Confederates occupied, + and their wall-directed fire obliged General Ewing to fall back to + Harrison Station, where he made a stand, and some sharp fighting followed. + General Ewing again fell back, and succeeded in reaching General McNeill, + at Rolla, with the main body of his troops. This was Will's first serious + battle, and it so chanced that he found himself opposed at one point by a + body of Missouri troops numbering many of the men who had been his + father's enemies and persecutors nine years before. In the heat of the + conflict he recognized more than one of them, and with the recognition + came the memory of his boyhood's vow to avenge his father's death. Three + of those men fell in that battle; and whether or not it was he who laid + them low, from that day on he accounted himself freed of his melancholy + obligation. After several hard-fought battles, Price withdrew from + Missouri with the remnant of his command—seven thousand where there + had been twenty. During this campaign Will received honorable mention "for + most conspicuous bravery and valuable service upon the field," and he was + shortly brought into favorable notice in many quarters. The worth of the + tried veterans was known, but none of the older men was in more demand + than Will. His was seemingly a charmed life. Often was he detailed to bear + dispatches across the battlefield, and though horses were shot under him—riddled + by bullets or torn by shells—he himself went scathless. During this + campaign, too, he ran across his old friend of the plains, Wild Bill. + Stopping at a farm-house one day to obtain a meal, he was not a little + surprised to hear the salutation: "Well, Billy, my boy, how are you?" He + looked around to see a hand outstretched from a coat-sleeve of Confederate + gray, and as he knew Wild Bill to be a stanch Unionist, he surmised that + he was engaged upon an enterprise similar to his own. There was an + exchange of chaffing about gray uniforms and blue, but more serious talk + followed. "Take these papers, Billy," said Wild Bill, passing over a + package. "Take 'em to General McNeill, and tell him I'm picking up too + much good news to keep away from the Confederate camp." "Don't take too + many chances," cautioned Will, well knowing that the only chances the + other would not take would be the sort that were not visible. Colonel + Hickok, to give him his real name, replied, with a laugh: "Practice what + you preach, my son. Your neck is of more value than mine. You have a + future, but mine is mostly past. I'm getting old." At this point the good + woman of the house punctuated the colloquy with a savory meal, which the + pair discussed with good appetite and easy conscience, in spite of their + hostess's refusal to take pay from Confederate soldiers. "As long as I + have a crust in the house," said she, "you boys are welcome to it." But + the pretended Confederates paid her for her kindness in better currency + than she was used to. They withheld information concerning a proposed + visit of her husband and son, of which, during one spell of loquacity, she + acquainted them. The bread she cast upon the waters returned to her + speedily. The two friends parted company, Will returning to the Union + lines, and Colonel Hickok to the opposing camp. A few days later, when the + Confederate forces were closing up around the Union lines, and a battle + was at hand, two horsemen were seen to dart out of the hostile camp and + ride at full speed for the Northern lines. For a space the audacity of the + escape seemed to paralyze the Confederates; but presently the bullets + followed thick and fast, and one of the saddles was empty before the + rescue party—of which Will was one—got fairly under way. As + the survivor drew near, Will shouted: "It's Wild Bill, the Union scout." A + cheer greeted the intrepid Colonel Hickok, and he rode into camp + surrounded by a party of admirers. The information he brought proved of + great value in the battle of Pilot Knob (already referred to), which + almost immediately followed. CHAPTER XIV. A RESCUE AND A BETROTHAL. AFTER + the battle of Pilot Knob Will was assigned, through the influence of + General Polk, to special service at military headquarters in St. Louis. + Mrs. Polk had been one of mother's school friends, and the two had + maintained a correspondence up to the time of mother's death. As soon as + Mrs. Polk learned that the son of her old friend was in the Union army, + she interested herself in obtaining a good position for him. But desk-work + is not a Pony Express rush, and Will found the St. Louis detail about as + much to his taste as clerking in a dry-goods store. His new duties + naturally became intolerable, lacking the excitement and danger-scent + which alone made his life worth while to him. One event, however, relieved + the dead-weight monotony of his existence; he met Louise Frederici, the + girl who became his wife. The courtship has been written far and wide with + blood-and-thunder pen, attended by lariat-throwing and runaway steeds. In + reality it was a romantic affair. More than once, while out for a morning + canter, Will had remarked a young woman of attractive face and figure, who + sat her horse with the grace of Diana Vernon. Now, few things catch Will's + eye more quickly than fine horsemanship. He desired to establish an + acquaintance with the young lady, but as none of his friends knew her, he + found it impossible. At length a chance came. Her bridle-rein broke one + morning; there was a runaway, a rescue, and then acquaintance was easy. + From war to love, or from love to war, is but a step, and Will lost no + time in taking it. He was somewhat better than an apprentice to Dan Cupid. + If the reader remembers, he went to school with Steve Gobel. True, his + opportunities to enjoy feminine society had not been many, which; perhaps, + accounts for the promptness with which he embraced them when they did + arise. He became the accepted suitor of Miss Louise Frederici before the + war closed and his regiment was mustered out. The spring of 1865 found him + not yet twenty, and he was sensible of the fact that before he could dance + at his own wedding he must place his worldly affairs upon a surer + financial basis than falls to the lot of a soldier; so, much as he would + have enjoyed remaining in St. Louis, fortune pointed to wider fields, and + he set forth in search of remunerative and congenial employment. First, + there was the visit home, where the warmest of welcomes awaited him. + During his absence the second sister, Eliza, had married a Mr. Myers, but + the rest of us were at the old place, and the eagerness with which we + awaited Will's home-coming was stimulated by the hope that he would remain + and take charge of the estate. Before we broached this subject, however, + he informed us of his engagement to Miss Frederici, which, far from + awakening jealousy, aroused our delight, Julia voicing the sentiment of + the family in the comment: "When you're married, Will, you will have to + stay at home." This led to the matter of his remaining with us to manage + the estate—and to the upsetting of our plans. The pay of a soldier + in the war was next to nothing, and as Will had been unable to put any + money by, he took the first chance that offered to better his fortunes. + This happened to be a job of driving horses from Leavenworth to Fort + Kearny, and almost the first man he met after reaching the fort was an old + plains friend, Bill Trotter. "You're just the chap I've been looking for," + said Trotter, when he learned that Will desired regular work. "I'm + division station agent here, but stage-driving is dangerous work, as the + route is infested with Indians and outlaws. Several drivers have been held + up and killed lately, so it's not a very enticing job, but the pay's good, + and you know the country. If any one can take the stage through, you can. + Do you want the job?" When a man is in love and the wedding-day has been + dreamed of, if not set, life takes on an added sweetness, and to stake it + against the marksmanship of Indian or outlaw is not, perhaps, the best use + to which it may be put. Will had come safely through so many perils that + it seemed folly to thrust his head into another batch of them, and + thinking of Louise and the coming wedding-day, his first thought was no. + But it was the old story, and there was Trotter at his elbow expressing + confidence in his ability as a frontiersman—an opinion Will fully + shared, for a man knows what he can do. The pay was good, and the sooner + earned the sooner would the wedding be, and Trotter received the answer he + expected. The stage line was another of the Western enterprises projected + by Russell, Majors & Waddell. When gold was discovered on Pike's Peak + there was no method of traversing the great Western plain except by + plodding ox-team, mule-pack, or stagecoach. A semi-monthly stage line ran + from St. Joseph to Salt Lake City, but it was poorly equipped and very + tedious, oftentimes twenty-one days being required to make the trip. The + senior member of the firm, in partnership with John S. Jones, of Missouri, + established a new line between the Missouri River and Denver, at that time + a straggling mining hamlet. One thousand Kentucky mules were bought, with + a sufficient number of coaches to insure a daily run each way. The trip + was made in six days, which necessitated travel at the rate of a hundred + miles a day. The first stage reached Denver on May 17, 1859. It was + accounted a remarkable achievement, and the line was pronounced a great + success. In one way it was; but the expense of equipping it had been + enormous, and the new line could not meet its obligations. To save the + credit of their senior partner, Russell, Majors & Waddell were obliged + to come to the rescue. They bought up all the outstanding obligations, and + also the rival stage line between St. Joseph and Salt Lake City. They + consolidated the two, and thereby hoped to put the Overland stage route on + a paying basis. St. Joseph now became the starting-point of the united + lines. From there the road went to Fort Kearny, and followed the old Salt + Lake trail, already described in these pages. After leaving Salt Lake it + passed through Camp Floyd, Ruby Valley, Carson City, Placerville, and + Folsom, and ended in Sacramento. The distance from St. Joseph to + Sacramento by this old stage route was nearly nineteen hundred miles. The + time required by mail contracts and the government schedule was nineteen + days. The trip was frequently made in fifteen, but there were so many + causes for detention that the limit was more often reached. Each two + hundred and fifty miles of road was designated a "division," and was in + charge of an agent, who had great authority in his own jurisdiction. He + was commonly a man of more than ordinary intelligence, and all matters + pertaining to his division were entirely under his control. He hired and + discharged employee, purchased horses, mules, harness, and food, and + attended to their distribution at the different stations. He superintended + the erection of all buildings, had charge of the water supply, and he was + the paymaster. There was also a man known as the conductor, whose route + was almost coincident with that of the agent. He sat with the driver, and + often rode the whole two hundred and fifty miles of his division without + any rest or sleep, except what he could catch sitting on the top of the + flying coach. The coach itself was a roomy, swaying vehicle, swung on + thorough-braces instead of springs. It always had a six-horse or six-mule + team to draw it, and the speed was nerve-breaking. Passengers were allowed + twenty-five pounds of baggage, and that, with the mail, express, and the + passengers themselves, was in charge of the conductor. The Overland + stagecoaches were operated at a loss until 1862. In March of that year + Russell, Majors & Waddell transferred the whole outfit to Ben + Holliday. Here was a typical frontiersman, of great individuality and + character. At the time he took charge of the route the United States mail + was given to it. This put the line on a sound financial basis, as the + government spent $800,000 yearly in transporting the mail to San + Francisco. Will reported for duty the morning after his talk with Trotter, + and when he mounted the stage-box and gathered the reins over the six + spirited horses, the passengers were assured of an expert driver. His run + was from Fort Kearny to Plum Creek. The country was sharply familiar. It + was the scene of his first encounter with Indians. A long and lonely ride + it was, and a dismal one when the weather turned cold; but it meant a + hundred and fifty dollars a month; and each pay day brought him nearer to + St. Louis. + </p> + <p> + Indian signs there had been right along, but they were only signs until + one bleak day in November. He pulled out of Plum Creek with a sharp + warning ringing in his ears. Indians were on the war-path, and trouble was + more likely than not ahead. Lieutenant Flowers, assistant division agent, + was on the box with him, and within the coach were six well-armed + passengers. + </p> + <p> + Half the run had been covered, when Will's experienced eye detected the + promised red men. Before him lay a stream which must be forded. The creek + was densely fringed with underbrush, and along this the Indians were + skulking, expecting to cut the stage off at the only possible crossing. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps this is a good place to say a word concerning the seemingly + extraordinary fortune that has stood by Will in his adventures. Not only + have his own many escapes been of the hairbreadth sort, but he has arrived + on the scene of danger at just the right moment to rescue others from + extinction. Of course, an element of luck has entered into these affairs, + but for the most part they simply proved the old saying that an ounce of + prevention is better than a pound of cure. Will had studied the plains as + an astronomer studies the heavens. The slightest disarrangement of the + natural order of things caught his eye. With the astronomer, it is a comet + or an asteroid appearing upon a field whose every object has long since + been placed and studied; with Will, it was a feathered headdress where + there should have been but tree, or rock, or grass; a moving figure where + nature should have been inanimate. + </p> + <p> + When seen, those things were calculated as the astronomer calculates the + motion of the objects that he studies. A planet will arrive at a given + place at a certain time; an Indian will reach a ford in a stream in about + so many minutes. If there be time to cross before him, it is a matter of + hard driving; if the odds are with the Indian, that is another matter. + </p> + <p> + A less experienced observer than Will would not have seen the skulking + redskins; a less skilled frontiersman would not have apprehended their + design; a less expert driver would not have taken the running chance for + life; a less accurate marksman would not have picked off an Indian with a + rifle while shooting from the top of a swinging, jerking stagecoach. + </p> + <p> + Will did not hesitate. A warning shout to the passengers, and the whip was + laid on, and off went the horses full speed. Seeing that they had been + discovered, the Indians came out into the open, and ran their ponies for + the ford, but the stage was there full five hundred yards before them. It + was characteristic of their driver that the horses were suffered to pause + at the creek long enough to get a swallow of water; then, refreshed, they + were off at full speed again. + </p> + <p> + The coach, creaking in every joint, rocked like a captive balloon, the + unhappy passengers were hurled from one side of the vehicle to the other, + flung into one another's laps, and occasionally, when some uncommon + obstacle sought to check the flying coach, their heads collided with its + roof. The Indians menaced them without, cracked skulls seemed their fate + within. + </p> + <p> + Will plied the whip relentlessly, and so nobly did the powerful horses + respond that the Indians gained but slowly on them. There were some fifty + redskins in the band, but Will assumed that if he could reach the relay + station, the two stock-tenders there, with himself, Lieutenant Flowers, + and the passengers, would be more than a match for the marauders. + </p> + <p> + When the pursuers drew within fair rifle range, Will handed the reins to + the lieutenant, swung round in his seat, and fired at the chief. + </p> + <p> + "There," shouted one of the passengers, "that fellow with the feathers is + shot!" and another fusillade from the coach interior drove holes in the + air. + </p> + <p> + The relay station was now hard by, and attracted by the firing, the + stock-tenders came forth to take a hand in the engagement. Disheartened by + the fall of their chief, the Indians weakened at the sign of + reinforcements, and gave up the pursuit. + </p> + <p> + Lieutenant Flowers and two of the passengers were wounded, but Will could + not repress a smile at the excited assurance of one of his fares that they + (the passengers) had "killed one Indian and driven the rest back." The + stock-tenders smiled also, but said nothing. It would have been too bad to + spoil such a good story. + </p> + <p> + The gravest fears for the safety of the coach had been expressed when it + was known that the reds were on the war-path; it was not thought possible + that it could get through unharmed, and troops were sent out to scour the + country. These, while too late to render service in the adventure just + related, did good work during the remainder of the winter. The Indians + were thoroughly subdued, and Will saw no more of them. + </p> + <p> + There was no other adventure of special note until February. Just before + Will started on his run, Trotter took him to one side and advised him that + a small fortune was going by the coach that day, and extra vigilance was + urged, as the existence of the treasure might have become known. + </p> + <p> + "I'll do the best I can," said Will; and he had scarcely driven away when + he suspected the two ill-favored passengers he carried. The sudden calling + away of the conductor, whereby he was left alone, was a suspicious + circumstance. He properly decided that it would be wiser for him to hold + up his passengers than to let them hold up him, and he proceeded to take + time by the forelock. He stopped the coach, jumped down, and examined the + harness as if something was wrong; then he stepped to the coach door and + asked his passengers to hand him a rope that was inside. As they complied, + they looked into the barrels of two cocked revolvers. + </p> + <p> + "Hands up!" said Will. + </p> + <p> + "What's the matter with you?" demanded one of the pair, as their arms were + raised. + </p> + <p> + "Thought I'd come in first—that's all," was the answer. + </p> + <p> + The other was not without appreciation of humor. + </p> + <p> + "You're a cute one, youngster," said he, "but you'll find more'n your + match down the road, or I miss my guess." + </p> + <p> + "I'll look after that when I get to it," said Will. "Will you oblige me by + tying your friend's hands? Thank you. Now throw out your guns. That all? + All right. Let me see your hands." + </p> + <p> + When both outlaws had been securely trussed up and proven to be disarmed, + the journey was resumed. The remark dropped by one of the pair was + evidence that they were part of the gang. He must reach the relay station + before the attack. If he could do that, he had a plan for farther on. + </p> + <p> + The relay station was not far away, and was safely reached. The prisoners + were turned over to the stock-tenders, and then Will disposed of the + treasure against future molestation. He cut open one of the cushions of + the coach, taking out part of the filling, and in the cavity thus made + stored everything of value, including his own watch and pocketbook; then + the filling was replaced and the hole smoothed to a natural appearance. + </p> + <p> + If there were more in the gang, he looked for them at the ford where the + Indians had sought to cut him off, and he was not disappointed. As he drew + near the growth of willows that bordered the road, half a dozen men with + menacing rifles stepped out. + </p> + <p> + "Halt, or you're a dead man!" was the conventional salutation, in this + case graciously received. + </p> + <p> + "Well, what do you want?" asked Will. + </p> + <p> + "The boodle you carry. Fork it over!" + </p> + <p> + "Gentlemen," said Will, smiling, "this is a case where it takes a thief to + catch a thief." + </p> + <p> + "What's that?" cried one of the outlaws, his feelings outraged by the + frank description. + </p> + <p> + "Not that I'm the thief," continued Will, "but your pals were one too many + for you this time." + </p> + <p> + "Did they rob you?" howled the gang in chorus, shocked by such depravity + on the part of their comrades. + </p> + <p> + "If there's anything left in the coach worth having, don't hesitate to + take it," offered Will, pleasantly. + </p> + <p> + "Where's your strong-box?" demanded the outlaws, loath to believe there + was no honor among thieves. + </p> + <p> + Will drew it forth and exposed its melancholy emptiness. The profanity + that ensued was positively shocking. + </p> + <p> + "Where did they hold you up?" demanded the leader of the gang. + </p> + <p> + "Eight or nine miles back. You'll find some straw in the road. You can + have that, too." + </p> + <p> + "Were there horses to meet them?" + </p> + <p> + "On foot the last I saw them." + </p> + <p> + "Then we can catch 'em, boys," shouted the leader, hope upspringing in his + breast. "Come, let's be off!" + </p> + <p> + They started for the willows on the jump, and presently returned, spurring + their horses. + </p> + <p> + "Give them my regards!" shouted Will. But only the thud! thud! of + horsehoofs answered him. Retribution was sweeping like a hawk upon its + prey. + </p> + <p> + Will pushed along to the end of his run, and handed over his trust + undisturbed. Fearing that his ruse might have been discovered, he put the + "extra vigilance" urged by Trotter into the return trip, but the trail was + deserted. He picked up the prisoners at the relay station and carried them + to Fort Kearny. If their companions were to discover the sorry trick + played upon them, they would have demanded his life as a sacrifice. + </p> + <p> + At the end of this exciting trip he found a letter from Miss Frederici + awaiting him. She urged him to give up the wild life he was leading, + return East, and find another calling. This was precisely what Will + himself had in mind, and persuasion was not needed. In his reply he asked + that the wedding-day be set, and then he handed Trotter his resignation + from the lofty perch of a stage-driver. + </p> + <p> + "I don't like to let you go," objected Trotter. + </p> + <p> + "But," said Will, "I took the job only in order to save enough money to + get married on." + </p> + <p> + "In that case," said Trotter, "I have nothing to do but wish you joy." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XV. — WILL AS A BENEDICT. + </h2> + <p> + WHEN Will reached home, he found another letter from Miss Frederici, who, + agreeably to his request, had fixed the wedding-day, March 6, 1866. + </p> + <p> + The wedding ceremony was quietly performed at the home of the bride, and + the large number of friends that witnessed it united in declaring that no + handsomer couple ever bowed for Hymen's benediction. + </p> + <p> + The bridal journey was a trip to Leavenworth on a Missouri steamer. At + that time there was much travel by these boats, and their equipment was + first-class. They were sumptuously fitted out, the table was excellent, + and except when sectional animosities disturbed the serenity of their + decks, a trip on one of them was a very pleasant excursion. + </p> + <p> + The young benedict soon discovered, however, that in war times the "trail + of the serpent" is liable to be over all things; even a wedding journey is + not exempt from the baneful influence of sectional animosity. A party of + excursionists on board the steamer manifested so extreme an interest in + the bridal couple that Louise retired to a stateroom to escape their + rudeness. After her withdrawal, Will entered into conversation with a + gentleman from Indiana, who had been very polite to him, and asked him if + he knew the reason for the insolence of the excursion party. The gentleman + hesitated a moment, and then answered: + </p> + <p> + "To tell the truth, Mr. Cody, these men are Missourians, and say they + recognize you as one of Jennison's Jayhawkers; that you were an enemy of + the South, and are, therefore, an enemy of theirs." + </p> + <p> + Will answered, steadily: "I was a soldier during the war, and a scout in + the Union army, but I had some experience of Southern chivalry before that + time." And he related to the Indianian some of the incidents of the early + Kansas border warfare, in which he and his father had played so prominent + a part. + </p> + <p> + The next day the insolent behavior was continued. Will was much inclined + to resent it, but his wife pleaded so earnestly with him to take no notice + of it that he ignored it. + </p> + <p> + In the afternoon, when the boat landed at a lonely spot to wood up, the + Missourians seemed greatly excited, and all gathered on the guards and + anxiously scanned the riverbank. + </p> + <p> + The roustabouts were just about to make the boat fast, when a party of + armed horsemen dashed out of the woods and galloped toward the landing. + The captain thought the boat was to be attacked, and hastily gave orders + to back out, calling the crew on board at the same time. These orders the + negroes lost no time in obeying, as they often suffered severely at the + hands of these reckless marauders. The leader of the horsemen rode rapidly + up, firing at random. As he neared the steamer he called out, "Where is + that Kansas Jayhawker? We have come for him." The other men caught sight + of Will, and one of them cried, "We know you, Bill Cody." But they were + too late. Already the steamer was backing away from the shore, dragging + her gang-plank through the water; the negro roustabouts were too much + terrified to pull it in. When the attacking party saw their plans were + frustrated, and that they were balked of their prey, they gave vent to + their disappointment in yells of rage. A random volley was fired at the + retreating steamer, but it soon got out of range, and continued on its way + up the river. + </p> + <p> + Will had prepared himself for the worst; he stood, revolver in hand, at + the head of the steps, ready to dispute the way with his foes. + </p> + <p> + There was also a party of old soldiers on board, six or eight in number; + they were dressed in civilians' garb, and Will knew nothing of them; but + when they heard of their comrade's predicament, they hastily prepared to + back up the young scout. Happily the danger was averted, and their + services were not called into requisition. The remainder of the trip was + made without unpleasant incident. + </p> + <p> + It was afterward learned that as soon as the Missourians became aware of + the presence of the Union scout on board, they telegraphed ahead to the + James and Younger brothers that Will was aboard the boat, and asked to + have a party meet it at this secluded landing, and capture and carry off + the young soldier. Will feared that Louise might be somewhat disheartened + by such an occurrence on the bridal trip, but the welcome accorded the + young couple on their arrival at Leavenworth was flattering enough to make + amends for all unpleasant incidents. The young wife found that her husband + numbered his friends by the score in his own home; and in the grand + reception tendered them he was the lion of the hour. + </p> + <p> + Entreated by Louise to abandon the plains and pursue a vocation along more + peaceful paths, Will conceived the idea of taking up the business in which + mother had won financial success—that of landlord. The house she had + built was purchased after her death by Dr. Crook, a surgeon in the Seventh + Kansas Regiment. It was now for rent, which fact no doubt decided Will in + his choice of an occupation. It was good to live again under the roof that + had sheltered his mother in her last days; it was good to see the young + wife amid the old scenes. So Will turned boniface, and invited May and me + to make our home with him. + </p> + <p> + There was a baby in Julia's home, and it had so wound itself around May's + heartstrings that she could not be enticed away; but there was never + anybody who could supplant Will in my heart; so I gladly accepted his + invitation. + </p> + <p> + Thoreau has somewhere drawn a sympathetic portrait of the Landlord, who is + supposed to radiate hospitality as the sun throws off heat—as its + own reward—and who feeds and lodges men purely from a love of the + creatures. Yet even such a landlord, if he is to continue long in + business, must have an eye to profit, and make up in one corner what he + parts with in another. Now, Will radiated hospitality, and his reputation + as a lover of his fellowman got so widely abroad that travelers without + money and without price would go miles out of their way to put up at his + tavern. Socially, he was an irreproachable landlord; financially, his + shortcomings were deplorable. + </p> + <p> + And then the life of an innkeeper, while not without its joys and + opportunities to love one's fellowman, is somewhat prosaic, and our guests + oftentimes remarked an absent, far-away expression in the eyes of Landlord + Cody. He was thinking of the plains. Louise also remarked that expression, + and the sympathy she felt for his yearnings was accentuated by an + examination of the books of the hostelry at the close of the first six + months' business. Half smiling, half tearful, she consented to his return + to his Western life. + </p> + <p> + Will disposed of the house and settled his affairs, and when all the bills + were paid, and Sister Lou and I cozily ensconced in a little home at + Leavenworth, we found that Will's generous thought for our comfort through + the winter had left him on the beach financially. He had planned a + freighting trip on his own account, but the acquiring of a team, wagon, + and the rest of the outfit presented a knotty problem when he counted over + the few dollars left on hand. + </p> + <p> + For the first time I saw disappointment and discouragement written on his + face, and I was sorely distressed, for he had never denied me a desire + that he could gratify, and it was partly on my account that he was not in + better financial condition. I was not yet sixteen; it would be two years + more before I could have a say as to the disposition of my own money, yet + something must be done at once. + </p> + <p> + I decided to lay the matter before Lawyer Douglass. Surely he could + suggest some plan whereby I might assist my brother. I had a half-matured + plan of my own, but I was assured that Will would not listen to it. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Douglass had been the legal adviser of the family since he won our + first lawsuit, years before. We considered the problem from every side, + and the lawyer suggested that Mr. Buckley, an old friend of the family, + had a team and wagon for sale; they were strong and serviceable, and just + the thing that Will would likely want. I was a minor, but if Mr. Buckley + was willing to accept me as security for the property, there would be no + difficulty in making the transfer. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Buckley proved entirely agreeable to the proposition. Will could have + the outfit in return for his note with my indorsement. + </p> + <p> + That disposed of, the question of freight to put into the wagon arose. I + thought of another old friend of the family, M. E. Albright, a wholesale + grocer in Leavenworth. Would he trust Will for a load of supplies? He + would. + </p> + <p> + Thus everything was arranged satisfactorily, and I hastened home to not + the easiest task—to prevail upon Will to accept assistance at the + hands of the little sister who, not so long ago, had employed his aid in + the matter of a pair of shoes. + </p> + <p> + But Will could really do nothing save accept, and proud and happy, he + sallied forth one day as an individual freighter, though not a very + formidable rival of Russell, Majors & Waddell. + </p> + <p> + Alas for enterprises started on borrowed capital! How many of them end in + disaster, leaving their projectors not only penniless, but in debt. Our + young frontiersman, whose life had been spent in protecting the property + of others, was powerless to save his own. Wagon, horses, and freight were + all captured by Indians, and their owner barely escaped with his life. + From a safe covert he watched the redskins plunge him into bankruptcy. It + took him several years to recover, and he has often remarked that the + responsibility of his first business venture on borrowed capital aged him + prematurely. + </p> + <p> + The nearest station to the scene of this disaster was Junction City, and + thither he tramped, in the hope of retrieving his fortunes. There he met + Colonel Hickok, and in the pleasure of the greeting forgot his business + ruin for a space. The story of his marriage and his stirring adventures as + a landlord and lover of his fellowman were first to be related, and when + these were commented upon, and his old friend had learned, too, of the + wreck of the freighting enterprise, there came the usual inquiry: + </p> + <p> + "And now, do you know of a job with some money in it?" + </p> + <p> + "There isn't exactly a fortune in it," said Wild Bill, "but I'm scouting + for Uncle Sam at Fort Ellsworth. The commandant needs more scouts, and I + can vouch for you as a good one." + </p> + <p> + "All right," said Will, always quick in decision; "I'll go along with you, + and apply for a job at once." + </p> + <p> + He was pleased to have Colonel Hickok's recommendation, but it turned out + that he did not need it, as his own reputation had preceded him. The + commandant of the fort was glad to add him to the force. The territory he + had to scout over lay between Forts Ellsworth and Fletcher, and he + alternated between those points throughout the winter. + </p> + <p> + It was at Fort Fletcher, in the spring of 1867, that he fell in with the + dashing General Custer, and the friendship established between them was + ended only by the death of the general at the head of his gallant three + hundred. + </p> + <p> + This spring was an exceedingly wet one, and the fort, which lay upon the + bank of Big Creek, was so damaged by floods that it was abandoned. A new + fort was erected, some distance to the westward, on the south fork of the + creek, and was named Fort Hayes. + </p> + <p> + Returning one day from an extended scouting trip, Will discovered signs + indicating that Indians in considerable force were in the neighborhood. He + at once pushed forward at all speed to report the news, when a second + discovery took the wind out of his sails; the hostiles were between him + and the fort. + </p> + <p> + At that moment a party of horsemen broke into view, and seeing they were + white men, Will waited their approach. The little band proved to be + General Custer and an escort of ten, en route from Fort Ellsworth to Fort + Hayes. + </p> + <p> + Informed by Will that they were cut off by Indians, and that the only hope + of escape lay in a rapid flank movement, Custer's reply was a terse: + </p> + <p> + "Lead on, scout, and we'll follow." + </p> + <p> + Will wheeled, clapped spurs to his horse, and dashed away, with the others + close behind. All hands were sufficiently versed in Indian warfare to + appreciate the seriousness of their position. They pursued a roundabout + trail, and reached the fort without seeing a hostile, but learned from the + reports of others that their escape had been a narrow one. + </p> + <p> + Custer was on his way to Larned, sixty miles distant, and he needed a + guide. He requested that Will be assigned to the position, so pleased was + he by the service already rendered. + </p> + <p> + "The very man I proposed to send with you, General," said the commandant, + who knew well the keen desire of the Indians to get at "Yellow Hair," as + they called Custer. "Cody knows this part of the country like a book; he + is up to all the Indian games, and he is as full of resources as a nut is + of meat." + </p> + <p> + At daybreak the start was made, and it was planned to cover the sixty + miles before nightfall. Will was mounted on a mouse-colored mule, to which + he was much attached, and in which he had every confidence. Custer, + however, was disposed to regard the lowly steed in some disdain. + </p> + <p> + "Do you think, Cody, that mule can set the pace to reach Larned in a day?" + he asked. + </p> + <p> + "When you get to Larned, General," smiled Will, "the mule and I will be + with you." + </p> + <p> + Custer said no more for a while, but the pace he set was eloquent, and the + mouse-colored mule had to run under "forced draught" to keep up with the + procession. It was a killing pace, too, for the horses, which did not + possess the staying power of the mule. Will was half regretting that he + had ridden the animal, and was wondering how he could crowd on another + pound or two of steam, when, suddenly glancing at Custer, he caught a + gleam of mischief in the general's eye. Plainly the latter was seeking to + compel an acknowledgment of error, but Will only patted the mouse-colored + flanks. + </p> + <p> + Fifteen miles were told off; Custer's thoroughbred horse was still in fine + fettle, but the mule had got the second of its three or four winds, and + was ready for a century run. + </p> + <p> + "Can you push along a little faster, General?" asked Will, slyly. + </p> + <p> + "If that mule of yours can stand it, go ahead," was the reply. + </p> + <p> + To the general's surprise, the long-eared animal did go ahead, and when + the party got into the hills, and the traveling grew heavy, it set a pace + that seriously annoyed the general's thoroughbred. + </p> + <p> + Fifteen miles more were pounded out, and a halt was called for luncheon. + The horses needed the rest, but the mouse-colored mule wore an impatient + expression. Having got its third wind, it wanted to use it. + </p> + <p> + "Well, General," said Will, when they swung off on the trail again, "what + do you think of my mount?" + </p> + <p> + Custer laughed. "It's not very handsome," said he, "but it seems to know + what it's about, and so does the rider. You're a fine guide, Cody. Like + the Indian, you seem to go by instinct, rather than by trails and + landmarks." + </p> + <p> + The praise of Custer was sweeter to the young scout than that of any other + officer on the plains would have been. + </p> + <p> + At just four o'clock the mouse-colored mule jogged into Fort Larned and + waved a triumphant pair of ears. A short distance behind rode Custer, on a + thoroughly tired thoroughbred, while the escort was strung along the trail + for a mile back. + </p> + <p> + "Cody," laughed the general, "that remarkable quadruped of yours looks + equal to a return trip. Our horses are pretty well fagged out, but we have + made a quick trip and a good one. You brought us 'cross country straight + as the crow flies, and that's the sort of service I appreciate. Any time + you're in need of work, report to me. I'll see that you're kept busy." + </p> + <p> + It was Custer's intention to remain at Fort Larned for some time, and + Will, knowing that he was needed at Hayes, tarried only for supper and a + short rest before starting back. + </p> + <p> + When night fell, he proceeded warily. On the way out he had directed + Custer's attention to signs denoting the near-by presence of a small band + of mounted Indians. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly a distant light flashed into view, but before he could check his + mule it had vanished. He rode back a few paces, and the light reappeared. + Evidently it was visible through some narrow space, and the matter called + for investigation. Will dismounted, hitched his mule, and went forward. + </p> + <p> + After he had covered half a mile, he found himself between two sandhills, + the pass leading into a little hollow, within which were a large number of + Indians camped around the fire whose light he had followed. The ponies + were in the background. + </p> + <p> + Will's position was somewhat ticklish, as, without a doubt, an Indian + sentinel was posted in the pass; yet it was his duty, as he understood it, + to obtain a measurably accurate estimate of the number of warriors in the + band. Himself a very Indian in stealth, he drew nearer the camp-fire, when + suddenly there rang out upon the night air—not a rifle-shot, but the + unearthly braying of his mule. + </p> + <p> + Even in the daylight, amid scenes of peace and tranquillity, the voice of + a mule falls short of the not enchanting music of the bagpipe. At night in + the wilderness, when every nerve is keyed up to the snapping-point, the + sound is simply appalling. + </p> + <p> + Will was startled, naturally, but the Indians were thrown into dire + confusion. They smothered the campfires and scattered for cover, while a + sentinel sprang up from behind a rock not twenty feet from Will, and was + off like a deer. + </p> + <p> + The scout held his ground till he had made a good guess at the number of + Indians in the party; then he ran for his mule, whose voice, raised in + seeming protest, guided him unerringly. + </p> + <p> + As he neared the animal he saw that two mounted Indians had laid hold of + it, and were trying to induce it to follow them; but the mule, true to + tradition and its master, stubbornly refused to budge a foot. + </p> + <p> + It was a comical tableau, but Will realized that it was but a step from + farce to tragedy. A rifle-shot dropped one of the Indians, and the other + darted off into the darkness. + </p> + <p> + Another bray from the mule, this time a paean of triumph, as Will jumped + into the saddle, with an arrow from the bow of the wounded Indian through + his coat-sleeve. He declined to return the fire of the wounded wretch, and + rode away into the timber, while all around the sound of Indians in + pursuit came to his ears. + </p> + <p> + "Now, my mouse-colored friend," said Will, "if you win this race your name + is Custer." + </p> + <p> + The mule seemed to understand; at all events, it settled down to work that + combined the speed of a racer with the endurance of a buffalo. The Indians + shortly abandoned the pursuit, as they could not see their game. + </p> + <p> + Will reached Fort Hayes in the early morning, to report the safe arrival + of Custer at Larned and the discovery of the Indian band, which he + estimated at two hundred braves. The mule received "honorable mention" in + his report, and was brevetted a thoroughbred. + </p> + <p> + The colonel prepared to dispatch troops against the Indians, and requested + Will to guide the expedition, if he were sufficiently rested, adding, with + a smile: + </p> + <p> + "You may ride your mule if you like." + </p> + <p> + "No, thank you," laughed Will. "It isn't safe, sir, to hunt Indians with + an animal that carries a brass-band attachment." + </p> + <p> + Captain George A. Armes, of the Tenth Cavalry, was to command the + expedition, which comprised a troop of colored cavalry and a howitzer. As + the command lined up for the start, a courier on a foam-splashed horse + rode up with the news that the workmen on the Kansas Pacific Railroad had + been attacked by Indians, six of them killed, and over a hundred horses + and mules and a quantity of stores stolen. + </p> + <p> + The troops rode away, the colored boys panting for a chance at the + redskins, and Captain Armes more than willing to gratify them. + </p> + <p> + At nightfall the command made camp near the Saline River, at which point + it was expected to find the Indians. Before dawn they were in the saddle + again, riding straight across country, regardless of trails, until the + river was come up with. + </p> + <p> + Will's judgment was again verified by the discovery of a large camp of + hostiles on the opposite bank of the stream. The warriors were as quick of + eye, and as they greatly outnumbered the soldiers, and were emboldened by + the success of their late exploit, they did not wait the attack, but came + charging across the river. + </p> + <p> + They were nearly a mile distant, and Captain Armes had time to plant the + howitzer on a little rise of ground. Twenty men were left to handle it. + The rest of the command advanced to the combat. + </p> + <p> + They were just at the point of attack when a fierce yelling was heard in + the rear, and the captain discovered that his retreat to the gun was cut + off by another band of reds, and that he was between two fires. His only + course was to repulse the enemy in front. If this were done, and the + colored gunners did not flee before the overwhelming numbers, he might + unite his forces by another charge. + </p> + <p> + The warriors came on with their usual impetuosity, whooping and screaming, + but they met such a raking fire from the disciplined troops that they fell + back in disorder. Just then the men at the howitzer opened fire. The + effect of this field-piece on the children of the plains was magical—almost + ludicrous. A veritable stampede followed. + </p> + <p> + "Follow me!" shouted Captain Armes, galloping in pursuit; but in their + eagerness to give chase the troops fell into such disorder that a + bugle-blast recalled them before any further damage was done the flying + foe. The Indians kept right along, however; they were pretty badly + frightened. + </p> + <p> + Captain Armes was somewhat chagrined that he had no prisoners, but there + was consolation in taking back nearly all the horses that had been stolen. + These were found picketed at the camp across the river, where likely they + had been forgotten by the Indians in their flight. + </p> + <p> + Shortly after this, Will tried his hand at land speculation. During one of + his scouting trips to Fort Harker, he visited Ellsworth, a new settlement, + three miles from the fort. There he met a man named Rose, who had a + grading contract for the Kansas Pacific Railroad, near Fort Hayes. Rose + had bought land at a point through which the railroad was to run, and + proposed staking it out as a town, but he needed a partner in the + enterprise. + </p> + <p> + The site was a good one. Big Creek was hard by, and it was near enough to + the fort to afford settlers reasonable security against Indian raids. Will + regarded the enterprise favorably. Besides the money sent home each month, + he had put by a small sum, and this he invested in the partnership with + Rose. + </p> + <p> + The town site was surveyed and staked off into lots; a cabin was erected, + and stocked with such goods as are needed on the frontier, and the budding + metropolis was weighted with the classic name of Rome. + </p> + <p> + As an encouragement to settlers, a lot was offered to any one that would + agree to erect a building. The proprietors, of course, reserved the + choicest lots. + </p> + <p> + Rome boomed. Two hundred cabins went up in less than sixty days. Mr. Rose + and Will shook hands and complimented each other on their penetration and + business sagacity. They were coming millionaires, they said. Alas! they + were but babes in the woods. + </p> + <p> + One day Dr. W. E. Webb alighted in Rome. He was a gentleman of most + amiable exterior, and when he entered the store of Rose & Cody they + prepared to dispose of a large bill of goods. But Dr. Webb was not buying + groceries. He chatted a while about the weather and Rome, and then + suggested that the firm needed a third partner. But this was the last + thing the prospective millionaires had in mind, and the suggestion of + their visitor was mildly but firmly waived. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Webb was not a gentleman to insist upon a suggestion. He was locating + towns for the Kansas Pacific Railroad, he said, and as Rome was well + started, he disliked to interfere with it; but, really, the company must + have a show. + </p> + <p> + Neither Mr. Rose nor Will had had experience with the power of a big + corporation, and satisfied that they had the only good site for a town in + that vicinity, they declared that the railroad could not help itself. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Webb smiled pleasantly, and not without compassion. "Look out for + yourselves," said he, as he took his leave. + </p> + <p> + And within sight of Rome he located a new town. The citizens of Rome were + given to understand that the railroad shops would be built at the new + settlement, and that there was really nothing to prevent it becoming the + metropolis of Kansas. + </p> + <p> + Rome became a wilderness. Its citizens stampeded to the new town, and Mr. + Rose and Will revised their estimate of their penetration and business + sagacity. + </p> + <p> + Meantime, the home in Leavenworth had been gladdened by the birth of a + little daughter, whom her father named Arta. As it was impossible for Will + to return for some months, it was planned that the mother, the baby, and I + should make a visit to the St. Louis home. This was accomplished safely; + and while the grandparents were enraptured with the baby, I was enjoying + the delight of a first visit to a large city. + </p> + <p> + While the new town of Rome was regarded as an assured success by Will, he + had journeyed to St. Louis after his wife and little one. They proceeded + with him to the cozy cabin home he had fitted up, while I went back to + Leavenworth. + </p> + <p> + After the fall of Rome the little frontier home was no longer the + desirable residence that Will's dreams had pictured it, and as Rome passed + into oblivion the little family returned to St. Louis. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVI. — HOW THE SOBRIQUET OF "BUFFALO BILL" WAS WON. + </h2> + <p> + IN frontier days a man had but to ask for work to get it. There was enough + and to spare for every one. The work that paid best was the kind that + suited Will, it mattered not how hard or dangerous it might be. + </p> + <p> + At the time Rome fell, the work on the Kansas Pacific Railroad was pushing + forward at a rapid rate, and the junior member of the once prosperous firm + of Rose & Cody saw a new field of activity open for him—that of + buffalo-hunting. Twelve hundred men were employed on the railroad + construction, and Goddard Brothers, who had undertaken to board the vast + crew, were hard pressed to obtain fresh meat. To supply this + indispensable, buffalo-hunters were employed, and as Will was known to be + an expert buffalo-slayer, Goddard Brothers were glad to add him to their + "commissary staff." His contract with them called for en average of twelve + buffaloes daily, for which he was to receive five hundred dollars a month. + It was "good pay," the desired feature, but the work was hard and + hazardous. He must first scour the country for his game, with a good + prospect always of finding Indians instead of buffalo; then, when the game + was shot, he must oversee its cutting and dressing, and look after the + wagons that transported it to the camp where the workmen messed. It was + while working under this contract that he acquired the sobriquet of + "Buffalo Bill." It clung to him ever after, and he wore it with more pride + than he would have done the title of prince or grand duke. Probably there + are thousands of people to-day who know him by that name only. + </p> + <p> + At the outset he procured a trained buffalo-hunting horse, which went by + the unconventional name of "Brigham," and from the government he obtained + an improved breech-loading needle-gun, which, in testimony of its + murderous qualities, he named "Lucretia Borgia." + </p> + <p> + Buffaloes were usually plentiful enough, but there were times when the + camp supply of meat ran short. During one of these dull spells, when the + company was pressed for horses, Brigham was hitched to a scraper. One can + imagine his indignation. A racer dragging a street-car would have no more + just cause for rebellion than a buffalo-hunter tied to a work implement in + the company of stupid horses that never had a thought above a plow, a + hay-rake, or a scraper. Brigham expostulated, and in such plain language, + that Will, laughing, was on the point of unhitching him, when a cry went + up—the equivalent of a whaler's "There she blows!"—that a herd + of buffaloes was coming over the hill. + </p> + <p> + Brigham and the scraper parted company instantly, and Will mounted him + bareback, the saddle being at the camp, a mile away. Shouting an order to + the men to follow him with a wagon to take back the meat, he galloped + toward the game. + </p> + <p> + There were other hunters that day. Five officers rode out from the + neighboring fort, and joined Will while waiting for the buffaloes to come + up. They were recent arrivals in that part of the country, and their + shoulder-straps indicated that one was a captain and the others were + lieutenants. They did not know "Buffalo Bill." They saw nothing but a + good-looking young fellow, in the dress of a working man, astride a not + handsome horse, which had a blind bridle and no saddle. It was not a + formidable-looking hunting outfit, and the captain was disposed to be a + trifle patronizing. + </p> + <p> + "Hello!" he called out. "I see you're after the same game we are." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, sir," returned Will. "Our camp's out of fresh meat." + </p> + <p> + The officer ran a critical eye over Brigham. "Do you expect to run down a + buffalo with a horse like that?" said he. + </p> + <p> + "Why," said Will, innocently, "are buffaloes pretty speedy?" + </p> + <p> + "Speedy? It takes a fast horse to overhaul those animals on the open + prairie." + </p> + <p> + "Does it?" said Will; and the officer did not see the twinkle in his eye. + Nothing amuses a man more than to be instructed on a matter that he knows + thoroughly, and concerning which his instructor knows nothing. Probably + every one of the officers had yet to shoot his first buffalo. + </p> + <p> + "Come along with us," offered the captain, graciously. "We're going to + kill a few for sport, and all we care for are the tongues and a chunk of + the tenderloin; you can have the rest." + </p> + <p> + "Thank you," said Will. "I'll follow along." + </p> + <p> + There were eleven buffaloes in the herd, and the officers started after + them as if they had a sure thing on the entire number. Will noticed that + the game was pointed toward a creek, and understanding "the nature of the + beast," started for the water, to head them off. + </p> + <p> + As the herd went past him, with the military quintet five hundred yards in + the rear, he gave Brigham's blind bridle a twitch, and in a few jumps the + trained hunter was at the side of the rear buffalo; Lucretia Borgia spoke, + and the buffalo fell dead. Without even a bridle signal, Brigham was + promptly at the side of the next buffalo, not ten feet away, and this, + too, fell at the first shot. The maneuver was repeated until the last + buffalo went down. Twelve shots had been fired; then Brigham, who never + wasted his strength, stopped. The officers had not had even a shot at the + game. Astonishment was written on their faces as they rode up. + </p> + <p> + "Gentlemen," said Will, courteously, as he dismounted, "allow me to + present you with eleven tongues and as much of the tenderloin as you + wish." + </p> + <p> + "By Jove!" exclaimed the captain, "I never saw anything like that before. + Who are you, anyway?" + </p> + <p> + "Bill Cody's my name." + </p> + <p> + "Well, Bill Cody, you know how to kill buffalo, and that horse of yours + has some good running points, after all." + </p> + <p> + "One or two," smiled Will. + </p> + <p> + Captain Graham—as his name proved to be—and his companions + were a trifle sore over missing even the opportunity of a shot, but they + professed to be more than repaid for their disappointment by witnessing a + feat they had not supposed possible in a white man—hunting buffalo + without a saddle, bridle, or reins. Will explained that Brigham knew more + about the business than most two-legged hunters. All the rider was + expected to do was to shoot the buffalo. If the first shot failed, Brigham + allowed another; if this, too, failed, Brigham lost patience, and was as + likely as not to drop the matter then and there. + </p> + <p> + It was this episode that fastened the name of "Buffalo Bill" upon Will, + and learning of it, the friends of Billy Comstock, chief of scouts at Fort + Wallace, filed a protest. Comstock, they said, was Cody's superior as a + buffalo hunter. So a match was arranged to determine whether it should be + "Buffalo Bill" Cody or "Buffalo Bill" Comstock. + </p> + <p> + The hunting-ground was fixed near Sheridan, Kansas, and quite a crowd of + spectators was attracted by the news of the contest. Officers, soldiers, + plainsmen, and railroadmen took a day off to see the sport, and one + excursion party, including many ladies, among them Louise, came up from + St. Louis. + </p> + <p> + Referees were appointed to follow each man and keep a tally of the + buffaloes slain. Comstock was mounted on his favorite horse, and carried a + Henry rifle of large caliber. Brigham and Lucretia went with Will. The two + hunters rode side by side until the first herd was sighted and the word + given, when off they dashed to the attack, separating to the right and + left. In this first trial Will killed thirty-eight and Comstock + twenty-three. They had ridden miles, and the carcasses of the dead + buffaloes were strung all over the prairie. Luncheon was served at noon, + and scarcely was it over when another herd was sighted, composed mainly of + cows with their calves. The damage to this herd was eighteen and fourteen, + in favor of Cody. + </p> + <p> + In those days the prairies were alive with buffaloes, and a third herd put + in an appearance before the rifle-barrels were cooled. In order to give + Brigham a share of the glory, Will pulled off saddle and bridle, and + advanced bareback to the slaughter. + </p> + <p> + That closed the contest. Score, sixty-nine to forty-eight. Comstock's + friends surrendered, and Cody was dubbed "Champion Buffalo Hunter of the + Plains." + </p> + <p> + The heads of the buffaloes that fell in this hunt were mounted by the + Kansas Pacific Company, and distributed about the country, as + advertisements of the region the new road was traversing. Meanwhile, Will + continued hunting for the Kansas Pacific contractors, and during the year + and a half that he supplied them with fresh meat he killed four thousand + two hundred and eighty buffaloes. But when the railroad reached Sheridan + it was decided to build no farther at that time, and Will was obliged to + look for other work. + </p> + <p> + The Indians had again become so troublesome that a general war threatened + all along the border, and General P. H. Sheridan came West to personally + direct operations. He took up his quarters at Fort Leavenworth, but the + Indian depredations becoming more widespread, he transferred his quarters + to Fort Hayes, then the terminus of the Kansas Pacific Railroad. Will was + then in the employ of the quartermaster's department at Fort Larned, but + was sent with an important dispatch to General Sheridan announcing that + the Indians near Larned were preparing to decamp. The distance between + Larned and Hayes was sixty-five miles, through a section infested with + Indians, but Will tackled it, and reached the commanding General without + mishap. + </p> + <p> + Shortly afterward it became necessary to send dispatches from Fort Hayes + to Fort Dodge. Ninety-five miles of country lay between, and every mile of + it was dangerous ground. Fort Dodge was surrounded by Indians, and three + scouts had lately been killed while trying to get dispatches through, but + Will's confidence in himself or his destiny was unshakable, and he + volunteered to take the dispatches, as far, at least, as the Indians would + let him. + </p> + <p> + "It is a dangerous undertaking," said General Sheridan, "but it is most + important that the dispatches should go through; so, if you are willing to + risk it, take the best horse you can find, and the sooner you start the + better." + </p> + <p> + Within an hour the scout was in the saddle. At the outset Will permitted + his horse to set his own pace, for in case of pursuit he should want the + animal fresh enough to at least hold his own. But no pursuit materialized, + and when the dawn came up he had covered seventy miles, and reached a + station on Coon Creek, manned by colored troops. Here he delivered a + letter to Major Cox, the officer in command, and after eating breakfast, + took a fresh horse, and resumed his journey before the sun was above the + plain. + </p> + <p> + Fort Dodge was reached, the dispatches delivered by nine o'clock, and Will + turned in for a needed sleep. When he awoke, he was assured by John + Austin, chief of the scouts at Dodge, that his coming through unharmed + from Fort Hayes was little short of a miracle. He was also assured that a + journey to his own headquarters, Fort Larned, would be even more ticklish + than his late ride, as the hostiles were especially thick in that + direction. But the officer in command at Dodge desired to send dispatches + to Larned, and as none of the other scouts were willing to take them, Will + volunteered his services. + </p> + <p> + "Larned's my headquarters," said he, "and I must go there anyway; so if + you'll give me a good horse, I'll take your dispatches." + </p> + <p> + "We haven't a decent horse left," said the officer; "but you can take your + pick of some fine government mules." + </p> + <p> + Will made a gesture of despair. Another race on mule-back with Indians was + not an inviting prospect. There were very few mules like unto his quondam + mouse-colored mount. But he succumbed to the inevitable, picked out the + most enterprising looking mule in the bunch, and set forth. And neither he + nor the mule guessed what was in store for each of them. + </p> + <p> + At Coon Creek Will dismounted for a drink of water, and the mule embraced + the opportunity to pull away, and start alone on the wagon-trail to + Larned. Will did not suspect that he should have any trouble in overtaking + the capricious beast, but at the end of a mile he was somewhat concerned. + He had threatened and entreated, raged and cajoled. 'Twas all wasted. The + mule was as deaf to prayer as to objurgation. It browsed contentedly along + the even tenor of its way, so near and yet so far from the young man, who, + like "panting time, toil'd after it in vain." And Larned much more than + twenty miles away. + </p> + <p> + What the poet calls "the golden exhalations of the dawn" began to warm the + gray of the plain. The sun was in the roots of the grass. Four miles away + the lights of Larned twinkled. The only blot on a fair landscape was the + mule—in the middle distance. But there was a wicked gleam in the eye + of the footsore young man in the foreground. + </p> + <p> + Boom! The sunrise gun at the fort. The mule threw back its head, waved its + ears, and poured forth a song of triumph, a loud, exultant bray. + </p> + <p> + Crack! Will's rifle. Down went the mule. It had made the fatal mistake of + gloating over its villainy. Never again would it jeopardize the life of a + rider. + </p> + <p> + It had been a thirty-five-mile walk, and every bone in Will's body ached. + His shot alarmed the garrison, but he was soon on the ground with the + explanation; and after turning over his dispatches, he sought his bed. + </p> + <p> + During the day General Hazen returned, under escort, from Fort Harker, + with dispatches for Sheridan, and Will offered to be the bearer of them. + An army mule was suggested, but he declined to again put his life in the + keeping of such an animal. A good horse was selected, and the journey made + without incident. + </p> + <p> + General Sheridan was roused at daylight to receive the scout's report and + praised Will warmly for having undertaken and safely accomplished three + such long and dangerous rides. + </p> + <p> + "In all," says General Sheridan, in his Memoirs, "Cody rode three hundred + and fifty miles in less than sixty hours, and such an exhibition of + endurance and courage was more than enough to convince me that his + services would be extremely valuable in the campaign; so I retained him at + Fort Hayes until the battalion of Fifth Cavalry arrived, and then made him + chief of scouts for that regiment." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVII. — SATANTA, CHIEF OF THE KIOWAS. + </h2> + <p> + WITHIN plain view of Fort Larned lay a large camp of Kiowas and Comanches. + They were not yet bedaubed with war paint, but they were as restless as + panthers in a cage, and it was only a matter of days when they would whoop + and howl with the loudest. + </p> + <p> + The principal chief of the Kiowas was Satanta, a powerful and resourceful + warrior, who, because of remarkable talents for speech-making, was called + "The Orator of the Plains." Satanta was short and bullet-headed. Hatred + for the whites swelled every square inch of his breast, but he had the + deep cunning of his people, with some especially fine points of treachery + learned from dealings with dishonest agents and traders. There probably + never was an Indian so depraved that he could not be corrupted further by + association with a rascally white man. + </p> + <p> + When the Kiowas were friendly with the government, Satanta received a + guest with all the magnificence the tribe afforded. A carpet was spread + for the white man to sit upon, and a folding board was set up for a table. + The question of expense never intruded. + </p> + <p> + Individually, too, Satanta put on a great deal of style. Had the + opportunity come to him, he would have worn a silk hat with a sack-coat, + or a dress suit in the afternoon. As it was, he produced some startling + effects with blankets and feathers. + </p> + <p> + It was part of General Hazen's mission to Fort Larned to patch up a treaty + with the outraged Kiowas and Comanches, if it could be brought about. On + one warm August morning, the general set out for Fort Zarah, on a tour of + inspection. Zarah was on the Arkansas, in what is now Barton County, + Kansas. An early start was made, as it was desired to cover the thirty + miles by noon. The general rode in a four-mule army ambulance, with an + escort of ten foot soldiers, in a four-mule escort wagon. + </p> + <p> + After dinner at Zarah the general went on to Fort Harker, leaving orders + for the scout and soldiers to return to Larned on the following day. But + as there was nothing to do at Fort Zarah, Will determined to return at + once; so he trimmed the sails of his mule-ship, and squared away for + Larned. + </p> + <p> + The first half of the journey was without incident, but when Pawnee Rock + was reached, events began to crowd one another. Some forty Indians rode + out from behind the rock and surrounded the scout. + </p> + <p> + "How? How?" they cried, as they drew near, and offered their hands for the + white man's salutation. + </p> + <p> + The braves were in war paint, and intended mischief; but there was nothing + to be lost by returning their greeting, so Will extended his hand. + </p> + <p> + One warrior seized it and gave it a violent jerk; another caught the + mule's bridle; a third pulled the revolvers from the holsters; a fourth + snatched the rifle from across the saddle; while a fifth, for a climax, + dealt Will a blow on the head with a tomahawk that nearly stunned him. + </p> + <p> + Then the band started for the Arkansas River, lashing the mule, singing, + yelling, and whooping. For one supposed to be stolid and taciturn, the + Indian makes a good deal of noise at times. + </p> + <p> + Across the river was a vast throng of warriors, who had finally decided to + go on the war-path. Will and his captors forded the shallow stream, and + the prisoner was conducted before the chiefs of the tribe, with some of + whom he was acquainted. + </p> + <p> + His head throbbed from the tomahawking, but his wits were still in working + order, and when asked by Satanta where he had been, he replied that he had + been out searching for "whoa-haws." + </p> + <p> + He knew that the Indians had been promised a herd of "whoa-haws," as they + termed cattle, and he knew, too, that the herd had not arrived, and that + the Indians had been out of meat for several weeks; hence he hoped to + enlist Satanta's sympathetic interest. + </p> + <p> + He succeeded. Satanta was vastly interested. Where were the cattle? Oh, a + few miles back. Will had been sent forward to notify the Indians that an + army of sirloin steaks was advancing upon them. + </p> + <p> + Satanta was much pleased, and the other chiefs were likewise interested. + Did General Hazen say the cattle were for them? Was there a chance that + the scout was mistaken? + </p> + <p> + Not a chance; and with becoming dignity Will demanded a reason for the + rough treatment he had received. + </p> + <p> + Oh, that was all a joke, Satanta explained. The Indians who had captured + the white chief were young and frisky. They wished to see whether he was + brave. They were simply testing him. It was sport—just a joke. + </p> + <p> + Will did not offer to argue the matter. No doubt an excellent test of a + man's courage is to hit him over the head with a tomahawk. If he lives + through it, he is brave as Agamemnon. But Will insisted mildly that it was + a rough way to treat friends; whereupon Satanta read the riot act to his + high-spirited young men, and bade them return the captured weapons to the + scout. + </p> + <p> + The next question was, were there soldiers with the cattle? Certainly, + replied Will; a large party of soldiers were escorting the succulent + sirloins. This intelligence necessitated another consultation. Evidently + hostilities must be postponed until after the cattle had arrived. Would + Will drive the cattle to them? He would be delighted to. Did he desire + that the chief's young men should accompany him? No, indeed. The soldiers, + also, were high-spirited, and they might test the bravery of the chief's + young men by shooting large holes in them. It would be much better if the + scout returned alone. + </p> + <p> + Satanta agreed with him, and Will recrossed the river without molestation; + but, glancing over his shoulder, he noted a party of ten or fifteen young + braves slowly following him. Satanta was an extremely cautious chieftain. + </p> + <p> + Will rode leisurely up the gentle slope of the river's bank, but when he + had put the ridge between him and the Indian camp he pointed his mule + westward, toward Fort Larned, and set it going at its best pace. When the + Indians reached the top of the ridge, from where they could scan the + valley, in which the advancing cattle were supposed to be, there was not a + horn to be seen, and the scout was flying in an opposite direction. + </p> + <p> + They gave chase, but the mule had a good start, and when it got its second + wind—always necessary in a mule—the Indian ponies gained but + slowly. When Ash Creek, six miles from Larned, was reached, the race was + about even, but two miles farther on, the Indians were uncomfortably close + behind. The sunset gun at the fort boomed a cynical welcome to the man + four miles away, flying toward it for his life. + </p> + <p> + At Pawnee Fork, two miles from the fort, the Indians had crept up to + within five hundred yards. But here, on the farther bank of the stream, + Will came upon a government wagon containing half a dozen soldiers and + Denver Jim, a well-known scout. + </p> + <p> + The team was driven among the trees, and the men hid themselves in the + bushes, and when the Indians came along they were warmly received. Two of + the reds were killed; the others wheeled and rode back in safety. + </p> + <p> + In 1868 General Sheridan had taken command of all the troops in the field. + He arranged what is known as the winter expeditions against the Kiowas, + Comanches, Southern Cheyennes, and Arapahoes. He personally commanded the + expedition which left Fort Dodge, with General Custer as chief of cavalry. + General Penrose started for Fort Lyon, Colorado, and General Eugene A. + Carr was ordered from the Republican River country, with the Fifth + Cavalry, to Fort Wallace, Kansas. Will at this time had a company of forty + scouts with General Carr's command. He was ordered by General Sheridan, + when leaving Fort Lyon, to follow the trail of General Penrose's command + until it was overtaken. General Carr was to proceed to Fort Lyon, and + follow on the trail of General Penrose, who had started from there three + weeks before, when, as Carr ranked Penrose, he would then take command of + both expeditions. It was the 21st of November when Carr's expedition left + Fort Lyon. The second day out they encountered a terrible snow-storm and + blizzard in a place they christened "Freeze Out Canon," by which name it + is still known. As Penrose had only a pack-train and no heavy wagons, and + the ground was covered with snow, it was a very difficult matter to follow + his trail. But taking his general course, they finally came up with him on + the south fork of the Canadian River, where they found him and his + soldiers in a sorry plight, subsisting wholly on buffalo-meat. Their + animals had all frozen to death. + </p> + <p> + General Carr made what is known as a supply camp, leaving Penrose's + command and some of his own disabled stock therein. Taking with him the + Fifth Cavalry and the best horses and pack-mules, he started south toward + the main fork of the Canadian River, looking for the Indians. He was gone + from the supply camp thirty days, but could not locate the main band of + Indians, as they were farther to the east, where General Sheridan had + located them, and had sent General Custer in to fight them, which he did, + in what is known as the great battle of Wichita. + </p> + <p> + They had a very severe winter, and returned in March to Fort Lyon, + Colorado. + </p> + <p> + In the spring of 1869, the Fifth Cavalry, ordered to the Department of the + Platte, took up the line of march for Fort McPherson, Nebraska. + </p> + <p> + It was a large command, including seventy-six wagons for stores, ambulance + wagons, and pack-mules. Those chief in authority were Colonel Royal + (afterward superseded by General Carr), Major Brown, and Captain Sweetman. + </p> + <p> + The average distance covered daily was only ten miles, and when the troops + reached the Solomon River there was no fresh meat in camp. Colonel Royal + asked Will to look up some game. + </p> + <p> + "All right, sir," said Will. "Will you send a couple of wagons along to + fetch in the meat?" + </p> + <p> + "We'll send for the game, Cody, when there's some game to send for," + curtly replied the colonel. + </p> + <p> + That settled the matter, surely, and Will rode away, a trifle ruffled in + temper. + </p> + <p> + He was not long in rounding up a herd of seven buffaloes, and he headed + them straight for camp. As he drew near the lines, he rode alongside his + game, and brought down one after another, until only an old bull remained. + This he killed in almost the center of the camp. + </p> + <p> + The charge of the buffaloes had nearly stampeded the picketed horses, and + Colonel Royal, who, with the other officers, had watched the hunt, + demanded, somewhat angrily: + </p> + <p> + "What does this mean, Cody?" + </p> + <p> + "Why," said Will, "I thought, sir, I'd save you the trouble of sending + after the game." + </p> + <p> + The colonel smiled, though perhaps the other officers enjoyed the joke + more than he. + </p> + <p> + At the north fork of the Beaver, Will discovered a large and fresh Indian + trail. The tracks were scattered all over the valley, showing that a large + village had recently passed that way. Will estimated that at least four + hundred lodges were represented; that would mean from twenty-five hundred + to three thousand warriors, squaws, and children. + </p> + <p> + When General Carr (who had taken the command) got the news, he followed + down a ravine to Beaver Creek, and here the regiment went into camp. + Lieutenant Ward and a dozen men were detailed to accompany Will on a + reconnoissance. They followed Beaver Creek for twelve miles, and then the + lieutenant and the scout climbed a knoll for a survey of the country. One + glance took in a large Indian village some three miles distant. Thousands + of ponies were picketed out, and small bands of warriors were seen + returning from the hunt, laden with buffalo-meat. + </p> + <p> + "I think, Lieutenant," said Will, "that we have important business at + camp." + </p> + <p> + "I agree with you," said Ward. "The quicker we get out of here, the + better." + </p> + <p> + When they rejoined the men at the foot of the hill, Ward dispatched a + courier to General Carr, the purpose of the lieutenant being to follow + slowly and meet the troops which he knew would be sent forward. + </p> + <p> + The courier rode away at a gallop, but in a few moments came riding back, + with three Indians at his horse's heels. The little company charged the + warriors, who turned and fled for the village. + </p> + <p> + "Lieutenant," said Will, "give me that note." And as it was passed over, + he clapped spurs to his horse and started for the camp. + </p> + <p> + He had proceeded but a short distance when he came upon another party of + Indians, returning to the village with buffalo-meat. Without stopping, he + fired a long-range shot at them, and while they hesitated, puzzled by the + action, he galloped past. The warriors were not long in recovering from + their surprise, and cutting loose their meat, followed; but their ponies + were tired from a long hunt, and Will's fresh horse ran away from them. + </p> + <p> + When General Carr received the lieutenant's dispatch, he ordered the + bugler to sound the inspiring "Boots and Saddles," and, while two + companies remained to guard the wagons, the rest of the troops hastened + against the Indians. + </p> + <p> + Three miles out they were joined by Lieutenant Ward's company, and five + miles more brought them within sight of a huge mass of mounted Indians + advancing up the creek. These warriors were covering the retreat of their + squaws, who were packing up and getting ready for hasty flight. + </p> + <p> + General Carr ordered a charge on the red line. If it were broken, the + cavalry was to continue, and surround the village. The movement was + successfully executed, but one officer misunderstood the order, and, + charging on the left wing of the hostiles, was speedily hemmed in by some + three hundred redskins. Reinforcements were dispatched to his relief, but + the plan of battle was spoiled, and the remainder of the afternoon was + spent in contesting the ground with the Indians, who fought for their + lodges, squaws, and children with desperate and dogged courage. When night + came on, the wagon-trains, which had been ordered to follow, had not put + in an appearance, and, though the regiment went back to look for them, it + was nine o'clock before they were reached. + </p> + <p> + Camp was broken at daybreak, and the pursuit began, but not an Indian was + in sight. All the day the trail was followed. There was evidence that the + Indians had abandoned everything that might hinder their flight. That + night the regiment camped on the banks of the Republican, and the next + morning caught a distant glimpse of the foe. + </p> + <p> + About eleven o'clock a charge was made by three hundred mounted warriors, + but they were repulsed with considerable loss, and when they discovered + that defeat was certain, they evaded further pursuit by breaking up into + companies and scattering to all points of the compass. A large number of + ponies were collected as trophies of this expedition. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVIII. — WILL MADE CHIEF OF SCOUTS. + </h2> + <p> + IN due time the Fifth Cavalry reached Fort McPherson, which became its + headquarters while they were fitting out a new expedition to go into the + Republican River country. At this time General Carr recommended to General + Augur, who was in command of the Department, that Will be made chief of + scouts in the Department of the Platte. + </p> + <p> + Will's fancy had been so taken by the scenery along the line of march that + he proceeded to explore the country around McPherson, the result being a + determination to make his future home in the Platte Valley. + </p> + <p> + Shortly after reaching the fort, the scouts' division of the Fifth Cavalry + was reinforced by Major Frank North and three companies of the celebrated + Pawnee scouts. These became the most interesting and amusing objects in + camp, partly on account of their race, but mainly because of the bizarre + dress fashions they affected. My brother, in his autobiography, describes + the appearance presented by these scouts during a review of the command by + Brigadier-General Duncan. + </p> + <p> + The regiment made a fine showing, the men being well drilled and + thoroughly versed in tactics. The Pawnees also showed up well on drill, + but their full dress uniforms were calculated to excite even the army + horses to laughter. Regular cavalry suits had been furnished them, but no + two of the Pawnees seemed to agree as to the correct manner in which the + various articles should be worn. As they lined up for dress parade, some + of them wore heavy overcoats, others discarded even pantaloons, content + with a breech-clout. Some wore large black hats, with brass accouterments, + others were bareheaded. Many wore the pantaloons, but declined the shirts, + while a few of the more original cut the seats from the pantaloons, + leaving only leggings. Half of them were without boots or moccasins, but + wore the clinking spurs with manifest pride. + </p> + <p> + They were a quaint and curious lot, but drilled remarkably well for + Indians, and obeyed orders. They were devoted to their white chief, Major + North, who spoke Pawnee like a native, and they were very proud of their + position in the United States army. Good soldiers they made, too—hard + riders, crack shots, and desperate fighters. + </p> + <p> + At the close of the parade and review referred to, the officers and the + ladies attended an Indian dance, given by the Pawnees, which climaxed a + rather exciting day. + </p> + <p> + The following morning an expedition moved back to the Republican River, to + curb the high spirits of a band of Sioux, who had grown boldly + troublesome. This was the sort of service the Pawnees welcomed, as they + and the Sioux were hereditary enemies. + </p> + <p> + At the journey's end, camp was made at the mouth of the Beaver, and the + Sioux were heard from within the hour. A party of them raided the mules + that had been taken to the river, and the alarm was given by a herder, who + dashed into camp with an arrow sticking in his shoulder. + </p> + <p> + Will did not wait to saddle his horse, but the Pawnees were as quick as + he, and both of them rather surprised the Sioux, who did not expect such a + swift response. Especially were they surprised to find themselves + confronted by their tribal foe, the Pawnee, and they fell back hastily, + closely pressed by Will and his red allies. A running fight was kept up + for fifteen miles, and when many of the Sioux had been stretched upon the + plain and the others scattered, the pursuing party returned to camp. + </p> + <p> + Will himself, on a fine horse, had been somewhat chagrined at being passed + in the chase by a Pawnee on an inferior-looking steed. Upon inquiring of + Major North, he found that the swifter horse was, like his own, government + property. The Pawnee was much attached to his mount, but he was also fond + of tobacco, and a few pieces of that commodity, supplemented by some other + articles, induced him to exchange horses. Will named his new charge + "Buckskin Joe," and rode him for four years. Joe proved a worthy successor + to Brigham for speed, endurance, and intelligence. + </p> + <p> + This was the first adventure that Will and the Pawnees had pursued + together, and they emerged with an increased esteem for each other. Not + long afterward, Will's skill as a buffalo-hunter raised the admiration of + the Indians to enthusiasm. + </p> + <p> + Twenty Pawnees that circled around one herd of buffaloes killed only + twenty-two, and when the next herd came in view Will asked Major North to + keep the Indians in the background while he showed them a thing or two. + Buckskin Joe was a capital buffalo-hunter, and so well did he perform his + part that Will brought down thirty-six, about one at every shot. + </p> + <p> + The Pawnees were delighted. They held it considerable of an achievement to + kill two or three of the monarchs of the plains at a single run, and + Will's feat dazzled them. He was at once pronounced a great chief, and + ever after occupied a high place in their regard. + </p> + <p> + Moving up the Republican River, the troops went into camp on Black Tail + Deer Fork. Scarcely were the tents pitched when a band of Indians were + seen sweeping toward them at full speed, singing, yelling, and waving + lances. The camp was alive in an instant, but the Pawnees, instead of + preparing for defense, began to sing and yell in unison with the advancing + braves. "Those are some of our own Indians," said Major North; "they've + had a fight, and are bringing in the scalps." + </p> + <p> + And so it proved. The Pawnees reported a skirmish with the Sioux, in which + a few of the latter had been killed. + </p> + <p> + The next day the regiment set forth upon the trail of the Sioux. They + traveled rapidly, and plainly gained ground. + </p> + <p> + At every camp the print of a woman's shoe was noted among the tracks of + moccasined feet. The band evidently had a white captive in tow, and + General Carr, selecting the best horses, ordered a forced march, the + wagon-trains to follow as rapidly as possible. Will, with six Pawnees, was + to go ahead and locate the hostiles, and send back word, so that a plan of + attack might be arranged before the Indian village was reached. + </p> + <p> + This village the scouts discovered among the sand-hills at Summit Springs, + a few miles from the South Platte River; and while the Pawnees remained to + watch, Will returned to General Carr with the news. + </p> + <p> + There was suppressed excitement all along the line, as officers and men + prepared for what promised to be a lively scrimmage. The troops moved + forward by a circuitous route, and reached a hill overlooking the hostile + camp without their presence being dreamed of by the red men. + </p> + <p> + The bugler was ordered to sound the charge, but he was trembling with + excitement, and unable to blow a note. + </p> + <p> + "Sound the charge, man!" ordered General Carr a second time; but the + unhappy wight could scarcely hold his horn, much less blow it. + Quartermaster Hays snatched the instrument from the flustered man's hands, + and as the call rang out loud and clear the troops rushed to the attack. + </p> + <p> + Taken wholly by surprise, the Indian village went to pieces in a + twinkling. A few of the Sioux mounted and rode forward to repel the + assault, but they turned back in half a minute, while those that were not + mounted scattered for the foothills hard by. The cavalry swept through the + village like a prairie fire, and pursued the flying Indians until darkness + put an end to the chase. + </p> + <p> + By the next morning the bugler had grown calm enough to sound "Boots and + Saddles!" and General Carr split his force into companies, as it was + discovered that the Indians had divided. Each company was to follow a + separate trail. + </p> + <p> + Will made one of a band of two hundred, and for two days they dogged the + red man's footsteps. At sunrise of the third day the trail ran into + another, showing that the Sioux had reunited their forces. This was + serious for the little company of regulars, but they went ahead, eager for + a meeting with the savages. + </p> + <p> + They had not long to wait. The sun was scarcely an hour high when some six + hundred Sioux were espied riding in close ranks along the bank of the + Platte. The Indians discovered the troops at the same moment, and at once + gave battle. The Indian is not a coward, though he frequently declines + combat if the odds are not largely in his favor. + </p> + <p> + In this engagement the Sioux outnumbered the soldiers three to one, and + the latter fell back slowly until they reached a ravine. Here they + tethered their horses and waited the course of Indian events, which, as + usual, came in circular form. The Sioux surrounded the regulars, and + finding them comparatively few in number, made a gallant charge. + </p> + <p> + But bows and arrows are futile against powder and ball, and the warriors + reeled back from a scathing fire, leaving a score of their number dead. + </p> + <p> + Another charge, another repulse; and then a council of war. This lasted an + hour, and evidently evolved a brilliant stratagem, for the Sioux divided + into two bands, and while one made a show of withdrawing, the other + circled around and around the position where the soldiers lay. + </p> + <p> + At a point in this revolving belt of redskins rode a well-mounted, + handsome warrior, plainly a chief. It had been Will's experience that to + lay low a chief was half the battle when fighting Indians, but this + particular mogul kept just out of rifle-shot. There are, however, as many + ways of killing an Indian as of killing a cat; so Will crawled on hands + and knees along the ravine to a point which he thought would be within + range of the chief when next he swung around the circle. + </p> + <p> + The calculation was close enough, and when the warrior came loping along, + slacking his pace to cross the ravine, Will rose and fired. + </p> + <p> + It was a good four hundred yards, but the warrior pitched from his seat, + and his pony ran down the ravine into the ranks of the soldiers, who were + so elated over the success of the shot that they voted the animal to Will + as a trophy. + </p> + <p> + The fallen warrior was Tall Bull, one of the ablest chiefs the Sioux ever + had. His death so disheartened his braves that they at once retreated. + </p> + <p> + A union of General Carr's scattered forces followed, and a few days later + an engagement took place in which three hundred warriors and a large + number of ponies were captured. Some white captives were released, and + several hundred squaws made prisoners. + </p> + <p> + Among these latter was the amiable widow of Tall Bull, who, far from + cherishing animosity against Will as the slayer of her spouse, took pride + in the fact that he had fallen under the fire of so great a warrior as + "Pahaska," Long-haired Chief, by which name our scout was known among the + Indians. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIX. — ARMY LIFE AT FORT M'PHERSON. + </h2> + <p> + IN the spring of 1870 Will proceeded to put into effect the determination + of the previous year—to establish a home in the lovely country of + the westerly Platte. After preparing quarters wherein his family might be + comfortable, he obtained a leave of absence and departed for St. Louis to + fetch his wife and daughter Arta, now a beautiful child of three. + </p> + <p> + The fame of "Buffalo Bill" had extended far beyond the plains, and during + his month's sojourn in St. Louis he was the object of a great deal of + attention. When the family prepared to depart for the frontier home, my + sister-in-law wrote to me to ask if I did not wish to accompany them. I + should have been delighted to accept the invitation, but at that especial + time there were strong attractions for me in my childhood's home; besides, + I felt that sister May, who had not enjoyed the pleasure of the St. Louis + trip, was entitled to the Western jaunt. + </p> + <p> + So May made a visit to McPherson, and a delightful time she had, though + she was at first inclined to quarrel with the severe discipline of army + life. Will ranked with the officers, and as a result May's social + companions were limited to the two daughters of General Augur, who were + also on a visit to the fort. To compensate for the shortage of feminine + society, however, there were a number of young unmarried officers. + </p> + <p> + Every day had its curious or enlivening incident, and May's letters to me + were filled with accounts of the gayety of life at an army post. After + several months I was invited to join her. She was enthusiastic over a + proposed buffalo-hunt, as she desired to take part in one before her + return to Leavenworth, and wished me to enjoy the sport with her. + </p> + <p> + In accepting the invitation I fixed a certain day for my arrival at + McPherson, but I was delayed in my journey, and did not reach the fort + until three days after the date set. May was much disturbed. She had + allowed me three days for recuperation from the journey, and I had arrived + on the eve of the buffalo-hunt. Naturally, I was too fatigued to rave over + buffaloes, and I objected to joining the hunt; and I was encouraged in my + objecting by the discovery that my brother was away on a scouting trip. + </p> + <p> + "You don't think of going buffalo-hunting without Will, do you?" I asked + May. + </p> + <p> + "Why," said she, "we can never tell when he will be in camp and when away; + he's off scouting nearly all the time. And we can't get up a buffalo-hunt + on five minutes' notice; we must plan ahead. Our party is all ready to + start, and there's a reporter here from an Omaha paper to write it up. We + can't put it off, and you must go." + </p> + <p> + After that, of course, there was nothing more to be said, and when the + hunting-party set forth I made one of it. + </p> + <p> + A gay party it was. For men, there were a number of officers, and the + newspaper man, Dr. Frank Powell, now of La Crosser for women, the wives of + two of the officers, the daughters of General Augur, May, and myself. + There was sunshine, laughter, and incessant chatter, and when one is young + and fond of horseback-riding, and a handsome young officer rides by one's + side, physical fatigue is apt to vanish for a time. + </p> + <p> + The fort was soon nothing but a break in the sky-line, and with a sense + almost of awe I looked for the first time upon the great American Desert. + To our left, as we rode eastward, ran the swift and shallow Platte, dotted + with green-garbed islands. This river Washington Irving called "the most + magnificent and the most useless of streams" "The islands," he wrote, + "have the appearance of a labyrinth of groves floating on the waters. + Their extraordinary position gives an air of youth and loveliness to the + whole scene. If to this be added the undulations of the river, the waving + of the verdure, the alternations of light and shade, and the purity of the + atmosphere, some idea may be formed of the pleasing sensations which the + traveler experiences on beholding a scene that seems to have started fresh + from the hands of the Creator." + </p> + <p> + In sharp contrast was the sandy plain over which we rode. On this grew the + short, stubby buffalo-grass, the dust-colored sage-brush, and cactus in + rank profusion. Over to the right, perhaps a mile away, a long range of + foothills ran down to the horizon, with here and there the great canons, + through which entrance was effected to the upland country, each canon + bearing a historical or legendary name. + </p> + <p> + To my eyes the picture was as beautiful as it was novel. As far as one + could see there was no sign of human habitation. It was one vast, + untenanted waste, with the touch of infinity the ocean wears. + </p> + <p> + As we began to get into the foothills, one of our equestriennes narrowly + escaped a fall. Her horse dropped a foot into a prairie-dog's hole, and + came to an abrupt stop. The foot was extricated, and I was instructed in + the dangers that beset the prairie voyager in these blind traps of the + plain. + </p> + <p> + The trail had been ascending at a gentle grade, and we had a slight change + of scene—desert hill instead of desert plain. The sand-hills rose in + tiers before us, and I was informed that they were formed ages ago by the + action of water. What was hard, dry ground to our horses' hoofs was once + the bottom of the sea. + </p> + <p> + I was much interested in the geology of my environments; much more so than + I should have been had I been told that those strange, weird hills were + the haunt of the red man, who was on the war-path, and looking constantly + for scalps. But these unpleasant facts were not touched upon by the + officers, and in blissful ignorance we pursued the tenor of our way. + </p> + <p> + We were obliged to ride a great distance before we sighted any game, and + after twenty miles had been gone over, my temporarily forgotten weariness + began to reassert itself. Dr. Powell proposed that the ladies should do + the shooting, but my interest in the hunt had waned. It had been several + years since I had ridden a horse, and after the first few miles I was not + in a suitable frame of mind or body to enjoy the most exciting hunt. + </p> + <p> + A herd of buffaloes finally came into view, and the party was instantly + alive. One old bull was a little apart from the others of the herd, and + was singled out for the first attack. As we drew within range, a rifle was + given to May, with explicit directions as to its handling. The buffalo has + but one vulnerable spot, and it is next to impossible for a novice to make + a fatal shot. May fired, and perhaps her shot might be called a good one, + for the animal was struck: but it was only wounded and infuriated, and + dropping its shaggy head, it rushed toward us. The officers fusilladed the + mountain of flesh, succeeding only in rousing it to added fury. Another + rifle was handed to May, and Dr. Powell directed its aim; but terrified by + the near presence of the charging bull, May discharged it at random. + </p> + <p> + Although this is strictly a narrative of facts, exercising the privilege + of the novelist, we leave our present heroine in her perilous position, + and return, for a space, to the fort. + </p> + <p> + Will returned from his scouting trip shortly after the departure of the + hunting party, and his first query was: + </p> + <p> + "Is Nellie here?" + </p> + <p> + "Come and gone," replied his wife; and she informed him of the manner in + which I had been carried off on the long-talked-of buffalo-hunt. Whereupon + Will gave way to one of his rare fits of passion. The scouting trip had + been long and arduous, he was tired and hungry, but also keenly anxious + for our safety. He knew what we were ignorant of—that should we come + clear of the not insignificant dangers attendant upon a buffalo-hunt, + there remained the possibility of capture by Indians. + </p> + <p> + "I must go after them at once," said he; and off he went, without thought + of rest or food. He did take time, however, to visit the officers' + quarters and pour a vial of wrath upon the bewildered head of the inferior + who occupied the place of the absent commandant. + </p> + <p> + "Didn't you know," cried Will, "that my continued absence meant danger in + the air? Fine idea, to let a party of ladies go beyond the fort on such a + foolhardy expedition before I had assured you it was safe to do so! + Understand, if any harm comes to my sisters, I'll hold the government + responsible!" + </p> + <p> + With which tremendous threat he mounted the swiftest horse in camp and + rode away before the astonished officer had recovered from his surprise. + </p> + <p> + He was able to track us over the sand-hills, and reached us, in accepted + hero fashion, in the very nick of time. The maddened bull buffalo was + charging on May, unchecked by a peppering fire from the guns of the + officers. All hands were so absorbed by the intense excitement of the + moment that the sound of approaching hoof-beats was unnoted. But I heard, + from behind us, the crack of a rifle, and saw the buffalo fall dead almost + at our feet. + </p> + <p> + The ill-humor of our rescuer dampened the ardor of the welcome we gave + him. The long ride on an empty stomach had not smoothed a ripple of his + ruffled temper, and we were all properly lectured. We were ordered back to + the fort at once, and the command was of such a nature that no one thought + of disputing it. The only question was, whether we could make the fort + before being cut off by Indians. There was no time to be wasted, even in + cutting meat from the tongue of the fallen buffalo. Will showed us the + shortest cut for home, and himself zigzagged ahead of us, on the watch for + a danger signal. + </p> + <p> + For my part, I was so worn out that I would as soon be captured by + Indians, if they would agree to provide me with a wigwam wherein I might + lie down and rest; but no Indians appeared. Five miles from the fort was + the ranch of a wealthy bachelor, and at May's request a halt was here + called. It was thought that the owner of the ranch might take pity upon my + deplorable condition, and provide some sort of vehicle to convey the + ladies the remainder of the journey. + </p> + <p> + We were heartily welcomed, and our bachelor host made us extremely + comfortable in his cozy apartments, while he ordered supper for the party. + Will considered that we were within the safety zone, so he continued on to + the fort to obtain his postponed rest; and after supper the ladies rode to + the fort in a carriage. + </p> + <p> + The next day's Omaha paper contained an account of the hunt from Dr. + Powell's graphic pen, and in it May Cody received all the glory of the + shot that laid the buffalo low. Newspaper men are usually ready to + sacrifice exact facts to an innate sense of the picturesque. + </p> + <p> + At this time the fort was somewhat concerned over numerous petty crimes + among the civilians, and General Emory, now chief in authority at the + post, requested the county commissioners to appoint Will a justice of the + peace. This was done, much to the dismay of the new Justice, who, as he + phrased it, "knew no more of law than a mule knows of singing." But he was + compelled to bear the blushing honors thrust upon him, and his sign was + posted In a conspicuous place: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ————————————— | WILLIAM F. CODY, | + | JUSTICE OF THE PEACE. | + —————————————*/ + + Almost the first thing he was called upon to do in his new + capacity was to perform a wedding ceremony. Cold sweat stood upon + his brow as he implored our aid in this desperate emergency. + The big law book with which he had been equipped at his + installation was ransacked in vain for the needed information. + The Bible was examined more diligently, perhaps, than it had + ever been by him before, but the Good Book was as unresponsive + as the legal tome. "Remember your own wedding ceremony," + was our advice "Follow that as nearly as possible." + But he shook his head despondently The cool-headed scout + and Indian fighter was dismayed, and the dignity of the law + trembled in the balance. + + To put an edge on the crisis, nearly the entire fort attended + the wedding. All is well, said we, as we watched the justice take + his place before the bridal pair with not a sign of trepidation. + At the outset his conducting of the ceremony was irreproachable, + and we were secretly congratulating ourselves upon his success, + when our ears were startled by the announcement: + + "Whom God and Buffalo Bill hath joined together, let no man + put asunder." + + So far as I am informed, no man has attempted it. + + Before May returned home, Will became the very proud father of + a son. + He had now three children, a second daughter, Orra, having + been born two + years before. The first boy of the family was the object of + the undivided + interest of the post for a time, and names by the dozen were + suggested. + Major North offered Kit Carson as an appropriate name for the + son of a great + scout and buffalo-hunter, and this was finally settled on. + + My first touch of real anxiety came with an order to Will + to report at headquarters for assignment to duty. + The country was alive with Indians, the officer in command + informed him, and this intelligence filled me with dread. + My sister-in-law had grown accustomed to her husband's excursions + into danger-land, and accepted such sallies as incidents of + his position. Later, I, too, learned this stoical philosophy, + but at first my anxiety was so keen that Will laughed at me. + + "Don't worry," said he; "the Indians won't visit the fort to-night. + There's no danger of them scalping you." + + "But," said I, "it is for you, not for myself, that I am afraid. + It is horrible to think of you going out alone among those + foothills, + which swarm with Indians." + + The fort was on the prairie, but the distant foothills + stretched away + interminably, and these furnished favorite lurking-places for + the redskins. + Will drew me to a window, and pointed out the third tier of hills, + some twelve or fifteen miles away. + + "I would advise you," said he, "to go to bed and sleep, + but if you insist on keeping awake and worrying, I will kindle + a blaze on top of that hill at midnight. Watch closely. + I can send up only one flash, for there will be Indian eyes + unclosed as well as yours." + + One may imagine with what a beating heart I stared into the + darkness + when the hour of twelve drew on. The night was a veil that hid + a thousand terrors, but a gauzy veil, to my excited fancy, + behind which passed a host of shadowy horsemen with uptossing + lances. + How could a man ride alone into such a gloomy, terror-haunted + domain? + The knights of old, who sallied forth in search of dismal ogres + and noxious dragons, were not of stouter heart, and they breasted + only fancied perils. + + Twelve o'clock! The night had a thousand eyes, but they did + not pierce + the darkness of the foothills. + + Ah! A thin ribbon of light curled upward for an instant, then + vanished. + Will was safe thus far. But there were many hours—and the + darkest—before the dawn, and I carried to my bed the + larger share of my forebodings. + + Next day the scout came home to report the exact location + of the hostile-Sioux. The troops, ready for instant action, + were hurled against them, and the Indians were thoroughly thrashed. + A large number of chiefs were captured, among them "Red Shirt," + an interesting redskin, who afterward traveled with the "Wild + West." + + Captive chiefs were always esteemed of great interest by the ladies + of the fort. To me the braves taken in the last raid were + remarkable + mainly for economy of apparel and sulkiness of demeanor. + + This same fall the fort was visited by a gentleman introduced as + Colonel Judson, though the public knows him better as "Ned + Buntline," + the story-writer. He desired to accompany the scouts on a certain + proposed trip, and Major Brown informed Will that the ulterior + motive + of the author was to project Buffalo Bill into a novel as hero. + + "Now, I'd look pretty in a novel, wouldn't I?" said Will, + sarcastically and blushingly. + + "Yes, I think you would," returned the major, eying the other's + splendid proportions critically. + + Whereupon the scout blushed again, and doffed his sombrero in + acknowledgment + of the compliment, for— + + "'Tis pleasant, sure, to see one's name in print; + A book's a book, although there's nothing in't." +</pre> + <p> + A retired naval officer, Ned Buntline wore a black undress military suit. + His face was bronzed and rugged, determined yet kindly; he walked with a + slight limp, and carried a cane. He shook Will's hand cordially when they + were introduced, and expressed great pleasure in the meeting. This was the + genesis of a friendship destined to work great changes in Buffalo Bill's + career. + </p> + <p> + During the scouting expedition that followed, the party chanced upon an + enormous bone, which the surgeon pronounced the femur of a human body. + Will understood the Indian tongues well enough to be in part possession of + their traditions, and he related the Sioux legend of the flood. + </p> + <p> + It was taught by the wise men of this tribe that the earth was originally + peopled by giants, who were fully three times the size of modern men. They + were so swift and powerful that they could run alongside a buffalo, take + the animal under one arm, and tear off a leg, and eat it as they ran. So + vainglorious were they because of their own size and strength that they + denied the existence of a Creator. When it lightened, they proclaimed + their superiority to the lightning; when it thundered, they laughed. + </p> + <p> + This displeased the Great Spirit, and to rebuke their arrogance he sent a + great rain upon the earth. The valleys filled with water, and the giants + retreated to the hills. The water crept up the hills, and the giants + sought safety on the highest mountains. Still the rain continued, the + waters rose, and the giants, having no other refuge, were drowned. + </p> + <p> + The Great Spirit profited by his former mistake. When the waters subsided, + he made a new race of men, but he made them smaller and less strong. + </p> + <p> + This tradition has been handed down from Sioux father to Sioux son since + earliest ages. It shows, at least, as the legends of all races do, that + the story of the Deluge is history common to all the world. + </p> + <p> + Another interesting Indian tradition bears evidence of a later origin. The + Great Spirit, they say, once formed a man of clay, and he was placed in + the furnace to bake, but he was subjected to the heat too long a time, and + came out burnt. Of him came the negro race. At another trial the Great + Spirit feared the second clay man might also burn, and he was not left in + the furnace long enough. Of him came the paleface man. The Great Spirit + was now in a position to do perfect work, and the third clay man was left + in the furnace neither too long nor too short a time; he emerged a + masterpiece, the <i>ne plus ultra</i> of creation—the noble red man. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XX. — PA-HAS-KA, THE LONG-HAIRED CHIEF. + </h2> + <p> + ALTHOUGH the glory of killing the buffalo on our hunt was accredited to + sister May, to me the episode proved of much more moment. In the spring of + 1871 I was married to Mr. Jester, the bachelor ranchman at whose place we + had tarried on our hurried return to the fort. His house had a rough + exterior, but was substantial and commodious, and before I entered it, a + bride, it was refitted in a style almost luxurious. I returned to + Leavenworth to prepare for the wedding, which took place at the home of an + old friend, Thomas Plowman, his daughter Emma having been my chum in + girlhood. + </p> + <p> + In our home near McPherson we were five miles "in the country." Nature in + primitive wildness encompassed us, but life's song never ran into a + monotone. The prairie is never dull when one watches it from day to day + for signs of Indians. Yet we were not especially concerned, as we were + near enough to the fort to reach it on short notice, and besides our home + there was another house where the ranchmen lived. With these I had little + to do. My especial factotum was a negro boy, whose chief duty was to + saddle my horse and bring it to the door, attend me upon my rides, and + minister to my comfort generally. Poor little chap! He was one of the + first of the Indians' victims. + </p> + <p> + Early one morning John, as he was called, was sent out alone to look after + the cattle. During breakfast the clatter of hoofs was heard, and Will rode + up to inform us that the Indians were on the war-path and massed in force + just beyond our ranch. Back of Will were the troops, and we were advised + to ride at once to the fort. Hastily packing a few valuables, we took + refuge at McPherson, and remained there until the troops returned with the + news that all danger was over. + </p> + <p> + Upon our return to the ranch we found that the cattle had been driven + away, and poor little John was picked up dead on the skirts of the + foothills. The redskins had apparently started to scalp him, but had + desisted. Perhaps they thought his wool would not make a desirable trophy, + perhaps they were frightened away. At all events, the poor child's scalp + was left to him, though the mark of the knife was plain. + </p> + <p> + Shortly after this episode, some capitalists from the East visited my + husband. One of them, Mr. Bent, owned a large share in the cattle-ranches. + He desired to visit this ranch, and the whole party planned a hunt at the + same time. As there were no banking facilities on the frontier, drafts or + bills of exchange would have been of no use; so the money designed for + Western investment had been brought along in cash. To carry this on the + proposed trip was too great a risk, and I was asked banteringly to act as + banker. I consented readily, but imagine my perturbation when twenty-five + thousand dollars in bank-notes were counted out and left in my care. I had + never had the responsibility of so large a sum of money before, and + compared to me the man with the elephant on his hands had a tranquil time + of it. After considering various methods for secreting the money, I + decided for the hair mattress on my bed. This I ripped open, inserted the + envelope containing the bank-notes, and sewed up the slit. No one was + aware of my trust, and I regarded it safe. + </p> + <p> + A few mornings later I ordered my pony and rode away to visit my nearest + neighbor, a Mrs. Erickson, purposing later to ride to the fort and spend + the day with Lou, my sister-in-law. When I reached Mrs. Erickson's house, + that good woman came out in great excitement to greet me. + </p> + <p> + "You must come right in, Mrs. Jester!" said she. "The foothills are filled + with Indians on the warpath." + </p> + <p> + She handed me her field-glasses, and directed my gaze to the trail below + our ranch, over which buffaloes, cattle, and Indians passed down to the + Platte. I could plainly see the warriors tramping along Indian-file, their + head-feathers waving in the breeze and their blankets flapping about them + as they walked. Instantly the thought of the twenty-five thousand dollars + intrusted to my care flashed across my mind. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, Mrs. Erickson," I exclaimed, "I must return to the ranch + immediately!" + </p> + <p> + "You must not do so, Mrs. Jester; it's as much as your life is worth to + attempt it," said she. + </p> + <p> + But I thought only of the money, and notwithstanding warning and entreaty, + mounted my horse and flew back on the homeward path, not even daring to + look once toward the foothills. When I reached the house, I called to the + overseer: + </p> + <p> + "The Indians are on the war-path, and the foothills are full of them! Have + two or three men ready to escort me to the fort by the time I have my + valise packed." + </p> + <p> + "Why, Mrs. Jester," was the reply, "there are no Indians in sight." + </p> + <p> + "But there are," said I. "I saw them as plainly as I see you, and the + Ericksons saw them, too." + </p> + <p> + "You have been the victim of a mirage," said the overseer. "Look! there + are no Indians now in view." + </p> + <p> + I scanned the foothills closely, but there was no sign of a warrior. With + my field-glasses I searched the entire rim of the horizon; it was + tranquillity itself. I experienced a great relief, nevertheless. My nerves + were so shaken that I could not remain at home; so I packed a valise, + taking along the package of bank-notes, and visited another neighbor, a + Mrs. McDonald, a dear friend of many years' standing, who lived nearer the + fort. + </p> + <p> + This excellent woman was an old resident of the frontier. After she had + heard my story, she related some of her own Indian experiences. When she + first settled in her present home, there was no fort to which she could + flee from Indian molestation, and she was often compelled to rely upon her + wits to extricate her from dangerous situations. The story that especially + impressed me was the following: + </p> + <p> + "One evening when I was alone," said Mrs. McDonald, "I became conscious + that eyes were peering at me from the darkness outside my window. Flight + was impossible, and my husband would not likely reach home for an hour or + more. What should I do? A happy thought came to me. You know, perhaps, + that Indians, for some reason, have a strange fear of a drunken woman, and + will not molest one. I took from a closet a bottle filled with a + dark-colored liquid, poured out a glassful and drank it. In a few minutes + I repeated the dose, and then seemingly it began to take effect. I would + try to walk across the room, staggering and nearly falling. I became + uproariously 'happy.' I flung my arms above my head, lurched from side to + side, sang a maudlin song, and laughed loudly and foolishly. The stratagem + succeeded. One by one the shadowy faces at the window disappeared, and by + the time my husband and the men returned there was not an Indian in the + neighborhood. I became sober immediately. Molasses and water is not a very + intoxicating beverage." + </p> + <p> + I plucked up courage to return to the ranch that evening, and shortly + afterward the hunting-party rode up. When I related the story of my + fright, Mr. Bent complimented me upon what he was pleased to call my + courage. + </p> + <p> + "You are your brother's own sister," said he. "We'll make you banker + again." + </p> + <p> + "Thank you, but I do not believe you will," said I. "I have had all the + experience I wish for in the banking business in this Indian country." + </p> + <p> + Upon another occasion Indians were approaching the fort from the farther + side, but as we were not regarded as in danger, no warning was sent to us. + The troops sallied out after the redskins, and the cunning warriors + described a circle. To hide their trail they set fire to the prairie, and + the hills about us were soon ablaze. The flames spread swiftly, and the + smoke rolled upon us in suffocating volume. We retreated to the river, and + managed to exist by dashing water upon our faces. Here we were found by + soldiers sent from the fort to warn settlers of their peril, and at their + suggestion we returned to the ranch, saddled horses, and rode through the + dense smoke five miles to the fort. It was the most unpleasant ride of my + life. + </p> + <p> + In the preceding chapter mention was made of the finding of a remarkable + bone. It became famous, and in the summer of 1871 Professor Marsh, of Yale + College, brought out a party of students to search for fossils. They found + a number, but were not rewarded by anything the most credulous could + torture into a human relic. + </p> + <p> + This summer also witnessed an Indian campaign somewhat out of the common + in several of its details. More than one volume would be required to + record all the adventures Scout Cody had with the Children of the Plains, + most of which had so many points in common that it is necessary to touch + upon only those containing incidents out of the ordinary. + </p> + <p> + An expedition, under command of General Duncan, was fitted out for the + Republican River country. Duncan was a jolly officer and a born fighter. + His brother officers had a story that once on a time he had been shot in + the head by a cannon-ball, and that while he was not hurt a particle, the + ball glanced off and killed one of the toughest mules in the army. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps it was because the Pawnees spoke so little English, and spoke that + little so badly, that General Duncan insisted upon their repeating the + English call, which would be something like this: "Post Number One. Nine + o'clock. All's well." The Pawnee effort to obey was so ludicrous, and + provocative of such profanity (which they could express passing well), + that the order was countermanded. + </p> + <p> + One afternoon Major North and Will rode ahead of the command to select a + site for the night's camp. They ran into a band of some fifty Indians, and + were obliged to take the back track as fast as their horses could travel. + Will's whip was shot from his hand and a hole put through his hat. As they + sighted the advance-guard of the command, Major North rode around in a + circle—a signal to the Pawnees that hostiles were near. Instantly + the Pawnees broke ranks and dashed pell-mell to the relief of their white + chief. The hostiles now took a turn at retreating, and kept it up for + several miles. + </p> + <p> + The troops took up the trail on the following day, and a stern chase set + in. In passing through a deserted camp the troops found an aged squaw, who + had been left to die. The soldiers built a lodge for her, and she was + provided with sufficient rations to last her until she reached the Indian + heaven, the happy hunting-grounds. She was in no haste, however, to get to + her destination, and on their return the troops took her to the fort with + them. Later she was sent to the Spotted Tail agency. + </p> + <p> + In September of 1871 General Sheridan and a party of friends arrived at + the post for a grand hunt. Between him and Will existed a warm friendship, + which continued to the close of the general's life. Great preparations + were made for the hunt. General Emory, now commander of the fort, sent a + troop of cavalry to meet the distinguished visitors at the station and + escort them to the fort. Besides General Sheridan, there were in the party + Leonard and Lawrence Jerome, Carroll Livingstone, James Gordon Bennett, J. + G. Heckscher, General Fitzhugh, Schuyler Crosby, Dr. Asch, Mr. McCarthy, + and other well-known men. When they reached the post they found the + regiment drawn up on dress parade; the band struck up a martial air, the + cavalry were reviewed by General Sheridan, and the formalities of the + occasion were regarded as over. + </p> + <p> + It was Sheridan's request that Will should act as guide and scout for the + hunting-party. One hundred troopers under Major Brown were detailed as + escort, and the commissary department fairly bulged. Several ambulances + were also taken along, for the comfort of those who might weary of the + saddle. + </p> + <p> + Game was abundant, and rare sport was had. Buffalo, elk, and deer were + everywhere, and to those of the party who were new to Western life the + prairie-dog villages were objects of much interest. These villages are + often of great extent. They are made up of countless burrows, and so + honeycombed is the country infested by the little animals that travel + after nightfall is perilous for horses. The dirt is heaped around the + entrance to the burrows a foot high, and here the prairie-dogs, who are + sociability itself, sit on their hind legs and gossip with one another. + Owls and rattlesnakes share the underground homes with the rightful + owners, and all get along together famously. + </p> + <p> + When the hunting-party returned to McPherson its members voted Will a + veritable Nimrod—a mighty hunter, and he was abundantly thanked for + his masterly guidance of the expedition. + </p> + <p> + That winter a still more distinguished party visited the post—the + Grand Duke Alexis and his friends. As many of my readers will recall, the + nobleman's visit aroused much enthusiasm in this country. The East had + wined and dined him to satiety, but wining and dining are common to all + nations, and the Grand Duke desired to see the wild life of America—the + Indian in his tepee and the prairie monarch in his domain, as well as the + hardy frontiersman, who feared neither savage warrior nor savage beast. + </p> + <p> + The Grand Duke had hunted big game in Eastern lands, and he was a capital + shot. General Sheridan engineered this expedition also, and, as on the + previous occasion, he relied upon Will to make it a success. The latter + received word to select a good camp on Red Willow Creek, where game was + plentiful, and to make all needed arrangements for the comfort and + entertainment of the noble party. A special feature suggested by Sheridan + for the amusement and instruction of the continental guests was an Indian + war-dance and Indian buffalo-hunt. To procure this entertainment it was + necessary to visit Spotted Tail, chief of the Sioux, and persuade him to + bring over a hundred warriors. At this time there was peace between the + Sioux and the government, and the dance idea was feasible; nevertheless, a + visit to the Sioux camp was not without its dangers. Spotted Tail himself + was seemingly sincere in a desire to observe the terms of the ostensible + peace between his people and the authorities, but many of the other + Indians would rather have had the scalp of the Long-haired Chief than a + century of peace. + </p> + <p> + Will so timed his trip as to reach the Indian camp at dusk, and hitching + his horse in the timber, he wrapped his blanket closely about him, so that + in the gathering darkness he might easily pass for a warrior. Thus + invested, he entered the village, and proceeded to the lodge of Spotted + Tail. + </p> + <p> + The conference with the distinguished redskin was made smooth sailing by + Agent Todd Randall, who happened to be on hand, and who acted as + interpreter. The old chief felt honored by the invitation extended to him, + and readily promised that in "ten sleeps" from that night he, with a + hundred warriors, would be present at the white man's camp, which was to + be pitched at the point where the government trail crossed Red Willow + Creek. + </p> + <p> + As Spotted Tail did not repose a great amount of confidence in his + high-spirited young men, he kept Will in his own lodge through the night. + In the morning the chief assembled the camp, and presenting his guest, + asked if his warriors knew him. + </p> + <p> + "It is Pa-has-ka, the Long-haired Chief!" they answered. + </p> + <p> + Whereupon Spotted Tail informed them that he had eaten bread with the + Long-haired Chief, thus establishing a bond of friendship, against + violating which the warriors were properly warned. + </p> + <p> + After that Will was entirely at his ease, although there were many sullen + faces about him. They had long yearned for his scalp, and it was slightly + irritating to find it so near and yet so far. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXI. — THE HUNT OF THE GRAND DUKE ALEXIS. + </h2> + <p> + A SPECIAL train brought the Grand Duke Alexis and party to North Platte on + January 12, 1872. Will was presented to the illustrious visitor by General + Sheridan, and was much interested in him. He was also pleased to note that + General Custer made one of the party. + </p> + <p> + Will had made all the arrangements, and had everything complete when the + train pulled in. As soon as the Grand Duke and party had breakfasted, they + filed out to get their horses or to find seats in the ambulances. All who + were mounted were arranged according to rank. Will had sent one of his + guides ahead, while he was to remain behind to see that nothing was left + undone. Just as they were to start, the conductor of the Grand Duke's + train came up to Will and said that Mr. Thompson had not received a horse. + "What Thompson?" asked Will. "Why, Mr. Frank Thompson, who has charge of + the Grand Duke's train." Will looked over the list of names sent him by + General Sheridan of those who would require saddle-horses, but failed to + find that of Mr. Thompson. However, he did not wish to have Mr. Thompson + or any one else left out. He had following him, as he always did, his + celebrated war-horse, "Buckskin Joe." This horse was not a very + prepossessing "insect." He was buckskin in color, and rather a + sorry-looking animal, but he was known all over the frontier as the + greatest long-distance and best buffalo-horse living. Will had never + allowed any one but himself to ride this horse, but as he had no other + there at the time, he got a saddle and bridle, had it put on old Buckskin + Joe, and told Mr. Thompson he could ride him until he got where he could + get him another. This horse looked so different from the beautiful animals + the rest of the party were supplied with that Mr. Thompson thought it + rather discourteous to mount him in such fashion. However, he got on, and + Will told him to follow up, as he wanted to go ahead to where the general + was. As Mr. Thompson rode past the wagons and ambulances he noticed the + teamsters pointing at him, and thinking the men were guying him, rode up + to one of them, and said, "Am I not riding this horse all right?" Mr. + Thompson felt some personal pride in his horsemanship, as he was a + Pennsylvania fox-hunter. + </p> + <p> + The driver replied, "Yes, sir; you ride all right." + </p> + <p> + "Well, then," said Thompson, "it must be this horse you are guying." + </p> + <p> + The teamster replied: + </p> + <p> + "Guying that horse? Not in a thousand years!" + </p> + <p> + "Well, then, why am I such a conspicuous object?" + </p> + <p> + "Why, sir, are you not the king?" + </p> + <p> + "The king? Why did you take me for the king?" + </p> + <p> + "Because you are riding that horse. I guess you don't know what horse you + are riding, do you? Nobody gets to ride that horse but Buffalo Bill. So + when we all saw you riding him we supposed that of course you were the + king, for that horse, sir, is Buckskin Joe." + </p> + <p> + Thompson had heard General Sheridan telling about Buckskin Joe on the way + out, and how Buffalo Bill had once run him eighty miles when the Indians + were after him. Thompson told Will afterward that he grew about four feet + when he found out that he was riding that most celebrated horse of the + plains. He at once galloped ahead to overtake Will and thank him most + heartily for allowing him the honor of such a mount. Will told him that he + was going to let the Grand Duke kill his first buffalo on Buckskin Joe. + "Well," replied Thompson, "I want to ask one favor of you. Let me also + kill a buffalo on this horse." Will replied that nothing would afford him + greater pleasure. Buckskin Joe was covered with glory on this memorable + hunt, as both the Grand Duke of Russia and Mr. Frank Thompson, later + president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, killed their first buffalo mounted + on his back, and my brother ascribes to old Joe the acquisition of Mr. + Frank Thompson's name to his list of life friendships. This hunt was an + unqualified success, nothing occurring to mar one day of it. + </p> + <p> + Spotted Tail was true to his promise. He and his hundred braves were on + hand, shining in the full glory of war paint and feathers, and the + war-dance they performed was of extraordinary interest to the Grand Duke + and his friends. The outlandish contortions and grimaces of the Indians, + their leaps and crouchings, their fiendish yells and whoops, made up a + barbaric jangle of picture and sound not soon to be forgotten. To the + European visitors the scene was picturesque rather than ghastly, but it + was not a pleasing spectacle to the old Indian fighters looking on. There + were too many suggestions of bloodshed and massacre in the past, and of + bloodshed and massacre yet to come. + </p> + <p> + The Indian buffalo-hunt followed the Terpsichorean revelry, and all could + enjoy the skill and strength displayed by the red huntsmen. One warrior, + Two-Lance by name, performed a feat that no other living Indian could do; + he sent an arrow entirely through the body of a bull running at full + speed. + </p> + <p> + General Sheridan desired that the Grand Duke should carry away with him a + knowledge of every phase of life on the frontier, and when the visitors + were ready to drive to the railroad station, Will was requested to + illustrate, for their edification, the manner in which a stagecoach and + six were driven over the Rocky Mountains. + </p> + <p> + Will was delighted at the idea; so was Alexis at the outset, as he had + little idea of what was in store for him. The Grand Duke and the general + were seated in a closed carriage drawn by six horses, and were cautioned + to fasten their hats securely on their heads, and to hang onto the + carriage; then Will climbed to the driver's seat. + </p> + <p> + "Just imagine," said he to his passengers, "that fifty Indians are after + us." And off went the horses, with a jump that nearly spilled the + occupants of the coach into the road. + </p> + <p> + The three miles to the station were covered in just ten minutes, and the + Grand Duke had the ride of his life. The carriage tossed like a ship in a + gale, and no crew ever clung to a life-line with more desperate grip than + did Will's passengers to their seats. Had the fifty Indians of the + driver's fancy been whooping behind, he would not have plied the whip more + industriously, or been deafer to the groans and ejaculations of his fares. + When the carriage finally drew up with another teeth-shaking jerk, and + Will, sombrero in hand, opened the coach door to inquire of his Highness + how he had enjoyed the ride, the Grand Duke replied, with suspicious + enthusiasm: + </p> + <p> + "I would not have missed it for a large sum of money; but rather than + repeat it, I would return to Russia via Alaska, swim Bering Strait, and + finish my journey on one of your government mules." + </p> + <p> + This ride completed a trip which the noble party pronounced satisfactory + in every detail. The Grand Duke invited Will into his private car, where + he received the thanks of the company for his zeal and skill as pilot of a + hunting-party. He was also invited by Alexis to visit him at his palace + should he ever make a journey to Russia, and was, moreover, the recipient + of a number of valuable souvenirs. + </p> + <p> + At that time Will had very little thought of crossing the seas, but he did + decide to visit the East, whither he had more than once journeyed in + fancy. The Indians were comparatively quiet, and he readily obtained a + leave of absence. + </p> + <p> + The first stopping-place was Chicago, where he was entertained by General + Sheridan; thence he went to New York, to be kindly received by James + Gordon Bennett, Leonard and Lawrence Jerome, J. G. Heckscher, and others, + who, it will be recalled, were members of the hunting-party of the + preceding year. Ned Buntline also rendered his sojourn in the metropolis + pleasant in many ways. The author had carried out his intention of writing + a story of Western life with Scout Cody for the hero, and the result, + having been dramatized, was doing a flourishing business at one of the + great city's theaters. Will made one of a party that attended a + performance of the play one evening, and it was shortly whispered about + the house that "Buffalo Bill" himself was in the audience. It is customary + to call for the author of a play, and no doubt the author of this play had + been summoned before the footlights in due course, but on this night the + audience demanded the hero. To respond to the call was an ordeal for which + Will was unprepared; but there was no getting out of it, and he faced a + storm of applause. The manager of the performance, enterprising like all + of his profession, offered Will five hundred dollars a week to remain in + New York and play the part of "Buffalo Bill," but the offer was declined + with thanks. + </p> + <p> + During his stay in the city Will was made the guest of honor at sundry + luncheons and dinners given by his wealthy entertainers. He found + considerable trouble in keeping his appointments at first, but soon caught + on to the to him unreasonable hours at which New Yorkers dined, supped, + and breakfasted. The sense of his social obligations lay so heavily on his + mind that he resolved to balance accounts with a dinner at which he should + be the host. An inventory of cash on hand discovered the sum of fifty + dollars that might be devoted to playing Lucullus. Surely that would more + than pay for all that ten or a dozen men could eat at one meal. "However," + he said to himself, "I don't care if it takes the whole fifty. It's all in + a lifetime, anyway." + </p> + <p> + In all confidence he hied him to Delmonico's, at which famous restaurant + he had incurred a large share of his social obligations. He ordered the + finest dinner that could be prepared for a party of twelve, and set as + date the night preceding his departure for the West. The guests were + invited with genuine Western hospitality. His friends had been kind to + him, and he desired to show them that a man of the West could not only + appreciate such things, but return them. + </p> + <p> + The dinner was a thorough success. Not an invited guest was absent. The + conversation sparkled. Quip and repartee shot across the "festive board," + and all went merry as a dinner-bell. The host was satisfied, and proud + withal. The next morning he approached Delmonico's cashier with an air of + reckless prodigality. + </p> + <p> + "My bill, please," said he, and when he got it, he looked hard at it for + several minutes. It dawned on him gradually that his fifty dollars would + about pay for one plate. As he confided to us afterward, that little slip + of paper frightened him more than could the prospect of a combat + single-handed with a whole tribe of Sioux Indians. + </p> + <p> + Unsophisticated Will! There was, as he discovered, a wonderful difference + between a dinner at Delmonico's and a dinner on the plains. For the one, + the four corners of the earth are drawn upon to provide the bill of fare; + for the other, all one needs is an ounce of lead and a charge of powder, a + bundle of fagots and a match. + </p> + <p> + But it would never do to permit the restaurant cashier to suspect that the + royal entertainer of the night before was astonished at his bill; so he + requested that the account be forwarded to his hotel, and sought the open + air, where he might breathe more freely. + </p> + <p> + There was but one man in New York to whom he felt he could turn in his + dilemma, and that was Ned Buntline. One who could invent plots for + stories, and extricate his characters from all sorts of embarrassing + situations, should be able to invent a method of escape from so + comparatively simple a perplexity as a tavern bill. Will's confidence in + the wits of his friend was not unfounded. His first great financial panic + was safely weathered, but how it was done I do not know to this day. + </p> + <p> + One of Will's main reasons for visiting the East was to look up our only + living relatives on mother's side—Colonel Henry R. Guss and family, + of Westchester, Pennsylvania. Mother's sister, who had married this + gentleman, was not living, and we had never met him or any of his family. + Ned Buntline accompanied Will on his trip to Westchester. + </p> + <p> + To those who have passed through the experience of waiting in a strange + drawing-room for the coming of relatives one has never seen, and of whose + personality one has but the vaguest idea, there is the uncertainty of the + reception. Will it be frank and hearty, or reserved and doubtful? During + the few minutes succeeding the giving of his and Buntline's cards to the + servant, Will rather wished that the elegant reception-room might be + metamorphosed into the Western prairie. But presently the entrance to the + parlor was brightened by the loveliest girl he had ever looked upon, and + following her walked a courtly, elegant gentleman. These were Cousin + Lizzie and Uncle Henry. There was no doubt of the quality of the welcome; + it was most cordial, and Will enjoyed a delightful visit with his + relatives. For his cousin he conceived an instant affection. The love he + had held for his mother—the purest and strongest of his affections—became + the heritage of this beautiful girl. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXII. — THEATRICAL EXPERIENCES. + </h2> + <p> + THE Fifth Cavalry at Fort McPherson had been ordered to Arizona, and was + replaced by the Third Cavalry under command of General Reynolds. Upon + Will's return to McPherson he was at once obliged to take the field to + look for Indians that had raided the station during his absence and + carried off a considerable number of horses. Captain Meinhold and + Lieutenant Lawson commanded the company dispatched to recover the stolen + property. Will acted as guide, and had as an assistant T. B. Omohundro, + better known by his frontier name of "Texas Jack." + </p> + <p> + Will was not long in finding Indian tracks, and accompanied by six men, he + went forward to locate the redskin camp. They had proceeded but a short + distance when they sighted a small party of Indians, with horses grazing. + There were just thirteen Indians—an unlucky number—and Will + feared that they might discover the scouting party should it attempt to + return to the main command. He had but to question his companions to find + them ready to follow wheresoever he might lead, and they moved cautiously + toward the Indian camp. + </p> + <p> + At the proper moment the seven rushed upon the unsuspecting warriors, who + sprang for their horses and gave battle. But the rattle of the rifles + brought Captain Meinhold to the scene, and when the Indians saw the + reinforcements coming up they turned and fled. Six of their number were + dead on the plain, and nearly all of the stolen horses were recovered. One + soldier was killed, and this was one of the few occasions when Will + received a wound. + </p> + <p> + And now once more was the versatile plainsman called upon to enact a new + role. Returning from a long scout in the fall of 1872, he found that his + friends had made him a candidate for the Nebraska legislature from the + twenty-sixth district. He had never thought seriously of politics, and had + a well-defined doubt of his fitness as a law-maker. He made no campaign, + but was elected by a flattering majority. He was now privileged to prefix + the title "Honorable" to his name, and later this was supplanted by + "Colonel"—a title won in the Nebraska National Guard, and which he + claims is much better suited to his attainments. + </p> + <p> + Will, unlike his father, had no taste for politics or for political + honors. I recall one answer—so characteristic of the man—to + some friends who were urging him to enter the political arena. "No," said + he, "politics are by far too deep for me. I think I can hold my own in any + fair and no foul fight; but politics seem to me all foul and no fair. I + thank you, my friends, but I must decline to set out on this trail, which + I know has more cactus burs to the square inch than any I ever followed on + the plains." + </p> + <p> + Meantime Ned Buntline had been nurturing an ambitious project. He had been + much impressed by the fine appearance made by Will in the New York + theater, and was confident that a fortune awaited the scout if he would + consent to enter the theatrical profession. He conceived the idea of + writing a drama entitled "The Scout of the Plains," in which Will was to + assume the title role and shine as a star of the first magnitude. The bait + he dangled was that the play should be made up entirely of frontier + scenes, which would not only entertain the public, but instruct it. + </p> + <p> + The bait was nibbled at, and finally swallowed, but there was a proviso + that Wild Bill and Texas Jack must first be won over to act as "pards" in + the enterprise. He telegraphed his two friends that he needed their aid in + an important business matter, and went to Chicago to meet them. He was + well assured that if he had given them an inkling of the nature of the + "business matter," neither would put in an appearance; but he relied on + Ned Buntline's persuasive powers, which were well developed. + </p> + <p> + There had never been a time when Wild Bill and Texas Jack declined to + follow Will's lead, and on a certain morning the trio presented themselves + at the Palmer House in Chicago for an interview with Colonel Judson. + </p> + <p> + The author could scarcely restrain his delight. All three of the scouts + were men of fine physique and dashing appearance. It was very possible + that they had one or two things to learn about acting, but their + inexperience would be more than balanced by their reputation and personal + appearance, and the knowledge that they were enacting on the stage mock + scenes of what to them had oft been stern reality. + </p> + <p> + "Don't shoot, pards!" began Will, when the conference opened. "I guess, + Judson," he continued, after vainly trying to find a diplomatic + explanation, "you'd better tell them what we want." + </p> + <p> + Buntline opened with enthusiasm, but he did not kindle Wild Bill and Texas + Jack, who looked as if they might at any moment grab their sombreros and + stampede for the frontier. Will turned the scale. + </p> + <p> + "We're bound to make a fortune at it," said he. "Try it for a while, + anyway." + </p> + <p> + The upshot of a long discussion was that the scouts gave a reluctant + consent to a much-dreaded venture. Will made one stipulation. + </p> + <p> + "If the Indians get on the rampage," said he, "we must be allowed leave of + absence to go back and settle them." + </p> + <p> + "All right, boys," said Buntline; "that shall be put in the contract. And + if you're called back into the army to fight redskins, I'll go with you." + </p> + <p> + This reply established the author firmly in the esteem of the scouts. The + play was written in four hours (most playwrights allow themselves at least + a week), and the actor-scouts received their "parts." Buntline engaged a + company to support the stellar trio, and the play was widely advertised. + </p> + <p> + When the critical "first night" arrived, none of the scouts knew a line of + his part, but each had acquired all the varieties of stage fright known to + the profession. Buntline had hinted to them the possibility of something + of the sort, but they had not realized to what a condition of abject + dismay a man may be reduced by the sight of a few hundred inoffensive + people in front of a theater curtain. It would have done them no good to + have told them (as is the truth) that many experienced actors have touches + of stage fright, as well as the unfortunate novice. All three declared + that they would rather face a band of war-painted Indians, or undertake to + check a herd of stampeding buffaloes, than face the peaceful-looking + audience that was waiting to criticise their Thespian efforts. + </p> + <p> + Like almost all amateurs, they insisted on peering through the peep-holes + in the curtain, which augmented their nervousness, and if the persuasive + Colonel Judson had not been at their elbows, reminding them that he, also, + was to take part in the play, it is more than likely they would have + slipped quietly out at the stage door and bought railway passage to the + West. + </p> + <p> + Presently the curtain rolled up, and the audience applauded encouragingly + as three quaking six-footers, clad in buckskin, made their first bow + before the footlights. + </p> + <p> + I have said that Will did not know a line of his part, nor did he when the + time to make his opening speech arrived. It had been faithfully memorized, + but oozed from his mind like the courage from Bob Acres's finger-tips. + "Evidently," thought Buntline, who was on the stage with him, "he needs + time to recover." So he asked carelessly: + </p> + <p> + "What have you been about lately, Bill?" + </p> + <p> + This gave "The Scout of the Plains" an inspiration. In glancing over the + audience, he had recognized in one of the boxes a wealthy gentleman named + Milligan, whom he had once guided on a big hunt near McPherson. The + expedition had been written up by the Chicago papers, and the incidents of + it were well known. + </p> + <p> + "I've been out on a hunt with Milligan," replied Will, and the house came + down. Milligan was quite popular, but had been the butt of innumerable + jokes because of his alleged scare over the Indians. The applause and + laughter that greeted the sally stocked the scout with confidence, but + confidence is of no use if one has forgotten his part. It became manifest + to the playwright-actor that he would have to prepare another play in + place of the one he had expected to perform, and that he must prepare it + on the spot. + </p> + <p> + "Tell us about it, Bill," said he, and the prompter groaned. + </p> + <p> + One of the pleasures of frontier life consists in telling stories around + the camp-fire. A man who ranks as a good frontiersman is pretty sure to be + a good raconteur. Will was at ease immediately, and proceeded to relate + the story of Milligan's hunt in his own words. That it was amusing was + attested by the frequent rounds of applause. The prompter, with a + commendable desire to get things running smoothly, tried again and again + to give Will his cue, but even cues had been forgotten. + </p> + <p> + The dialogue of that performance must have been delightfully absurd. + Neither Texas Jack nor Wild Bill was able to utter a line of his part + during the entire evening. In the Indian scenes, however, they scored a + great success; here was work that did not need to be painfully memorized, + and the mock red men were slain at an astonishing rate. + </p> + <p> + Financially the play proved all that its projectors could ask for. + Artistically—well, the critics had a great deal of fun with the + hapless dramatist. The professionals in the company had played their parts + acceptably, and, oddly enough, the scouts were let down gently in the + criticisms; but the critics had no means of knowing that the stars of the + piece had provided their own dialogue, and poor Ned Buntline was plastered + with ridicule. It had got out that the play was written in four hours, and + in mentioning this fact, one paper wondered, with delicate sarcasm, what + the dramatist had been doing all that time. Buntline had played the part + of "Gale Durg," who met death in the second act, and a second paper, + commenting on this, suggested that it would have been a happy consummation + had the death occurred before the play was written. A third critic + pronounced it a drama that might be begun in the middle and played both + ways, or played backward, quite as well as the way in which it had been + written. + </p> + <p> + However, nothing succeeds like success. A number of managers offered to + take hold of the company, and others asked for entrance to the enterprise + as partners. Ned Buntline took his medicine from the critics with a + smiling face, for "let him laugh who wins." + </p> + <p> + The scouts soon got over their stage fright, in the course of time were + able to remember their parts, and did fully their share toward making the + play as much of a success artistically as it was financially. From Chicago + the company went to St. Louis, thence to Cincinnati and other large + cities, and everywhere drew large and appreciative houses. + </p> + <p> + When the season closed, in Boston, and Will had made his preparations to + return to Nebraska, an English gentleman named Medley, presented himself, + with a request that the scout act as guide on a big hunt and camping trip + through Western territory. The pay offered was liberal—a thousand + dollars a month and expenses—and Will accepted the offer. He spent + that summer in his old occupation, and the ensuing winter continued his + tour as a star of the drama. Wild Bill and Texas Jack consented again to + "support" him, but the second season proved too much for the patience of + the former, and he attempted to break through the contract he had signed + for the season. The manager, of course, refused to release him, but Wild + Bill conceived the notion that under certain circumstances the company + would be glad to get rid of him. + </p> + <p> + That night he put his plan into execution by discharging his blank + cartridges so near the legs of the dead Indians on the stage that the + startled "supers" came to life with more realistic yells than had + accompanied their deaths. This was a bit of "business" not called for in + the play-book, and while the audience was vastly entertained, the + management withheld its approval. + </p> + <p> + Will was delegated to expostulate with the reckless Indian-slayer; but + Wild Bill remarked calmly that he "hadn't hurt the fellows any," and he + continued to indulge in his innocent pastime. + </p> + <p> + Severe measures were next resorted to. He was informed that he must stop + shooting the Indians after they were dead, or leave the company. This was + what Wild Bill had hoped for, and when the curtain went up on the next + performance he was to be seen in the audience, enjoying the play for the + first time since he had been mixed up with it. + </p> + <p> + Will sympathized with his former "support," but he had a duty to perform, + and faithfully endeavored to persuade the recreant actor to return to the + company. Persuasion went for nothing, so the contract was annulled, and + Wild Bill returned to his beloved plains. + </p> + <p> + The next season Will removed his family to Rochester, and organized a + theatrical company of his own. There was too much artificiality about + stage life to suit one that had been accustomed to stern reality, and he + sought to do away with this as much as possible by introducing into his + own company a band of real Indians. The season of 1875-76 opened + brilliantly; the company played to crowded houses, and Will made a large + financial success. + </p> + <p> + One night in April, when the season was nearing its close, a telegram was + handed to him, just as he was about to step upon the stage. It was from + his wife, and summoned him to Rochester, to the bedside of his only son, + Kit Carson Cody. He consulted with his manager, and it was arranged that + after the first act he should be excused, that he might catch the train. + </p> + <p> + That first act was a miserable experience, though the audience did not + suspect that the actor's heart was almost stopped by fear and anxiety. He + caught his train, and the manager, John Burke, an actor of much + experience, played out the part. + </p> + <p> + It was, too, a miserable ride to Rochester, filled up with the gloomiest + of forebodings, heightened by memories of every incident in the precious + little life now in danger. + </p> + <p> + Kit was a handsome child, with striking features and curly hair. His + mother always dressed him in the finest clothes, and tempted by these + combined attractions, gypsies had carried him away the previous summer. + But Kit was the son of a scout, and his young eyes were sharp. He marked + the trail followed by his captors, and at the first opportunity gave them + the slip and got safely home, exclaiming as he toddled into the sobbing + family circle, "I tumed back adain, mama; don't cry." Despite his anxiety, + Will smiled at the recollection of the season when his little son had been + a regular visitor at the theater. The little fellow knew that the most + important feature of a dramatic performance, from a management's point of + view, is a large audience. He watched the seats fill in keen anxiety, and + the moment the curtain rose and his father appeared on the stage, he would + make a trumpet of his little hands, and shout from his box, "Good house, + papa!" The audience learned to expect and enjoy this bit of by-play + between father and son. His duty performed, Kit settled himself in his + seat, and gave himself up to undisturbed enjoyment of the play. + </p> + <p> + When Will reached Rochester he found his son still alive, though beyond + the reach of medical aid. He was burning up with fever, but still + conscious, and the little arms were joyfully lifted to clasp around his + father's neck. He lingered during the next day and into the night, but the + end came, and Will faced a great sorrow of his life. He had built fond + hopes for his son, and in a breath they had been swept away. His boyhood + musings over the prophecy of the fortune-teller had taken a turn when his + own boy was born. It might be Kit's destiny to become President of the + United States; it was not his own. Now, hope and fear had vanished + together, the fabric of the dream had dissolved, and left "not a rack + behind." + </p> + <p> + Little Kit was laid to rest in Mount Hope Cemetery, April 24, 1876. He is + not dead, but sleeping; not lost, but gone before. He has joined the + innumerable company of the white-souled throng in the regions of the + blest. He has gone to aid my mother in her mission unfulfilled—that + of turning heavenward the eyes of those that loved them so dearly here on + earth. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0022" id="link2HCH0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIII. — THE GOVERNMENT'S INDIAN POLICY. + </h2> + <p> + VERY glad was the sad-hearted father that the theatrical season was so + nearly over. The mummeries of stage life were more distasteful to him than + ever when he returned to his company with his crushing grief fresh upon + him. He played nightly to crowded houses, but it was plain that his heart + was not in his work. A letter from Colonel Mills, informing him that his + services were needed in the army, came as a welcome relief. He canceled + his few remaining dates, and disbanded his company with a substantial + remuneration. + </p> + <p> + This was the spring of the Centennial year. It has also been called the + "Custer year," for during that summer the gallant general and his heroic + Three Hundred fell in their unequal contest with Sitting Bull and his + warriors. + </p> + <p> + Sitting Bull was one of the ablest chiefs and fighters the Sioux nation + ever produced. He got his name from the fact that once when he had shot a + buffalo he sprang astride of it to skin it, and the wounded bull rose on + its haunches with the Indian on its back. He combined native Indian + cunning with the strategy and finesse needed to make a great general, and + his ability as a leader was conceded alike by red and white man. A + dangerous man at best, the wrongs his people had suffered roused all his + Indian cruelty, vindictiveness, hatred, and thirst for revenge. + </p> + <p> + The Sioux war of 1876 had its origin, like most of its predecessors and + successors, in an act of injustice on the part of the United States + government and a violation of treaty rights. + </p> + <p> + In 1868 a treaty had been made with the Sioux, by which the Black Hills + country was reserved for their exclusive use, no settling by white men to + be allowed. In 1874 gold was discovered, and the usual gold fever was + followed by a rush of whites into the Indian country. The Sioux naturally + resented the intrusion, and instead of attempting to placate them, to the + end that the treaty might be revised, the government sent General Custer + into the Black Hills with instructions to intimidate the Indians into + submission. But Custer was too wise, too familiar with Indian nature, to + adhere to his instructions to the letter. Under cover of a flag of truce a + council was arranged. At this gathering coffee, sugar, and bacon were + distributed among the Indians, and along with those commodities Custer + handed around some advice. This was to the effect that it would be to the + advantage of the Sioux if they permitted the miners to occupy the gold + country. The coffee, sugar, and bacon were accepted thankfully by Lo, but + no nation, tribe, or individual since the world began has ever welcomed + advice. It was thrown away on Lo. He received it with such an air of + indifference and in such a stoical silence that General Custer had no hope + his mission had succeeded. + </p> + <p> + In 1875 General Crook was sent into the Hills to make a farcical + demonstration of the government's desire to maintain good faith, but no + one was deceived, the Indians least of all. In August Custer City was laid + out, and in two weeks its population numbered six hundred. General Crook + drove out the inhabitants, and as he marched triumphantly out of one end + of the village the people marched in again at the other. + </p> + <p> + The result of this continued bad faith was inevitable; everywhere the + Sioux rose in arms. Strange as it might seem to one who has not followed + the government's remarkable Indian policy, it had dispensed firearms to + the Indians with a generous hand. The government's Indian policy, + condensed, was to stock the red man with rifles and cartridges, and then + provide him with a first-class reason for using them against the whites. + During May, June, and July of that year the Sioux had received 1,120 + Remington and Winchester rifles and 13,000 rounds of patent ammunition. + During that year they received several thousand stands of arms and more + than a million rounds of ammunition, and for three years before that they + had been regularly supplied with weapons. The Sioux uprising of 1876 was + expensive for the government. One does not have to go far to find the + explanation. + </p> + <p> + Will expected to join General Crook, but on reaching Chicago he found that + General Carr was still in command of the Fifth Cavalry, and had sent a + request that Will return to his old regiment. Carr was at Cheyenne; + thither Will hastened at once. He was met at the station by Captain + Charles King, the well-known author, and later serving as + brigadier-general at Manila, then adjutant of the regiment. As the pair + rode into camp the cry went up, "Here comes Buffalo Bill!" Three ringing + cheers expressed the delight of the troopers over his return to his old + command, and Will was equally delighted to meet his quondam companions. He + was appointed guide and chief of scouts, and the regiment proceeded to + Laramie. From there they were ordered into the Black Hills country, and + Colonel Merritt replaced General Carr. + </p> + <p> + The incidents of Custer's fight and fall are so well known that it is not + necessary to repeat them here. It was a better fight than the famous + charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava, for not one of the three hundred + came forth from the "jaws of death." As at Balaklava, "some one had + blundered," not once, but many times, and Custer's command discharged the + entire debt with their lifeblood. + </p> + <p> + When the news of the tragedy reached the main army, preparations were made + to move against the Indians in force. The Fifth Cavalry was instructed to + cut off, if possible, eight hundred Cheyenne warriors on their way to join + the Sioux, and Colonel Wesley Merritt, with five hundred men, hastened to + Hat, or War-Bonnet, Creek, purposing to reach the trail before the Indians + could do so. The creek was reached on the 17th of July, and at daylight + the following morning Will rode forth to ascertain whether the Cheyennes + had crossed the trail. They had not, but that very day the scout discerned + the warriors coming up from the south. + </p> + <p> + Colonel Merritt ordered his men to mount their horses, but to remain out + of sight, while he, with his adjutant, Charles King, accompanied Will on a + tour of observation. The Cheyennes came directly toward the troops, and + presently fifteen or twenty of them dashed off to the west along the trail + the army had followed the night before. Through his glass Colonel Merritt + remarked two soldiers on the trail, doubtless couriers with dispatches, + and these the Indians manifestly designed to cut off. Will suggested that + it would be well to wait until the warriors were on the point of charging + the couriers, when, if the colonel were willing, he would take a party of + picked men and cut off the hostile delegation from the main body, which + was just coming over the divide. + </p> + <p> + The colonel acquiesced, and Will, galloping back to camp, returned with + fifteen men. The couriers were some four hundred yards away, and their + Indian pursuers two hundred behind them. Colonel Merritt gave the word to + charge, and Will and his men skurried toward the redskins. + </p> + <p> + In the skirmish that ensued three Indians were killed. The rest started + for the main band of warriors, who had halted to watch the fight, but they + were so hotly pursued by the soldiers that they turned at a point half a + mile distant from Colonel Merritt, and another skirmish took place. + </p> + <p> + Here something a little out of the usual occurred—a challenge to a + duel. A warrior, whose decorations and war-bonnet proclaimed him a chief, + rode out in front of his men, and called out in his own tongue, which Will + could understand: + </p> + <p> + "I know you, Pa-has-ka! Come and fight me, if you want to fight!" + </p> + <p> + Will rode forward fifty yards, and the warrior advanced a like distance. + The two rifles spoke, and the Indian's horse fell; but at the same moment + Will's horse stumbled into a gopher-hole and threw its rider. Both + duelists were instantly on their feet, confronting each other across a + space of not more than twenty paces. They fired again simultaneously, and + though Will was unhurt, the Indian fell dead. + </p> + <p> + The duel over, some two hundred warriors dashed up to recover the + chieftain's body and to avenge his death. It was now Colonel Merritt's + turn to move. He dispatched a company of soldiers to Will's aid, and then + ordered the whole regiment to the charge. As the soldiers advanced, Will + swung the Indian's topknot and war-bonnet which he had secured, and + shouted, "The first scalp for Custer!" + </p> + <p> + The Indians made a stubborn resistance, but as they found this useless, + began a retreat toward Red Cloud agency, whence they had come. The retreat + continued for thirty-five miles, the troops following into the agency. The + fighting blood of the Fifth was at fever heat, and they were ready to + encounter the thousands of warriors at the agency should they exhibit a + desire for battle. But they manifested no such desire. + </p> + <p> + Will learned that the name of the chief he had killed that morning was + "Yellow Hand." He was the son of "Cut Nose," a leading spirit among the + Cheyennes. This old chieftain offered Will four mules if he would return + the war-bonnet and accouterments worn by the young warrior and captured in + the fight, but Will did not grant the request, much as he pitied Cut Nose + in his grief. + </p> + <p> + The Fifth Cavalry on the following morning started on its march to join + General Crook's command in the Big Horn Mountains. The two commands united + forces on the 3d of August, and marched to the confluence of the Powder + River with the Yellowstone. Here General Miles met them, to report that no + Indians had crossed the stream. + </p> + <p> + No other fight occurred; but Will made himself useful in his capacity of + scout. There were many long, hard rides, carrying dispatches that no one + else would volunteer to bear. When he was assured that the fighting was + all over, he took passage, in September, on the steamer "Far West," and + sailed down the Missouri. + </p> + <p> + People in the Eastern States were wonderfully interested in the stirring + events on the frontier, and Will conceived the idea of putting the + incidents of the Sioux war upon the stage. Upon his return to Rochester he + had a play written for his purpose, organized a company, and opened his + season. Previously he had paid a flying visit to Red Cloud agency, and + induced a number of Sioux Indians to take part in his drama. + </p> + <p> + The red men had no such painful experience as Wild Bill and Texas Jack. + All they were expected to do in the way of acting was what came natural to + them. Their part was to introduce a bit of "local color," to give a + war-dance, take part in a skirmish, or exhibit themselves in some typical + Indian fashion. + </p> + <p> + At the close of this season Will bought a large tract of land near North + Platte, and started a cattle-ranch. He already owned one some distance to + the northward, in partnership with Major North, the leader of the Pawnee + scouts. Their friendship had strengthened since their first meeting, ten + years before. + </p> + <p> + In this new ranch Will takes great pride. He has added to its area until + it now covers seven thousand acres, and he has developed its resources to + the utmost. Twenty-five hundred acres are devoted to alfalfa and + twenty-five hundred sown to corn. One of the features of interest to + visitors is a wooded park, containing a number of deer and young + buffaloes. Near the park is a beautiful lake. In the center of the broad + tract of land stands the picturesque building known as "Scout's Rest + Ranch," which, seen from the foothills, has the appearance of an old + castle. + </p> + <p> + The ranch is one of the most beautiful spots that one can imagine, and is, + besides, an object-lesson in the value of scientific investigation and + experiment joined with persistence and perseverance. When Will bought the + property he was an enthusiastic believer in the possibilities of Nebraska + development. His brother-in-law, Mr. Goodman, was put in charge of the + place. + </p> + <p> + The whole Platte Valley formed part of the district once miscalled the + Great American Desert. It was an idea commonly accepted, but, as the + sequel proved, erroneous, that lack of moisture was the cause of lack of + vegetation. An irrigating ditch was constructed on the ranch, trees were + planted, and it was hoped that with such an abundance of moisture they + would spring up like weeds. Vain hope! There was "water, water + everywhere," but not a tree would grow. + </p> + <p> + Will visited his old Kansas home, and the sight of tall and stately trees + filled him with a desire to transport some of this beauty to his Nebraska + ranch. + </p> + <p> + "I'd give five hundred dollars," said he, "for every tree I had like that + in Nebraska!" + </p> + <p> + Impressed by the proprietor's enthusiasm for arboreal development, Mr. + Goodman began investigation and experiment. It took him but a short time + to acquire a knowledge of the deficiencies of the soil, and this done, the + bigger half of the problem was solved. + </p> + <p> + Indian legend tells us that this part of our country was once an inland + sea. There is authority for the statement that to-day it is a vast + subterranean reservoir, and the conditions warrant the assertion. The soil + in all the region has a depth only of from one to three feet, while + underlying the shallow arable deposit is one immense bedrock, varying in + thickness, the average being from three to six feet. Everywhere water may + be tapped by digging through the thin soil and boring through the rock + formation. The country gained its reputation as a desert, not from lack of + moisture, but from lack of soil. In the pockets of the foothills, where a + greater depth of soil had accumulated from the washings of the slopes + above, beautiful little groves of trees might be found, and the islands of + the Platte River were heavily wooded. Everywhere else was a treeless + waste. + </p> + <p> + The philosophy of the transformation from sea to plain is not fully + understood. The most tenable theory yet advanced is that the bedrock is an + alkaline deposit, left by the waters in a gradually widening and deepening + margin. On this the prairie wind sifted its accumulation of dust, and the + rain washed down its quota from the bank above. In the slow process of + countless years the rock formation extended over the whole sea; the + alluvial deposit deepened; seeds lodged in it, and the buffalo-grass and + sage-brush began to grow, their yearly decay adding to the ever-thickening + layer of soil. + </p> + <p> + Having learned the secret of the earth, Mr. Goodman devoted himself to the + study of the trees. He investigated those varieties having lateral roots, + to determine which would flourish best in a shallow soil. He experimented, + he failed, and he tried again. All things come round to him who will but + work. Many experiments succeeded the first, and many failures followed in + their train. But at last, like Archimedes, he could cry "Eureka! I have + found it!" In a very short time he had the ranch charmingly laid out with + rows of cottonwoods, box-elder, and other members of the tree family. The + ranch looked like an oasis in the desert, and neighbors inquired into the + secret of the magic that had worked so marvelous a transformation. The + streets of North Platte are now beautiful with trees, and adjoining farms + grow many more. It is "Scout's Rest Ranch," however, that is pointed out + with pride to travelers on the Union Pacific Railroad. + </p> + <p> + Mindful of his resolve to one day have a residence in North Platte, Will + purchased the site on which his first residence was erected. His family + had sojourned in Rochester for several years, and when they returned to + the West the new home was built according to the wishes and under the + supervision of the wife and mother. To the dwelling was given the name + "Welcome Wigwam." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0023" id="link2HCH0023"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIV. — LITERARY WORK. + </h2> + <p> + IT was during this period of his life that my brother's first literary + venture was made. As the reader has seen, his school-days were few in + number, and as he told Mr. Majors, in signing his first contract with him, + he could use a rifle better than a pen. A life of constant action on the + frontier does not leave a man much time for acquiring an education; so it + is no great wonder that the first sketch Will wrote for publication was + destitute of punctuation and short of capitals in many places. His + attention was directed to these shortcomings, but Western life had + cultivated a disdain for petty things. + </p> + <p> + "Life is too short," said he, "to make big letters when small ones will + do; and as for punctuation, if my readers don't know enough to take their + breath without those little marks, they'll have to lose it, that's all." + </p> + <p> + But in spite of his jesting, it was characteristic of him that when he + undertook anything he wished to do it well. He now had leisure for study, + and he used it to such good advantage that he was soon able to send to the + publishers a clean manuscript, grammatical, and well spelled, capitalized, + and punctuated. The publishers appreciated the improvement, though they + had sought after his work in its crude state, and paid good prices for it. + </p> + <p> + Our author would never consent to write anything except actual scenes from + border life. As a sop to the Cerberus of sensationalism, he did + occasionally condescend to heighten his effects by exaggeration. In + sending one story to the publisher he wrote: + </p> + <p> + "I am sorry to have to lie so outrageously in this yarn. My hero has + killed more Indians on one war-trail than I have killed in all my life. + But I understand this is what is expected in border tales. If you think + the revolver and bowie-knife are used too freely, you may cut out a fatal + shot or stab wherever you deem it wise." + </p> + <p> + Even this story, which one accustomed to border life confessed to be + exaggerated, fell far short of the sensational and blood-curdling tales + usually written, and was published exactly as the author wrote it. + </p> + <p> + During the summer of 1877 I paid a visit to our relatives in Westchester, + Pennsylvania. My husband had lost all his wealth before his death, and I + was obliged to rely upon my brother for support. To meet a widespread + demand, Will this summer wrote his autobiography. It was published at + Hartford, Connecticut, and I, anxious to do something for myself, took the + general agency of the book for the state of Ohio, spending a part of the + summer there in pushing its sale. But I soon tired of a business life, and + turning over the agency to other hands, went from Cleveland to visit Will + at his new home in North Platte, where there were a number of other guests + at the time. + </p> + <p> + Besides his cattle-ranch in the vicinity of North Platte, Will had another + ranch on the Dismal River, sixty-five miles north, touching the Dakota + line. One day he remarked to us: + </p> + <p> + "I'm sorry to leave you to your own resources for a few days, but I must + take a run up to my ranch on Dismal River." + </p> + <p> + Not since our early Kansas trip had I had an experience in camping out, + and in those days I was almost too young to appreciate it; but it had left + me with a keen desire to try it again. + </p> + <p> + "Let us all go with you, Will," I exclaimed. "We can camp out on the + road." + </p> + <p> + Our friends added their approval, and Will fell in with the suggestion at + once. + </p> + <p> + "There's no reason why you can't go if you wish to," said he. Will owned + numerous conveyances, and was able to provide ways and means to carry us + all comfortably. Lou and the two little girls, Arta and Orra, rode in an + open phaeton. There were covered carriages, surreys, and a variety of + turn-outs to transport the invited guests. Several prominent citizens of + North Platte were invited to join the party, and when our arrangements + were completed we numbered twenty-five. + </p> + <p> + Will took a caterer along, and made ample provisions for the inner man and + woman. We knew, from long experience, that a camping trip without an + abundance of food is rather a dreary affair. + </p> + <p> + All of us except Will were out for pleasure solely, and we found time to + enjoy ourselves even during the first day's ride of twenty-five miles. As + we looked around at the new and wild scenes while the tents were pitched + for the night, Will led the ladies of the party to a tree, saying: + </p> + <p> + "You are the first white women whose feet have trod this region. Carve + your names here, and celebrate the event." + </p> + <p> + After a good night's rest and a bounteous breakfast, we set out in high + spirits, and were soon far out in the foothills. + </p> + <p> + One who has never seen these peculiar formations can have but little idea + of them. On every side, as far as the eye can see, undulations of earth + stretch away like the waves of the ocean, and on them no vegetation + flourishes save buffalo-grass, sage-brush, and the cactus, blooming but + thorny. + </p> + <p> + The second day I rode horseback, in company with Will and one or two + others of the party, over a constant succession of hill and vale; we + mounted an elevation and descended its farther side, only to be confronted + by another hill. The horseback party was somewhat in advance of those in + carriages. + </p> + <p> + From the top of one hill Will scanned the country with his field-glass, + and remarked that some deer were headed our way, and that we should have + fresh venison for dinner. He directed us to ride down into the valley and + tarry there, so that we might not startle the timid animals, while he + continued part way up the hill and halted in position to get a good shot + at the first one that came over the knoll. A fawn presently bounded into + view, and Will brought his rifle to his shoulder; but much to our + surprise, instead of firing, dropped the weapon to his side. Another fawn + passed him before he fired, and as the little creature fell we rode up to + Will and began chaffing him unmercifully, one gentleman remarking: + </p> + <p> + "It is difficult to believe we are in the presence of the crack shot of + America, when we see him allow two deer to pass by before he brings one + down." + </p> + <p> + But to the laughing and chaffing Will answered not a word, and recalling + the childish story I had heard of his buck fever, I wondered if, at this + late date, it were possible for him to have another attack of that kind. + The deer was handed over to the commissary department, and we rode on. + </p> + <p> + "Will, what was the matter with you just now?" I asked him, privately. + "Why didn't you shoot that first deer; did you have another attack like + you had when you were a little boy?" + </p> + <p> + He rode along in silence for a few moments, and then turned to me with the + query: + </p> + <p> + "Did you ever look into a deer's eyes?" And as I replied that I had not, + he continued: + </p> + <p> + "Every one has his little weakness; mine is a deer's eye. I don't want you + to say anything about it to your friends, for they would laugh more than + ever, but the fact is I have never yet been able to shoot a deer if it + looked me in the eye. With a buffalo, or a bear, or an Indian, it is + different. But a deer has the eye of a trusting child, soft, gentle, and + confiding. No one but a brute could shoot a deer if he caught that look. + The first that came over the knoll looked straight at me; I let it go by, + and did not look at the second until I was sure it had passed me." + </p> + <p> + He seemed somewhat ashamed of his soft-heartedness; yet to me it was but + one of many little incidents that revealed a side of his nature the rough + life of the frontier had not corrupted. + </p> + <p> + Will expected to reach the Dismal River on the third day, and at noon of + it he remarked that he had better ride ahead and give notice of our + coming, for the man who looked after the ranch had his wife with him, and + she would likely be dismayed at the thought of preparing supper for so + large a crowd on a minute's notice. + </p> + <p> + Sister Julia's son, Will Goodman, a lad of fifteen, was of our party, and + he offered to be the courier. + </p> + <p> + "Are you sure you know the way?" asked his uncle. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, yes," was the confident response; "you know I have been over the road + with you before, and I know just how to go." + </p> + <p> + "Well, tell me how you would go." + </p> + <p> + Young Will described the trail so accurately that his uncle concluded it + would be safe for him to undertake the trip, and the lad rode ahead, happy + and important. + </p> + <p> + It was late in the afternoon when we reached the ranch; and the greeting + of the overseer was: + </p> + <p> + "Well, well; what's all this?" + </p> + <p> + "Didn't you know we were coming?" asked Will, quickly. "Hasn't Will + Goodman been here?" The ranchman shook his head. + </p> + <p> + "Haven't seen him, sir," he replied, "since he was here with you before." + </p> + <p> + "Well, he'll be along," said Will, quietly; but I detected a ring of + anxiety in his voice. "Go into the house and make yourselves comfortable," + he added. "It will be some time before a meal can be prepared for such a + supper party." We entered the house, but he remained outside, and mounting + the stile that served as a gate, examined the nearer hills with his glass. + There was no sign of Will, Jr.; so the ranchman was directed to dispatch + five or six men in as many directions to search for the boy, and as they + hastened away on their mission Will remained on the stile, running his + fingers every few minutes through the hair over his forehead—a + characteristic action with him when worried. Thinking I might reassure + him, I came out and chided him gently for what I was pleased to regard as + his needless anxiety. It was impossible for Willie to lose his way very + long, I explained, without knowing anything about my subject. "See how far + you can look over these hills. It is not as if he were in the woods," said + I. + </p> + <p> + Will looked at me steadily and pityingly for a moment. "Go back in the + house, Nell," said he, with a touch of impatience; "you don't know what + you are talking about." + </p> + <p> + That was true enough, but when I returned obediently to the house I + repeated my opinion that worry over the absent boy was needless, for it + would be difficult, I declared, for one to lose himself where the range of + vision was so extensive as it was from the top of one of these foothills. + </p> + <p> + "But suppose," said one of the party, "that you were in the valley behind + one of the foothills—what then?" + </p> + <p> + This led to an animated discussion as to the danger of getting lost in + this long-range locality, and in the midst of it Will walked in, his + equanimity quite restored. + </p> + <p> + "It's all right," said he; "I can see the youngster coming along." + </p> + <p> + We flocked to the stile, and discovered a moving speck in the distance. + Looked at through the field-glasses, it proved to be the belated courier. + Then we appealed to Will to settle the question that had been under + discussion. + </p> + <p> + "Ladies and gentlemen," he answered, impressively, "if one of you were + lost among these foothills, and a whole regiment started out in search of + you, the chances are ten to one that you would starve to death, to say the + least, before you could be found." + </p> + <p> + To find the way with ease and locate the trail unerringly over an endless + and monotonous succession of hills identical in appearance is an ability + the Indian possesses, but few are the white men that can imitate the + aborigine. I learned afterward that it was accounted one of Will's great + accomplishments as a scout that he was perfectly at home among the frozen + waves of the prairie ocean. + </p> + <p> + When the laggard arrived, and was pressed for particulars, he declared he + had traveled eight or ten miles when he found that he was off the trail. + "I thought I was lost," said he; "but after considering the matter I + decided that I had one chance—that was to go back over my own + tracks. The marks of my horse's hoofs led me out on the main trail, and + your tracks were so fresh that I had no further trouble." + </p> + <p> + "Pretty good," said Will, patting the boy's shoulder. "Pretty good. You + have some of the Cody blood in you, that's plain." + </p> + <p> + The next day was passed in looking over the ranch, and the day following + we visited, at Will's solicitation, a spot that he had named "The Garden + of the Gods." Our thoughtful host had sent ranchmen ahead to prepare the + place for our reception, and we were as surprised and delighted as he + could desire. A patch on the river's brink was filled with tall and + stately trees and luxuriant shrubs, laden with fruits and flowers, while + birds of every hue nested and sang about us. It was a miniature paradise + in the midst of a desert of sage-brush and buffalo-grass. The interspaces + of the grove were covered with rich green grass, and in one of these + nature-carpeted nooks the workmen, under Will's direction, had put up an + arbor, with rustic seats and table. Herein we ate our luncheon, and every + sense was pleasured. + </p> + <p> + As it was not likely that the women of the party would ever see the place + again, so remote was it from civilization, belonging to the as yet + uninhabited part of the Western plains, we decided to explore it, in the + hope of finding something that would serve as a souvenir. We had not gone + far when we found ourselves out of Eden and in the desert that surrounded + it, but it was the desert that held our great discovery. On an isolated + elevation stood a lone, tall tree, in the topmost branches of which + reposed what seemed to be a large package. As soon as our imaginations got + fairly to work the package became the hidden treasure of some prairie + bandit, and while two of the party returned for our masculine forces the + rest of us kept guard over the cachet in the treetop. Will came up with + the others, and when we pointed out to him the supposed chest of gold he + smiled, saying that he was sorry to dissipate the hopes which the ladies + had built in the tree, but that they were not gazing upon anything of + intrinsic value, but on the open sepulcher of some departed brave. "It is + a wonder," he remarked, laughingly, "you women didn't catch on to the + skeleton in that closet." + </p> + <p> + As we retraced our steps, somewhat crestfallen, we listened to the tale of + another of the red man's superstitions. + </p> + <p> + When some great chief, who particularly distinguishes himself on the + war-path, loses his life on the battle-field without losing his scalp, he + is regarded as especially favored by the Great Spirit. A more exalted + sepulcher than mother earth is deemed fitting for such a warrior. + Accordingly he is wrapped in his blanket-shroud, and, in his war paint and + feathers and with his weapons by his side, he is placed in the top of the + highest tree in the neighborhood, the spot thenceforth being sacred + against intrusion for a certain number of moons. At the end of that period + messengers are dispatched to ascertain if the remains have been disturbed. + If they have not, the departed is esteemed a spirit chief, who, in the + happy hunting-grounds, intercedes for and leads on to sure victory the + warriors who trusted to his leadership in the material world. + </p> + <p> + We bade a reluctant adieu to the idyllic retreat, and threw it many a + backward glance as we took our way over the desert that stretched between + us and the ranch. Here another night was passed, and then we set out for + home. The brief sojourn "near to Nature's heart" had been a delightful + experience, holding for many of us the charm of novelty, and for all + recreation and pleasant comradeship. + </p> + <p> + With the opening of the theatrical season Will returned to the stage, and + his histrionic career continued for five years longer. As an actor he + achieved a certain kind of success. He played in every large city of the + United States, always to crowded houses, and was everywhere received with + enthusiasm. There was no doubt of his financial success, whatever + criticisms might be passed on the artistic side of his performance. It was + his personality and reputation that interested his audiences. They did not + expect the art of Sir Henry Irving, and you may be sure that they did not + receive it. + </p> + <p> + Will never enjoyed this part of his career; he endured it simply because + it was the means to an end. He had not forgotten his boyish dream—his + resolve that he would one day present to the world an exhibition that + would give a realistic picture of life in the Far West, depicting its + dangers and privations, as well as its picturesque phases. His first + theatrical season had shown him how favorably such an exhibition would be + received, and his long-cherished ambition began to take shape. He knew + that an enormous amount of money would be needed, and to acquire such a + sum he lived for many years behind the footlights. + </p> + <p> + I was present in a Leavenworth theater during one of his last performances—one + in which he played the part of a loving swain to a would-be charming + lassie. When the curtain fell on the last act I went behind the scenes, in + company with a party of friends, and congratulated the star upon his + excellent acting. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, Nellie," he groaned, "don't say anything about it. If heaven will + forgive me this foolishness, I promise to quit it forever when this season + is over." + </p> + <p> + That was the way he felt about the stage, so far as his part in it was + concerned. He was a fish out of water The feeble pretensions to a stern + reality, and the mock dangers exploited, could not but fail to seem + trivial to one who had lived the very scenes depicted. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0024" id="link2HCH0024"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXV. — FIRST VISIT TO THE VALLEY OF THE BIG HORN. + </h2> + <p> + MY brother was again bereaved in 1880 by the death of his little daughter + Orra. At her own request, Orra's body was interred in Rochester, in + beautiful Mount Hope Cemetery, by the side of little Kit Carson. + </p> + <p> + But joy follows upon sadness, and the summer before Will spent his last + season on the stage was a memorable one for him. It marked the birth of + another daughter, who was christened Irma. This daughter is the very apple + of her father's eye; to her he gives the affection that is her due, and + round her clings the halo of the tender memories of the other two that + have departed this life. + </p> + <p> + This year, 1882, was also the one in which Will paid his first visit to + the valley of the Big Horn. He had often traversed the outskirts of that + region, and heard incredible tales from Indians and trappers of its + wonders and beauties, but he had yet to explore it himself. In his early + experience as Pony Express rider, California Joe had related to him the + first story he had heard of the enchanted basin, and in 1875, when he was + in charge of a large body of Arapahoe Indians that had been permitted to + leave their reservation for a big hunt, he obtained more details. + </p> + <p> + The agent warned Will that some of the Indians were dissatisfied, and + might attempt to escape, but to all appearances, though he watched them + sharply, they were entirely content. Game was plentiful, the weather fine, + and nothing seemed omitted from the red man's happiness. + </p> + <p> + One night about twelve o'clock Will was aroused by an Indian guide, who + informed him that a party of some two hundred Arapahoes had started away + some two hours before, and were on a journey northward. The red man does + not wear his heart upon his sleeve for government daws to peck at. One + knows what he proposes to do after he has done it. The red man is + conspicuously among the things that are not always what they seem. + </p> + <p> + Pursuit was immediately set on foot, and the entire body of truant + warriors were brought back without bloodshed. One of them, a young + warrior, came to Will's tent to beg for tobacco. The Indian—as all + know who have made his acquaintance—has no difficulty in reconciling + begging with his native dignity. To work may be beneath him, to beg is a + different matter, and there is frequently a delightful hauteur about his + mendicancy. In this respect he is not unlike some of his white brothers. + Will gave the young chief the desired tobacco, and then questioned him + closely concerning the attempted escape. + </p> + <p> + "Surely," said he, "you cannot find a more beautiful spot than this. The + streams are full of fish, the grazing is good, the game is plentiful, and + the weather is fine. What more could you desire?" + </p> + <p> + The Indian drew himself up. His face grew eager, and his eyes were full of + longing as he answered, by the interpreter: + </p> + <p> + "The land to the north and west is the land of plenty. There the buffalo + grows larger; and his coat is darker. There the bu-yu (antelope) comes in + droves, while here there are but few. There the whole region is covered + with the short, curly grass our ponies like. There grow the wild plums + that are good for my people in summer and winter. There are the springs of + the Great Medicine Man, Tel-ya-ki-y. To bathe in them gives new life; to + drink them cures every bodily ill. + </p> + <p> + "In the mountains beyond the river of the blue water there is gold and + silver, the metals that the white man loves. There lives the eagle, whose + feathers the Indian must have to make his war-bonnet. There, too, the sun + shines always. + </p> + <p> + "It is the Ijis (heaven) of the red man. My heart cries for it. The hearts + of my people are not happy when away from the Eithity Tugala." + </p> + <p> + The Indian folded his arms across his breast, and his eyes looked + yearningly toward the country whose delights he had so vividly pictured; + then he turned and walked sorrowfully away. The white man's government + shut him out from the possession of his earthly paradise. Will learned + upon further inquiry that Eithity Tugala was the Indian name of the Big + Horn Basin. + </p> + <p> + In the summer of 1882 Will's party of exploration left the cars at + Cheyenne, and struck out from this point with horses and pack-mules. + Will's eyes becoming inflamed, he was obliged to bandage them, and turn + the guidance of the party over to a man known as "Ready." For days he + traveled in a blinded state, and though his eyes slowly bettered, he did + not remove the bandage until the Big Horn Basin was reached. They had + paused for the midday siesta, and Reddy inquired whether it would not be + safe to uncover the afflicted eyes, adding that he thought Will "would + enjoy looking around a bit." + </p> + <p> + Off came the bandage, and I shall quote Will's own words to describe the + scene that met his delighted gaze: + </p> + <p> + "To my right stretched a towering range of snow-capped mountains, broken + here and there into minarets, obelisks, and spires. Between me and this + range of lofty peaks a long irregular line of stately cottonwoods told me + a stream wound its way beneath. The rainbow-tinted carpet under me was + formed of innumerable brilliant-hued wild flowers; it spread about me in + every direction, and sloped gracefully to the stream. Game of every kind + played on the turf, and bright-hued birds flitted over it. It was a scene + no mortal can satisfactorily describe. At such a moment a man, no matter + what his creed, sees the hand of the mighty Maker of the universe + majestically displayed in the beauty of nature; he becomes sensibly + conscious, too, of his own littleness. I uttered no word for very awe; I + looked upon one of nature's masterpieces. + </p> + <p> + "Instantly my heart went out to my sorrowful Arapahoe friend of 1875. He + had not exaggerated; he had scarcely done the scene justice. He spoke of + it as the Ijis, the heaven of the red man. I regarded it then, and still + regard it, as the Mecca of all appreciative humanity." + </p> + <p> + To the west of the Big Horn Basin, Hart Mountain rises abruptly from the + Shoshone River. It is covered with grassy slopes and deep ravines; + perpendicular rocks of every hue rise in various places and are fringed + with evergreens. Beyond this mountain, in the distance, towers the hoary + head of Table Mountain. Five miles to the southwest the mountains recede + some distance from the river, and from its bank Castle Rock rises in + solitary grandeur. As its name indicates, it has the appearance of a + castle, with towers, turrets, bastions, and balconies. + </p> + <p> + Grand as is the western view, the chief beauty lies in the south. Here the + Carter Mountain lies along the entire distance, and the grassy spaces on + its side furnish pasturage for the deer, antelope, and mountain sheep that + abound in this favored region. Fine timber, too, grows on its rugged + slopes; jagged, picturesque rock-forms are seen in all directions, and + numerous cold springs send up their welcome nectar. + </p> + <p> + It is among the foothills nestling at the base of this mountain that Will + has chosen the site of his future permanent residence. Here there are many + little lakes, two of which are named Irma and Arta, in honor of his + daughters. Here he owns a ranch of forty thousand acres, but the home + proper will comprise a tract of four hundred and eighty acres. The two + lakes referred to are in this tract, and near them Will proposes to erect + a palatial residence. To him, as he has said, it is the Mecca of earth, + and thither he hastens the moment he is free from duty and obligation. In + that enchanted region he forgets for a little season the cares and + responsibilities of life. + </p> + <p> + A curious legend is told of one of the lakes that lie on the border of + this valley. It is small—half a mile long and a quarter wide—but + its depth is fathomless. It is bordered and shadowed by tall and stately + pines, quaking-asp and birch trees, and its waters are pure and ice-cold + the year round. They are medicinal, too, and as yet almost unknown to + white men. Will heard the legend of the lake from the lips of an old + Cheyenne warrior. + </p> + <p> + "It was the custom of my tribe," said the Indian, "to assemble around this + lake once every month, at the hour of midnight, when the moon is at its + full. Soon after midnight a canoe filled with the specters of departed + Cheyenne warriors shot out from the eastern side of the lake and crossed + rapidly to the western border; there it suddenly disappeared. + </p> + <p> + "Never a word or sound escaped from the specters in the canoe. They sat + rigid and silent, and swiftly plied their oars. All attempts to get a word + from them were in vain. + </p> + <p> + "So plainly were the canoe and its occupants seen that the features of the + warriors were readily distinguished, and relatives and friends were + recognized." + </p> + <p> + For years, according to the legend, the regular monthly trip was made, and + always from the eastern to the western border of the lake. In 1876 it + suddenly ceased, and the Indians were much alarmed. A party of them camped + on the bank of the lake, and watchers were appointed for every night. It + was fancied that the ghostly boatmen had changed the date of their + excursion. But in three months there was no sign of canoe or canoeists, + and this was regarded as an omen of evil. + </p> + <p> + At a council of the medicine men, chiefs, and wiseacres of the tribe it + was decided that the canoeing trip had been a signal from the Great Spirit—the + canoe had proceeded from east to west, the course always followed by the + red man. The specters had been sent from the Happy Hunting-Grounds to + indicate that the tribe should move farther west, and the sudden + disappearance of the monthly signal was augured to mean the extinction of + the race. + </p> + <p> + Once when Will was standing on the border of this lake a Sioux warrior + came up to him. This man was unusually intelligent, and desired that his + children should be educated. He sent his two sons to Carlisle, and himself + took great pains to learn the white man's religious beliefs, though he + still clung to his old savage customs and superstitions. A short time + before he talked with Will large companies of Indians had made pilgrimages + to join one large conclave, for the purpose of celebrating the Messiah, or + "Ghost Dance." Like all religious celebrations among savage people, it was + accompanied by the grossest excesses and most revolting immoralities. As + it was not known what serious happening these large gatherings might + portend, the President, at the request of many people, sent troops to + disperse the Indians. The Indians resisted, and blood was spilled, among + the slain being the sons of the Indian who stood by the side of the + haunted lake. + </p> + <p> + "It is written in the Great Book of the white man," said the old chief to + Will, "that the Great Spirit—the Nan-tan-in-chor—is to come to + him again on earth. The white men in the big villages go to their + council-lodges (churches) and talk about the time of his coming. Some say + one time, some say another, but they all know the time will come, for it + is written in the Great Book. It is the great and good among the white men + that go to these council-lodges, and those that do not go say, 'It is + well; we believe as they believe; He will come.' It is written in the + Great Book of the white man that all the human beings on earth are the + children of the one Great Spirit. He provides and cares for them. All he + asks in return is that his children obey him, that they be good to one + another, that they judge not one another, and that they do not kill or + steal. Have I spoken truly the words of the white man's Book?" + </p> + <p> + Will bowed his head, somewhat surprised at the tone of the old chief's + conversation. The other continued: + </p> + <p> + "The red man, too, has a Great Book. You have never seen it; no white man + has ever seen it; it is hidden here." He pressed his hand against his + heart. "The teachings of the two books are the same. What the Great Spirit + says to the white man, the Nan-tan-in-chor says to the red man. We, too, + go to our council-lodges to talk of the second coming. We have our + ceremony, as the white man has his. The white man is solemn, sorrowful; + the red man is happy and glad. We dance and are joyful, and the white man + sends soldiers to shoot us down. Does their Great Spirit tell them to do + this? + </p> + <p> + "In the big city (Washington) where I have been, there is another big book + (the Federal Constitution), which says the white man shall not interfere + with the religious liberty of another. And yet they come out to our + country and kill us when we show our joy to Nan-tan-in-chor. + </p> + <p> + "We rejoice over his second coming; the white man mourns, but he sends his + soldiers to kill us in our rejoicing. Bah! The white man is false. I + return to my people, and to the customs and habits of my forefathers. I am + an Indian!" + </p> + <p> + The old chief strode away with the dignity of a red Caesar, and Will, + alone by the lake, reflected that every question has two sides to it. The + one the red man has held in the case of the commonwealth versus the Indian + has ever been the tragic side. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0025" id="link2HCH0025"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXVI. — TOUR OF GREAT BRITAIN. + </h2> + <p> + IT was not until the spring of 1883 that Will was able to put into + execution his long-cherished plan—to present to the public an + exhibition which should delineate in throbbing and realistic color, not + only the wild life of America, but the actual history of the West, as it + was lived for, fought for, died for, by Indians, pioneers, and soldiers. + </p> + <p> + The wigwam village; the Indian war-dance; the chant to the Great Spirit as + it was sung over the plains; the rise and fall of the famous tribes; the + "Forward, march!" of soldiers, and the building of frontier posts; the + life of scouts and trappers; the hunt of the buffalo; the coming of the + first settlers; their slow, perilous progress in the prairie schooners + over the vast and desolate plains; the period of the Deadwood stage and + the Pony Express; the making of homes in the face of fire and Indian + massacre; United States cavalry on the firing-line, "Death to the Sioux!"—these + are the great historic pictures of the Wild West, stirring, genuine, + heroic. + </p> + <p> + It was a magnificent plan on a magnificent scale, and it achieved instant + success. The adventurous phases of Western life never fail to quicken the + pulse of the East. + </p> + <p> + An exhibition which embodied so much of the historic and picturesque, + which resurrected a whole half-century of dead and dying events, events + the most thrilling and dramatic in American history, naturally stirred up + the interest of the entire country. The actors, too, were historic + characters—no weakling imitators, but men of sand and grit, who had + lived every inch of the life they pictured. + </p> + <p> + The first presentation was given in May, 1883, at Omaha, Nebraska, the + state Will had chosen for his home. Since then it has visited nearly every + large city on the civilized globe, and has been viewed by countless + thousands—men, women, and children of every nationality. It will + long hold a place in history. + </p> + <p> + The "grand entrance" alone has never failed to chain the interest of the + onlooker. The furious galloping of the Indian braves—Sioux, + Arapahoe, Brule, and Cheyenne, all in war paint and feathers; the free + dash of the Mexicans and cowboys, as they follow the Indians into line at + break-neck speed; the black-bearded Cossacks of the Czar's light cavalry; + the Riffian Arabs on their desert thoroughbreds; a cohort from the + "Queen's Own" Lancers; troopers from the German Emperor's bodyguard; + chasseurs and cuirassiers from the crack cavalry regiments of European + standing armies; detachments from the United States cavalry and artillery; + South American gauchos; Cuban veterans; Porto Ricans; Hawaiians; again + frontiersmen, rough riders, Texas rangers—all plunging with dash and + spirit into the open, each company followed by its chieftain and its flag; + forming into a solid square, tremulous with color; then a quicker note to + the music; the galloping hoofs of another horse, the finest of them all, + and "Buffalo Bill," riding with the wonderful ease and stately grace which + only he who is "born to the saddle" can ever attain, enters under the + flash of the lime-light, and sweeping off his sombrero, holds his head + high, and with a ring of pride in his voice, advances before his great + audience and exclaims: + </p> + <p> + "Ladies and gentlemen, permit me to introduce to you a congress of the + rough riders of the world." + </p> + <p> + As a child I wept over his disregard of the larger sphere predicted by the + soothsayer; as a woman, I rejoice that he was true to his own ideals, for + he sits his horse with a natural grace much better suited to the saddle + than to the Presidential chair. + </p> + <p> + From the very beginning the "Wild West" was an immense success. Three + years were spent in traveling over the United States; then Will conceived + the idea of visiting England, and exhibiting to the mother race the wild + side of the child's life. This plan entailed enormous expense, but it was + carried out successfully. + </p> + <p> + Still true to the state of his adoption, Will chartered the steamer "State + of Nebraska," and on March 31, 1886 a living freight from the picturesque + New World began its voyage to the Old. + </p> + <p> + At Gravesend, England, the first sight to meet the eyes of the watchers on + the steamer was a tug flying American colors. Three ringing cheers saluted + the beautiful emblem, and the band on the tug responded with "The + Star-Spangled Banner." Not to be outdone, the cowboy band on the "State of + Nebraska" struck up "Yankee Doodle." The tug had been chartered by a + company of Englishmen for the purpose of welcoming the novel American + combination to British soil. + </p> + <p> + When the landing was made, the members of the Wild West company entered + special coaches and were whirled toward London. Then even the stolidity of + the Indians was not proof against sights so little resembling those to + which they had been accustomed, and they showed their pleasure and + appreciation by frequent repetition of the red man's characteristic grunt. + </p> + <p> + Major John M. Burke had made the needed arrangements for housing the big + show, and preparations on a gigantic scale were rapidly pushed to please + an impatient London public. More effort was made to produce spectacular + effects in the London amphitheater than is possible where a merely + temporary staging is erected for one day's exhibition. The arena was a + third of a mile in circumference, and provided accommodation for forty + thousand spectators. Here, as at Manchester, where another great + amphitheater was erected in the fall, to serve as winter quarters, the + artist's brush was called on to furnish illusions. + </p> + <p> + The English exhibited an eager interest in every feature of the exhibition—the + Indian war-dances, the bucking broncho, speedily subjected by the valorous + cowboy, and the stagecoach attacked by Indians and rescued by United + States troops. The Indian village on the plains was also an object of + dramatic interest to the English public. The artist had counterfeited the + plains successfully. + </p> + <p> + It is the hour of dawn. Scattered about the plains are various wild + animals. Within their tents the Indians are sleeping. Sunrise, and a + friendly Indian tribe comes to visit the wakening warriors. A friendly + dance is executed, at the close of which a courier rushes in to announce + the approach of a hostile tribe. These follow almost at the courier's + heels, and a sham battle occurs, which affords a good idea of the + barbarity of Indian warfare. The victors celebrate their triumph with a + wild war-dance. + </p> + <p> + A Puritan scene follows. The landing of the Pilgrims is shown, and the + rescue of John Smith by Pocahontas. This affords opportunity for + delineating many interesting Indian customs on festive celebrations, such + as weddings and feast-days. + </p> + <p> + Again the prairie. A buffalo-lick is shown. The shaggy monsters come down + to drink, and in pursuit of them is "Buffalo Bill," mounted on his good + horse "Charlie." He has been acting as guide for an emigrant party, which + soon appears. Camp-fires are lighted, supper is eaten, and the camp sinks + into slumber with the dwindling of the fires. Then comes a fine bit of + stage illusion. A red glow is seen in the distance, faint at first, but + slowly deepening and broadening. It creeps along the whole horizon, and + the camp is awakened by the alarming intelligence that the prairie is on + fire. The emigrants rush out, and heroically seek to fight back the + rushing, roaring flames. Wild animals, driven by the flames, dash through + the camp, and a stampede follows. This scene was extremely realistic. + </p> + <p> + A cyclone was also simulated, and a whole village blown out of existence. + </p> + <p> + The "Wild West" was received with enthusiasm, not only by the general + public, but by royalty. Gladstone made a call upon Will, in company with + the Marquis of Lorne, and in return a lunch was tendered to the "Grand Old + Man" by the American visitors. In an after-dinner speech, the English + statesman spoke in the warmest terms of America. He thanked Will for the + good he was doing in presenting to the English public a picture of the + wild life of the Western continent, which served to illustrate the + difficulties encountered by a sister nation in its onward march of + civilization. + </p> + <p> + The initial performance was before a royal party comprising the Prince and + Princess of Wales and suite. At the close of the exhibition the royal + guests, at their own request, were presented to the members of the + company. Unprepared for this contingency, Will had forgotten to coach the + performers in the correct method of saluting royalty, and when the girl + shots of the company were presented to the Princess of Wales, they stepped + forward in true democratic fashion and cordially offered their hands to + the lovely woman who had honored them. + </p> + <p> + According to English usage, the Princess extends the hand, palm down, to + favored guests, and these reverently touch the finger-tips and lift the + hand to their lips. Perhaps the spontaneity of the American girls' welcome + was esteemed a pleasing variety to the established custom. At all events, + her Highness, true to her breeding, appeared not to notice any breach of + etiquette, but took the proffered hands and shook them cordially. + </p> + <p> + The Indian camp was also visited, and Red Shirt, the great chief, was, + like every one else, delighted with the Princess. Through an interpreter + the Prince expressed his pleasure over the performance of the braves, + headed by their great chief, and the Princess bade him welcome to England. + Red Shirt had the Indian gift of oratory, and he replied, in the + unimpassioned speech for which the race is noted, that it made his heart + glad to hear such kind words from the Great White Chief and his beautiful + squaw. + </p> + <p> + During the round the Prince stopped in at Will's private quarters, and + took much interest in his souvenirs, being especially pleased with a + magnificent gold-hilted sword, presented to Will by officers of the United + States army in recognition of his services as scout. + </p> + <p> + This was not the only time the exhibition was honored by the visit of + royalty. That the Prince of Wales was sincere in his expression of + enjoyment of the exhibition was evidenced by the report that he carried to + his mother, and shortly afterward a command came from Queen Victoria that + the big show appear before her. It was plainly impossible to take the + "Wild West" to court; the next best thing was to construct a special box + for the use of her Majesty. This box was placed upon a dais covered with + crimson velvet trimmings, and was superbly decorated. When the Queen + arrived and was driven around to the royal box, Will stepped forward as + she dismounted, and doffing his sombrero, made a low courtesy to the + sovereign lady of Great Britain. "Welcome, your Majesty," said he, "to the + Wild West of America!" + </p> + <p> + One of the first acts in the performance is to carry the flag to the + front. This is done by a soldier, and is introduced to the spectators as + an emblem of a nation desirous of peace and friendship with all the world. + On this occasion it was borne directly before the Queen's box, and dipped + three times in honor of her Majesty. The action of the Queen surprised the + company and the vast throng of spectators. Rising, she saluted the + American flag with a bow, and her suite followed her example, the + gentlemen removing their hats. Will acknowledged the courtesy by waving + his sombrero about his head, and his delighted company with one accord + gave three ringing cheers that made the arena echo, assuring the + spectators of the healthy condition of the lungs of the American visitors. + </p> + <p> + The Queen's complaisance put the entire company on their mettle, and the + performance was given magnificently. At the close Queen Victoria asked to + have Will presented to her, and paid him so many compliments as almost to + bring a blush to his bronzed cheek. Red Shirt was also presented, and + informed her Majesty that he had come across the Great Water solely to see + her, and his heart was glad. This polite speech discovered a streak in + Indian nature that, properly cultivated, would fit the red man to shine as + a courtier or politician. Red Shirt walked away with the insouciance of a + king dismissing an audience, and some of the squaws came to display + papooses to the Great White Lady. These children of nature were not the + least awed by the honor done them. They blinked at her Majesty as if the + presence of queens was an incident of their everyday existence. + </p> + <p> + A second command from the Queen resulted in another exhibition before a + number of her royal guests. The kings of Saxony, Denmark, and Greece, the + Queen of the Belgians, and the Crown Prince of Austria, with others of + lesser rank, illumined this occasion. + </p> + <p> + The Deadwood coach was peculiarly honored. This is a coach with a history. + It was built in Concord, New Hampshire, and sent to the Pacific Coast to + run over a trail infested by road agents. A number of times was it held up + and the passengers robbed, and finally both driver and passengers were + killed and the coach abandoned on the trail, as no one could be found who + would undertake to drive it. It remained derelict for a long time, but was + at last brought into San Francisco by an old stage-driver and placed on + the Overland trail. It gradually worked its way eastward to the Deadwood + route, and on this line figured in a number of encounters with Indians. + Again were driver and passengers massacred, and again was the coach + abandoned. Will ran across it on one of his scouting expeditions, and + recognizing its value as an adjunct to his exhibition, purchased it. + Thereafter the tragedies it figured in were of the mock variety. + </p> + <p> + One of the incidents of the Wild West, as all remember, is an Indian + attack on the Deadwood coach. The royal visitors wished to put themselves + in the place of the traveling public in the Western regions of America; so + the four potentates of Denmark, Saxony, Greece, and Austria became the + passengers, and the Prince of Wales sat on the box with Will. The Indians + had been secretly instructed to "whoop 'em up" on this interesting + occasion, and they followed energetically the letter of their + instructions. The coach was surrounded by a demoniac band, and the blank + cartridges were discharged in such close proximity to the coach windows + that the passengers could easily imagine themselves to be actual Western + travelers. Rumor hath it that they sought refuge under the seats, and + probably no one would blame them if they did; but it is only rumor, and + not history. + </p> + <p> + When the wild ride was over, the Prince of Wales, who admires the American + national game of poker, turned to the driver with the remark: + </p> + <p> + "Colonel, did you ever hold four kings like that before?" + </p> + <p> + "I have held four kings more than once," was the prompt reply; "but, your + Highness, I never held four kings and the royal joker before." + </p> + <p> + The Prince laughed heartily; but Will's sympathy went out to him when he + found that he was obliged to explain his joke in four different languages + to the passengers. + </p> + <p> + In recognition of this performance, the Prince of Wales sent Will a + handsome souvenir. It consisted of his feathered crest, outlined in + diamonds, and bearing the motto "<i>Ich dien</i>," worked in jewels + underneath. An accompanying note expressed the pleasure of the royal + visitors over the novel exhibition. + </p> + <p> + Upon another occasion the Princess of Wales visited the show incognito, + first advising Will of her intention; and at the close of the performance + assured him that she had spent a delightful evening. + </p> + <p> + The set performances of the "Wild West" were punctuated by social + entertainments. James G. Blaine, Chauncey M. Depew, Murat Halstead, and + other prominent Americans were in London at the time, and in their honor + Will issued invitations to a rib-roast breakfast prepared in Indian style. + Fully one hundred guests gathered in the "Wild West's" dining-tent at nine + o'clock of June 10, 1887. Besides the novel decorations of the tent, it + was interesting to watch the Indian cooks putting the finishing touches to + their roasts. A hole had been dug in the ground, a large tripod erected + over it, and upon this the ribs of beef were suspended. The fire was of + logs, burned down to a bed of glowing coals, and over these the meat was + turned around and around until it was cooked to a nicety. This method of + open-air cooking over wood imparts to the meat a flavor that can be given + to it in no other way. + </p> + <p> + The breakfast was unconventional. Part of the bill of fare was hominy, + "Wild West" pudding, popcorn, and peanuts. The Indians squatted on the + straw at the end of the dining-tables, and ate from their fingers or + speared the meat with long white sticks. The striking contrast of table + manners was an interesting object-lesson in the progress of civilization. + </p> + <p> + The breakfast was a novelty to the Americans who partook of it, and they + enjoyed it thoroughly. + </p> + <p> + Will was made a social lion during his stay in London, being dined and + feted upon various occasions. Only a man of the most rugged health could + have endured the strain of his daily performances united with his social + obligations. + </p> + <p> + The London season was triumphantly closed with a meeting for the + establishing of a court of arbitration to settle disputes between America + and England. + </p> + <p> + After leaving the English metropolis the exhibition visited Birmingham, + and thence proceeded to its winter headquarters in Manchester. Arta, + Will's elder daughter, accompanied him to England, and made a Continental + tour during the winter. + </p> + <p> + The sojourn in Manchester was another ovation. The prominent men of the + city proposed to present to Will a fine rifle, and when the news of the + plan was carried to London, a company of noblemen, statesmen, and + journalists ran down to Manchester by special car. In acknowledgment of + the honor done him, Will issued invitations for another of his unique + American entertainments. Boston pork and beans, Maryland fried chicken, + hominy, and popcorn were served, and there were other distinctly American + dishes. An Indian rib-roast was served on tin plates, and the + distinguished guests enjoyed—or said they did—the novelty of + eating it from their fingers, in true aboriginal fashion. This remarkable + meal evoked the heartiest of toasts to the American flag, and a poem, a + parody on "Hiawatha," added luster to the occasion. + </p> + <p> + The Prince of Wales was Grand Master of the Free Masons of England, which + order presented a gold watch to Will during his stay in Manchester. The + last performance in this city was given on May 1, 1887, and as a good by + to Will the spectators united in a rousing chorus of "For he's a jolly + good fellow!" The closing exhibition of the English season occurred at + Hull, and immediately afterward the company sailed for home on the + "Persian Monarch." An immense crowd gathered on the quay, and shouted a + cordial "bon voyage." + </p> + <p> + One sad event occurred on the homeward voyage, the death of "Old Charlie," + Will's gallant and faithful horse. + </p> + <p> + He was a half-blood Kentucky horse, and had been Will's constant and + unfailing companion for many years on the plains and in the "Wild West." + </p> + <p> + He was an animal of almost human intelligence, extraordinary speed, + endurance, and fidelity. When he was quite young Will rode him on a hunt + for wild horses, which he ran down after a chase of fifteen miles. At + another time, on a wager of five hundred dollars that he could ride him + over the prairie one hundred miles in ten hours, he went the distance in + nine hours and forty-five minutes. + </p> + <p> + When the "Wild West" was opened at Omaha, Charlie was the star horse, and + held that position at all the exhibitions in this country and in Europe. + In London the horse attracted a full share of attention, and many scions + of royalty solicited the favor of riding him. Grand Duke Michael of Russia + rode Charlie several times in chase of the herd of buffaloes in the "Wild + West," and became quite attached to him. + </p> + <p> + On the morning of the 14th Will made his usual visit to Charlie, between + decks. Shortly after the groom reported him sick. He grew rapidly worse, + in spite of all the care he received, and at two o'clock on the morning of + the 17th he died. His death cast an air of sadness over the whole ship, + and no human being could have had more sincere mourners than the faithful + and sagacious old horse. He was brought on deck wrapped in canvas and + covered with the American flag. When the hour for the ocean burial + arrived, the members of the company and others assembled on deck. Standing + alone with uncovered head beside the dead was the one whose life the noble + animal had shared so long. At length, with choking utterance, Will spoke, + and Charlie for the first time failed to hear the familiar voice he had + always been so prompt to obey: + </p> + <p> + "Old fellow, your journeys are over. Here in the ocean you must rest. + Would that I could take you back and lay you down beneath the billows of + that prairie you and I have loved so well and roamed so freely; but it + cannot be. How often at break of day, the glorious sun rising on the + horizon has found us far from human habitation! Yet, obedient to my call, + gladly you bore your burden on, little heeding what the day might bring, + so that you and I but shared its sorrows and pleasures alike. You have + never failed me. Ah, Charlie, old fellow, I have had many friends, but few + of whom I could say that. Rest entombed in the deep bosom of the ocean! + I'll never forget you. I loved you as you loved me, my dear old Charlie. + Men tell me you have no soul; but if there be a heaven, and scouts can + enter there, I'll wait at the gate for you, old friend." + </p> + <p> + On this homeward trip Will made the acquaintance of a clergyman returning + from a vacation spent in Europe. When they neared the American coast this + gentleman prepared a telegram to send to his congregation. It read simply: + "2 John i. 12." Chancing to see it, Will's interest was aroused, and he + asked the clergyman to explain the significance of the reference, and when + this was done he said: "I have a religious sister at home who knows the + Bible so well that I will wire her that message and she will not need to + look up the meaning." + </p> + <p> + He duplicated to me, as his return greeting, the minister's telegram to + his congregation, but I did not justify his high opinion of my Biblical + knowledge. I was obliged to search the Scriptures to unravel the enigma. + As there may be others like me, but who have not the incentive I had to + look up the reference, I quote from God's word the message I received: + "Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and + ink; but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy + may be full." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0026" id="link2HCH0026"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXVII. — RETURN OF THE "WILD WEST" TO AMERICA. + </h2> + <p> + WHEN the "Wild West" returned to America from its first venture across + seas, the sail up the harbor was described by the New York <i>World</i> in + the following words: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "The harbor probably has never witnessed a more picturesque + scene than that of yesterday, when the 'Persian Monarch' + steamed up from quarantine. Buffalo Bill stood on the + captain's bridge, his tall and striking figure clearly + outlined, and his long hair waving in the wind; the gayly + painted and blanketed Indians leaned over the ship's rail; + the flags of all nations fluttered from the masts and + connecting cables. The cowboy band played 'Yankee Doodle' + with a vim and enthusiasm which faintly indicated the joy + felt by everybody connected with the 'Wild West' over the + sight of home." +</pre> + <p> + Will had been cordially welcomed by our English cousins, and had been the + recipient of many social favors, but no amount of foreign flattery could + change him one hair from an "American of the Americans," and he + experienced a thrill of delight as he again stepped foot upon his native + land. Shortly afterward he was much pleased by a letter from William T. + Sherman—so greatly prized that it was framed, and now hangs on the + wall of his Nebraska home. Following is a copy: + </p> + <p> + "FIFTH AVENUE HOTEL, NEW YORK. "COLONEL WM. F. CODY: + </p> + <p> + "<i>Dear Sir</i>: In common with all your countrymen, I want to let you + know that I am not only gratified but proud of your management and + success. So far as I can make out, you have been modest, graceful, and + dignified in all you have done to illustrate the history of civilization + on this continent during the past century. I am especially pleased with + the compliment paid you by the Prince of Wales, who rode with you in the + Deadwood coach while it was attacked by Indians and rescued by cowboys. + Such things did occur in our days, but they never will again. + </p> + <p> + "As nearly as I can estimate, there were in 1865 about nine and one-half + million of buffaloes on the plains between the Missouri River and the + Rocky Mountains; all are now gone, killed for their meat, their skins, and + their bones. This seems like desecration, cruelty, and murder, yet they + have been replaced by twice as many cattle. At that date there were about + 165,000 Pawnees, Sioux, Cheyennes, and Arapahoes, who depended upon these + buffaloes for their yearly food. They, too, have gone, but they have been + replaced by twice or thrice as many white men and women, who have made the + earth to blossom as the rose, and who can be counted, taxed, and governed + by the laws of nature and civilization. This change has been salutary, and + will go on to the end. You have caught one epoch of this country's + history, and have illustrated it in the very heart of the modern world—London, + and I want you to feel that on this side of the water we appreciate it. + </p> + <p> + "This drama must end; days, years, and centuries follow fast; even the + drama of civilization must have an end. All I aim to accomplish on this + sheet of paper is to assure you that I fully recognize your work. The + presence of the Queen, the beautiful Princess of Wales, the Prince, and + the British public are marks of favor which reflect back on America sparks + of light which illuminate many a house and cabin in the land where once + you guided me honestly and faithfully, in 1865-66, from Fort Riley to + Kearny, in Kansas and Nebraska. + </p> + <p> + "Sincerely your friend, + </p> + <p> + "W. T. SHERMAN." + </p> + <p> + Having demonstrated to his satisfaction that the largest measure of + success lay in a stationary exhibition of his show, where the population + was large enough to warrant it, Will purchased a tract of land on Staten + Island, and here he landed on his return from England. Teamsters for miles + around had been engaged to transport the outfit across the island to + Erastina, the site chosen for the exhibition. And you may be certain that + Cut Meat, American Bear, Flat Iron, and the other Indians furnished + unlimited joy to the ubiquitous small boy, who was present by the hundreds + to watch the unloading scenes. + </p> + <p> + The summer season at this point was a great success. One incident + connected with it may be worth the relating. + </p> + <p> + Teachers everywhere have recognized the value of the "Wild West" + exhibition as an educator, and in a number of instances public schools + have been dismissed to afford the children an opportunity of attending the + entertainment. It has not, however, been generally recognized as a spur to + religious progress, yet, while at Staten Island, Will was invited to + exhibit a band of his Indians at a missionary meeting given under the + auspices of a large mission Sunday-school. He appeared with his warriors, + who were expected to give one of their religious dances as an + object-lesson in devotional ceremonials. + </p> + <p> + The meeting was largely attended, and every one, children especially, + waited for the exercises in excited curiosity and interest. Will sat on + the platform with the superintendent, pastor, and others in authority, and + close by sat the band of stolid-faced Indians. + </p> + <p> + The service began with a hymn and the reading of the Scriptures; then, to + Will's horror, the superintendent requested him to lead the meeting in + prayer. Perhaps the good man fancied that Will for a score of years had + fought Indians with a rifle in one hand and a prayer-book in the other, + and was as prepared to pray as to shoot. At least he surely did not make + his request with the thought of embarrassing Will, though that was the + natural result. However, Will held holy things in deepest reverence; he + had the spirit of Gospel if not the letter; so, rising, he quietly and + simply, with bowed head, repeated the Lord's Prayer. + </p> + <p> + A winter exhibition under roof was given in New York, after which the show + made a tour of the principal cities of the United States. Thus passed + several years, and then arrangements were made for a grand Continental + trip. A plan had been maturing in Will's mind ever since the British + season, and in the spring of 1889 it was carried into effect. + </p> + <p> + The steamer "Persian Monarch" was again chartered, and this time its prow + was turned toward the shores of France. Paris was the destination, and + seven months were passed in the gay capital. The Parisians received the + show with as much enthusiasm as did the Londoners, and in Paris as well as + in the English metropolis everything American became a fad during the stay + of the "Wild West." Even American books were read—a crucial test of + faddism; and American curios were displayed in all the shops. Relics from + American plain and mountain—buffalo-robes, bearskins, buckskin suits + embroidered with porcupine quills, Indian blankets, woven mats, bows and + arrows, bead-mats, Mexican bridles and saddles—sold like the + proverbial hot cakes. + </p> + <p> + In Paris, also, Will became a social favorite, and had he accepted a tenth + of the invitations to receptions, dinners, and balls showered upon him, he + would have been obliged to close his show. + </p> + <p> + While in this city Will accepted an invitation from Rosa Bonheur to visit + her at her superb chateau, and in return for the honor he extended to her + the freedom of his stables, which contained magnificent horses used for + transportation purposes, and which never appeared in the public + performance—Percherons, of the breed depicted by the famous artist + in her well-known painting of "The Horse Fair." Day upon day she visited + the camp and made studies, and as a token of her appreciation of the + courtesy, painted a picture of Will mounted on his favorite horse, both + horse and rider bedecked with frontier paraphernalia. This souvenir, which + holds the place of honor in his collection, he immediately shipped home. + </p> + <p> + The wife of a London embassy attache relates the following story: + </p> + <p> + "During the time that Colonel Cody was making his triumphant tour of + Europe, I was one night seated at a banquet next to the Belgian Consul. + Early in the course of the conversation he asked: + </p> + <p> + "'Madame, you haf undoubted been to see ze gr-rand Bouf-falo Beel?' + </p> + <p> + "Puzzled by the apparently unfamiliar name, I asked: + </p> + <p> + "'Pardon me, but whom did you say?' + </p> + <p> + "'Vy, Bouf-falo Beel, ze famous Bouf-falo Beel, zat gr-reat countryman of + yours. You must know him.' + </p> + <p> + "After a moment's thought, I recognized the well-known showman's name in + its disguise. I comprehended that the good Belgian thought his to be one + of America's most eminent names, to be mentioned in the same breath with + Washington and Lincoln." + </p> + <p> + After leaving Paris, a short tour of Southern France was made, and at + Marseilles a vessel was chartered to transport the company to Spain. The + Spanish grandees eschewed their favorite amusement—the bull-fight—long + enough to give a hearty welcome to the "Wild West." Next followed a tour + of Italy; and the visit to Rome was the most interesting of the + experiences in this country. + </p> + <p> + The Americans reached the Eternal City at the time of Pope Leo's + anniversary celebration, and, on the Pope's invitation, Will visited the + Vatican. Its historic walls have rarely, if ever, looked upon a more + curious sight than was presented when Will walked in, followed by the + cowboys in their buckskins and sombreros and the Indians in war paint and + feathers. Around them crowded a motley throng of Italians, clad in the + brilliant colors so loved by these children of the South, and nearly every + nationality was represented in the assemblage. + </p> + <p> + Some of the cowboys and Indians had been reared in the Catholic faith, and + when the Pope appeared they knelt for his blessing. He seemed touched by + this action on the part of those whom he might be disposed to regard as + savages, and bending forward, extended his hands and pronounced a + benediction; then he passed on, and it was with the greatest difficulty + that the Indians were restrained from expressing their emotions in a wild + whoop. This, no doubt, would have relieved them, but it would, in all + probability, have stampeded the crowd. + </p> + <p> + When the Pope reached Will he looked admiringly upon the frontiersman. The + world-known scout bent his head before the aged "Medicine Man," as the + Indians call his reverence, the Papal blessing was again bestowed, and the + procession passed on. The Thanksgiving Mass, with its fine choral + accompaniment, was given, and the vast concourse of people poured out of + the building. + </p> + <p> + This visit attracted much attention. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "I'll take my stalwart Indian braves + Down to the Coliseum + And the old Romans from their graves + Will all arise to see 'em. + Praetors and censors will return + And hasten through the Forum + The ghostly Senate will adjourn + Because it lacks a quorum. + + "And up the ancient Appian Way + Will flock the ghostly legions + From Gaul unto Calabria, + And from remoter regions; + From British bay and wild lagoon, + And Libyan desert sandy, + They'll all come marching to the tune + Of 'Yankee Doodle Dandy.' + + "Prepare triumphal cars for me, + And purple thrones to sit on, + For I've done more than Julius C.— + He could not down the Briton! + Caesar and Cicero shall bow + And ancient warriors famous, + Before the myrtle-wreathed brow + Of Buffalo Williamus. + + "We march, unwhipped, through history— + No bulwark can detain us— + And link the age of Grover C. + And Scipio Africanus. + I'll take my stalwart Indian braves + Down to the Coliseum, + And the old Romans from their graves + Will all arise to see 'em." +</pre> + <p> + It may be mentioned in passing that Will had visited the Coliseum with an + eye to securing it as an amphitheater for the "Wild West" exhibition, but + the historic ruin was too dilapidated to be a safe arena for such a + purpose, and the idea was abandoned. + </p> + <p> + The sojourn in Rome was enlivened by an incident that created much + interest among the natives. The Italians were somewhat skeptical as to the + abilities of the cowboys to tame wild horses, believing the bronchos in + the show were specially trained for their work, and that the + horse-breaking was a mock exhibition. + </p> + <p> + The Prince of Sermonetta declared that he had some wild horses in his stud + which no cowboys in the world could ride. The challenge was promptly taken + up by the daring riders of the plains, and the Prince sent for his wild + steeds. That they might not run amuck and injure the spectators, specially + prepared booths of great strength were erected. + </p> + <p> + The greatest interest and enthusiasm were manifested by the populace, and + the death of two or three members of the company was as confidently looked + for as was the demise of sundry gladiators in the "brave days of old." + </p> + <p> + But the cowboys laughed at so great a fuss over so small a matter, and + when the horses were driven into the arena, and the spectators held their + breath, the cowboys, lassos in hand, awaited the work with the utmost + nonchalance. + </p> + <p> + The wild equines sprang into the air, darted hither and thither, and + fought hard against their certain fate, but in less time than would be + required to give the details, the cowboys had flung their lassos, caught + the horses, and saddled and mounted them. The spirited beasts still + resisted, and sought in every way to throw their riders, but the + experienced plainsmen had them under control in a very short time; and as + they rode them around the arena, the spectators rose and howled with + delight. The display of horsemanship effectually silenced the skeptics; it + captured the Roman heart, and the remainder of the stay in the city was + attended by unusual enthusiasm. + </p> + <p> + Beautiful Florence, practical Bologna, and stately Milan, with its + many-spired cathedral, were next on the list for the triumphal march. For + the Venetian public the exhibition had to be given at Verona, in the + historic amphitheater built by Diocletian, A. D. '90. This is the largest + building in the world, and within the walls of this representative of Old + World civilization the difficulties over which New World civilization had + triumphed were portrayed. Here met the old and new; hoary antiquity and + bounding youth kissed each other under the sunny Italian skies. + </p> + <p> + The "Wild West" now moved northward, through the Tyrol, to Munich, and + from here the Americans digressed for an excursion on the "beautiful blue + Danube." Then followed a successful tour of Germany. + </p> + <p> + During this Continental circuit Will's elder daughter, Arta, who had + accompanied him on his British expedition, was married. It was impossible + for the father to be present, but by cablegram he sent his congratulations + and check. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0027" id="link2HCH0027"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXVIII. — A TRIBUTE TO GENERAL MILES. + </h2> + <p> + IN view of the success achieved by my brother, it is remarkable that he + excited so little envy. Now for the first time in his life he felt the + breath of slander on his cheek, and it flushed hotly. From an idle remark + that the Indians in the "Wild West" exhibition were not properly treated, + the idle gossip grew to the proportion of malicious and insistent slander. + The Indians being government wards, such a charge might easily become a + serious matter; for, like the man who beat his wife, the government + believes it has the right to maltreat the red man to the top of its bent, + but that no one else shall be allowed to do so. + </p> + <p> + A winter campaign of the "Wild West" had been contemplated, but the + project was abandoned and winter quarters decided on. In the quaint little + village of Benfield was an ancient nunnery and a castle, with good + stables. Here Will left the company in charge of his partner, Mr. Nate + Salisbury, and, accompanied by the Indians for whose welfare he was + responsible, set sail for America, to silence his calumniators. + </p> + <p> + The testimony of the red men themselves was all that was required to + refute the notorious untruths. Few had placed any belief in the reports, + and friendly commenters were also active. + </p> + <p> + As the sequel proved, Will came home very opportunely. The Sioux in Dakota + were again on the war-path, and his help was needed to subdue the + uprising. He disbanded the warriors he had brought back from Europe, and + each returned to his own tribe and people, to narrate around the camp-fire + the wonders of the life abroad, while Will reported at headquarters to + offer his services for the war. Two years previously he had been honored + by the commission of Brigadier-General of the Nebraska National Guard, + which rank and title were given to him by Governor Thayer. + </p> + <p> + The officer in command of the Indian campaign was General Nelson A. Miles, + who has rendered so many important services to his country, and who, as + Commander-in-Chief of our army, played so large a part in the recent war + with Spain. At the time of the Indian uprising he held the rank of + Brigadier-General. + </p> + <p> + This brilliant and able officer was much pleased when he learned that he + would have Will's assistance in conducting the campaign, for he knew the + value of his good judgment, cool head, and executive ability, and of his + large experience in dealing with Indians. + </p> + <p> + The "Wild West," which had served as an educator to the people of Europe + in presenting the frontier life of America, had quietly worked as + important educational influences in the minds of the Indians connected + with the exhibition. They had seen for themselves the wonders of the + world's civilization; they realized how futile were the efforts of the + children of the plains to stem the resistless tide of progress flowing + westward. Potentates had delighted to do honor to Pa-has-ka, the + Long-haired Chief, and in the eyes of the simple savage he was as powerful + as any of the great ones of earth. To him his word was law; it seemed + worse than folly for their brethren to attempt to cope with so mighty a + chief, therefore their influence was all for peace; and the fact that so + many tribes did not join in the uprising may be attributed, in part, to + their good counsel and advice. + </p> + <p> + General Miles was both able and energetic, and managed the campaign in + masterly fashion. There were one or two hard-fought battles, in one of + which the great Sioux warrior, Sitting Bull, the ablest that nation ever + produced, was slain. This Indian had traveled with Will for a time, but + could not be weaned from his loyalty to his own tribe and a desire to + avenge upon the white man the wrongs inflicted on his people. + </p> + <p> + What promised at the outset to be a long and cruel frontier war was + speedily quelled. The death of Sitting Bull had something to do with the + termination of hostilities. Arrangements for peace were soon perfected, + and Will attributed the government's success to the energy of its officer + in command, for whom he has a most enthusiastic admiration. He paid this + tribute to him recently: + </p> + <p> + "I have been in many campaigns with General Miles, and a better general + and more gifted warrior I have never seen. I served in the Civil War, and + in any number of Indian wars; I have been under at least a dozen generals, + with whom I have been thrown in close contact because of the nature of the + services which I was called upon to render. General Miles is the superior + of them all. + </p> + <p> + "I have known Phil Sheridan, Tecumseh Sherman, Hancock, and all of our + noted Indian fighters. For cool judgment and thorough knowledge of all + that pertains to military affairs, none of them, in my opinion, can be + said to excel General Nelson A. Miles. + </p> + <p> + "Ah, what a man he is! I know. We have been shoulder to shoulder in many a + hard march. We have been together when men find out what their comrades + really are. He is a man, every inch of him, and the best general I ever + served under." + </p> + <p> + After Miles was put in command of the forces, a dinner was given in his + honor by John Chamberlin. Will was a guest and one of the speakers, and + took the opportunity to eulogize his old friend. He dwelt at length on the + respect in which the red men held the general, and in closing said: + </p> + <p> + "No foreign invader will ever set foot on these shores as long as General + Miles is at the head of the army. If they should—just call on me!" + </p> + <p> + The speaker sat down amid laughter and applause. + </p> + <p> + While Will was away at the seat of war, his beautiful home in North + Platte, "Welcome Wigwam," burned to the ground. The little city is not + equipped with much of a fire department, but a volunteer brigade held the + flames in check long enough to save almost the entire contents of the + house, among which were many valuable and costly souvenirs that could + never be replaced. + </p> + <p> + Will received a telegram announcing that his house was ablaze, and his + reply was characteristic: + </p> + <p> + "Save Rosa Bonheur's picture, and the house may go to blazes." + </p> + <p> + When the frontier war was ended and the troops disbanded, Will made + application for another company of Indians to take back to Europe with + him. Permission was obtained from the government, and the contingent from + the friendly tribes was headed by chiefs named Long Wolf, No Neck, Yankton + Charlie, and Black Heart. In addition to these a company was recruited + from among the Indians held as hostages by General Miles at Fort Sheridan, + and the leaders of these hostile braves were such noted chiefs as Short + Bull, Kicking Bear, Lone Bull, Scatter, and Revenge. To these the trip to + Alsace-Lorraine was a revelation, a fairy-tale more wonderful than + anything in their legendary lore. The ocean voyage, with its seasickness, + put them in an ugly mood, but the sight of the encampment and the cowboys + dissipated their sullenness, and they shortly felt at home. The + hospitality extended to all the members of the company by the inhabitants + of the village in which they wintered was most cordial, and left them the + pleasantest of memories. + </p> + <p> + An extended tour of Europe was fittingly closed by a brief visit to + England. The Britons gave the "Wild West" as hearty a welcome as if it + were native to their heath. A number of the larger cities were visited, + London being reserved for the last. + </p> + <p> + Royalty again honored the "Wild West" by its attendance, the Queen + requesting a special performance on the grounds of Windsor Castle. The + requests of the Queen are equivalent to commands, and the entertainment + was duly given. As a token of her appreciation the Queen bestowed upon + Will a costly and beautiful souvenir. + </p> + <p> + Not the least-esteemed remembrance of this London visit was an illuminated + address presented by the English Workingman's Convention. In it the + American plainsman was congratulated upon the honors he had won, the + success he had achieved, and the educational worth of his great + exhibition. A banquet followed, at which Will presented an autograph + photograph to each member of the association. + </p> + <p> + Notwithstanding tender thoughts of home, English soil was left + regretfully. To the "Wild West" the complacent Briton had extended a + cordial welcome, and manifested an enthusiasm that contrasted strangely + with his usual disdain for things American. + </p> + <p> + A singular coincidence of the homeward voyage was the death of Billy, + another favorite horse of Will's. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0028" id="link2HCH0028"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIX. — THE "WILD WEST" AT THE WORLD'S FAIR. + </h2> + <p> + EUROPEAN army officers of all nationalities regarded my brother with + admiring interest. To German, French, Italian, or British eyes he was a + commanding personality, and also the representative of a peculiar and + interesting phase of New World life. Recalling their interest in his + scenes from his native land, so unlike anything to be found in Europe + to-day, Will invited a number of these officers to accompany him on an + extended hunting-trip through Western America. + </p> + <p> + All that could possibly do so accepted the invitation. A date was set for + them to reach Chicago, and from there arrangements were made for a special + train to convey them to Nebraska. + </p> + <p> + When the party gathered, several prominent Americans were of the number. + By General Miles's order a military escort attended them from Chicago, and + the native soldiery remained with them until North Platte was reached. + </p> + <p> + Then the party proceeded to "Scout's Rest Ranch," where they were + hospitably entertained for a couple of days before starting out on their + long trail. + </p> + <p> + At Denver ammunition and supplies were taken on board the train. A French + chef was also engaged, as Will feared his distinguished guests might not + enjoy camp-fare. But a hen in water is no more out of place than a French + cook on a "roughing-it" trip. Frontier cooks, who understand primitive + methods, make no attempt at a fashionable cuisine, and the appetites + developed by open-air life are equal to the rudest, most substantial fare. + </p> + <p> + Colorado Springs, the Garden of the Gods, and other places in Colorado + were visited. The foreign visitors had heard stories of this wonderland of + America, but, like all of nature's masterpieces, the rugged beauties of + this magnificent region defy an adequate description. Only one who has + seen a sunrise on the Alps can appreciate it. The storied Rhine is naught + but a story to him who has never looked upon it. Niagara is only a + waterfall until seen from various view-points, and its tremendous force + and transcendent beauty are strikingly revealed. The same is true of the + glorious wildness of our Western scenery; it must be seen to be + appreciated. + </p> + <p> + The most beautiful thing about the Garden of the Gods is the entrance + known as the Gateway. Color here runs riot. The mass of rock in the + foreground is white, and stands out in sharp contrast to the rich red of + the sandstone of the portals, which rise on either side to a height of + three hundred feet. Through these giant portals, which in the sunlight + glow with ruddy fire, is seen mass upon mass of gorgeous color, rendered + more striking by the dazzling whiteness of Pike's Peak, which soars upward + in the distance, a hoary sentinel of the skies. The whole picture is + limned against the brilliant blue of the Colorado sky, and stands out + sharp and clear, one vivid block of color distinctly defined against the + other. + </p> + <p> + The name "Garden of the Gods" was doubtless applied because of the + peculiar shape of the spires, needles, and basilicas of rock that rise in + every direction. These have been corroded by storms and worn smooth by + time, until they present the appearance of half-baked images of clay + molded by human hands, instead of sandstone rocks fashioned by wind and + weather. Each grotesque and fantastic shape has received a name. One is + here introduced to the "Washerwoman," the "Lady of the Garden," the + "Siamese Twins," and the "Ute God," and besides these may be seen the + "Wreck," the "Baggage Room," the "Eagle," and the "Mushroom." The + predominating tone is everywhere red, but black, brown, drab, white, + yellow, buff, and pink rocks add their quota to make up a harmonious and + striking color scheme, to which the gray and green of clinging mosses add + a final touch of picturesqueness. + </p> + <p> + At Flagstaff, Arizona, the train was discarded for the saddle and the + buckboard. And now Will felt himself quite in his element; it was a + never-failing pleasure to him to guide a large party of guests over plain + and mountain. From long experience he knew how to make ample provision for + their comfort. There were a number of wagons filled with supplies, three + buckboards, three ambulances, and a drove of ponies. Those who wished to + ride horseback could do so; if they grew tired of a bucking broncho, + opportunity for rest awaited them in ambulance or buckboard. The French + chef found his occupation gone when it was a question of cooking over a + camp-fire; so he spent his time picking himself up when dislodged by his + broncho. The daintiness of his menu was not a correct gauge for the + daintiness of his language on these numerous occasions. + </p> + <p> + Through the Grand Canon of the Colorado Will led the party, and the + dwellers of the Old World beheld some of the rugged magnificence of the + New. Across rushing rivers, through quiet valleys, and over lofty + mountains they proceeded, pausing on the borders of peaceful lakes, or + looking over dizzy precipices into yawning chasms. + </p> + <p> + There was no lack of game to furnish variety to their table; mountain + sheep, mountain lions, wildcats, deer, elk, antelope, and even coyotes and + porcupines, were shot, while the rivers furnished an abundance of fish. + </p> + <p> + It seemed likely at one time that there might be a hunt of bigger game + than any here mentioned, for in crossing the country of the Navajos the + party was watched and followed by mounted Indians. An attack was feared, + and had the red men opened fire, there would have been a very animated + defense; but the suspicious Indians were merely on the alert to see that + no trespass was committed, and when the orderly company passed out of + their territory the warriors disappeared. + </p> + <p> + The visitors were much impressed with the vastness and the undeveloped + resources of our country. They were also impressed with the climate, as + the thermometer went down to forty degrees below zero while they were on + Buckskin Mountain. Nature seemed to wish to aid Will in the effort to + exhibit novelties to his foreign guests, for she tried her hand at some + spectacular effects, and succeeded beyond mortal expectation. She treated + them to a few blizzards; and shut in by the mass of whirling, blinding + snowflakes, it is possible their thoughts reverted with a homesick longing + to the sunny slopes of France, the placid vales of Germany, or the foggy + mildness of Great Britain. + </p> + <p> + On the summit of San Francisco Mountain, the horse of Major St. John + Mildmay lost its footing, and began to slip on the ice toward a precipice + which looked down a couple of thousand feet. Will saw the danger, brought + out his ever-ready lasso, and dexterously caught the animal in time to + save it and its rider—a feat considered remarkable by the onlookers. + </p> + <p> + Accidents happened occasionally, many adventures were met with, Indian + alarms were given, and narrow were some of the escapes. On the whole, it + was a remarkable trail, and was written about under the heading, "A + Thousand Miles in the Saddle with Buffalo Bill." + </p> + <p> + At Salt Lake City the party broke up, each going his separate way. All + expressed great pleasure in the trip, and united in the opinion that + Buffalo Bill's reputation as guide and scout was a well-deserved one. + </p> + <p> + Will's knowledge of Indian nature stands him in good stead when he desires + to select the quota of Indians for the summer season of the "Wild West." + He sends word ahead to the tribe or reservation which he intends to visit. + The red men have all heard of the wonders of the great show; they are more + than ready to share in the delights of travel, and they gather at the + appointed place in great numbers. + </p> + <p> + Will stands on a temporary platform in the center of the group. He looks + around upon the swarthy faces, glowing with all the eagerness which the + stolid Indian nature will permit them to display. It is not always the + tallest nor the most comely men who are selected. The unerring judgment of + the scout, trained in Indian warfare, tells him who may be relied upon and + who are untrustworthy. A face arrests his attention—with a motion of + his hand he indicates the brave whom he has selected; another wave of the + hand and the fate of a second warrior is settled. Hardly a word is spoken, + and it is only a matter of a few moments' time before he is ready to step + down from his exalted position and walk off with his full contingent of + warriors following happily in his wake. + </p> + <p> + The "Wild West" had already engaged space just outside the World's Fair + grounds for an exhibit in 1893, and Will was desirous of introducing some + new and striking feature. He had succeeded in presenting to the people of + Europe some new ideas, and, in return, the European trip had furnished to + him the much-desired novelty. He had performed the work of an educator in + showing to Old World residents the conditions of a new civilization, and + the idea was now conceived of showing to the world gathered at the arena + in Chicago a representation of the cosmopolitan military force. He called + it "A Congress of the Rough Riders of the World." It is a combination at + once ethnological and military. + </p> + <p> + To the Indians and cowboys were added Mexicans, Cossacks, and South + Americans, with regular trained cavalry from Germany, France, England, and + the United States. This aggregation showed for the first time in 1893, and + was an instantaneous success. Of it Opie Read gives a fine description: + </p> + <p> + "Morse made the two worlds touch the tips of their fingers together. Cody + has made the warriors of all nations join hands. + </p> + <p> + "In one act we see the Indian, with his origin shrouded in history's + mysterious fog; the cowboy—nerve-strung product of the New World; + the American soldier, the dark Mexican, the glittering soldier of Germany, + the dashing cavalryman of France, the impulsive Irish dragoon, and that + strange, swift spirit from the plains of Russia, the Cossack. + </p> + <p> + "Marvelous theatric display, a drama with scarcely a word—Europe, + Asia, Africa, America in panoramic whirl, and yet as individualized as if + they had never left their own country." + </p> + <p> + In 1893 the horizon of my brother's interests enlarged. In July of that + year I was married to Mr. Hugh A. Wetmore, editor of the Duluth <i>Press</i>. + My steps now turned to the North, and the enterprising young city on the + shore of Lake Superior became my home. During the long years of my + widowhood my brother always bore toward me the attitude of guardian and + protector; I could rely upon his support in any venture I deemed a + promising one, and his considerate thoughtfulness did not fail when I + remarried. He wished to see me well established in my new home; he desired + to insure my happiness and prosperity, and with this end in view he + purchased the Duluth <i>Press</i> plant, erected a fine brick building to + serve as headquarters for the newspaper venture, and we became business + partners in the untried field of press work. + </p> + <p> + My brother had not yet seen the Zenith City. So in January of 1894 he + arranged to make a short visit to Duluth. We issued invitations for a + general reception, and the response was of the genuine Western kind—eighteen + hundred guests assembling in the new Duluth <i>Press</i> Building to bid + welcome and do honor to the world-famed Buffalo Bill. + </p> + <p> + His name is a household word, and there is a growing demand for anecdotes + concerning him. As he does not like to talk about himself, chroniclers + have been compelled to interview his associates, or are left to their own + resources. Like many of the stories told about Abraham Lincoln, some of + the current yarns about Buffalo Bill are of doubtful authority. + Nevertheless, a collection of those that are authentic would fill a + volume. Almost every plainsman or soldier who met my brother during the + Indian campaigns can tell some interesting tale about him that has never + been printed. During the youthful season of redundant hope and happiness + many of his ebullitions of wit were lost, but he was always beloved for + his good humor, which no amount of carnage could suppress. He was not + averse to church-going, though he was liable even in church to be carried + away by the rollicking spirit that was in him. Instance his visit to the + little temple which he had helped to build at North Platte. + </p> + <p> + His wife and sister were in the congregation, and this ought not only to + have kept him awake, but it should have insured perfect decorum on his + part. The opening hymn commenced with the words, "Oh, for a thousand + tongues to sing," etc. The organist, who played "by ear," started the tune + in too high a key to be followed by the choir and congregation, and had to + try again. A second attempt ended, like the first, in failure. "Oh, for a + thousand tongues to sing, my blest—" came the opening words for the + third time, followed by a squeak from the organ, and a relapse into + painful silence. Will could contain himself no longer, and blurted out: + "Start it at five hundred, and mebbe some of the rest of us can get in." + </p> + <p> + Another church episode occurred during the visit of the "Wild West" to the + Atlanta Exposition. A locally celebrated colored preacher had announced + that he would deliver a sermon on the subject of Abraham Lincoln. A party + of white people, including my brother, was made up, and repaired to the + church to listen to the eloquent address. Not wishing to make themselves + conspicuous, the white visitors took a pew in the extreme rear, but one of + the ushers, wishing to honor them, insisted on conducting them to a front + seat. When the contribution platter came around, our hero scooped a lot of + silver dollars from his pocket and deposited them upon the plate with such + force that the receptacle was tilted and its contents poured in a jingling + shower upon the floor. The preacher left his pulpit to assist in gathering + up the scattered treasure, requesting the congregation to sing a hymn of + thanksgiving while the task was being performed. At the conclusion of the + hymn the sable divine returned to the pulpit and supplemented his sermon + with the following remarks: + </p> + <p> + "Brudderen an' sisters: I obsahve dat Co'nel and Gen'l Buflo Bill am + present. [A roar of 'Amens' and 'Bless God's' arose from the audience.] + You will wifhold yuh Amens till I git froo. You all owes yuh freedom to + Abraham's bosom, but he couldn't hab went an' gone an' done it widout + Buflo Bill, who he'ped him wid de sinnoose ob wah! Abraham Lincum was de + brack man's fren'—Buflo Bill am de fren' ob us all. ['Amen!' + screamed a sister.] Yes, sistah, he am yo' fren', moreova, an' de fren' ob + every daughtah ob Jakup likewise. De chu'ch debt am a cross to us, an' to + dat cross he bends his back as was prefigu'd in de scriptu's ob ol', De + sun may move, aw de sun mought stan' still, but Buflo Bill nebba stan's + still—he's ma'ching froo Geo'gia wid his Christian cowboys to sto'm + de Lookout Mountain ob Zion. Deacon Green Henry Turner will lead us in + prayah fo' Buflo Bill." + </p> + <p> + The following is one of Will's own stories: During the first years of his + career as an actor Will had in one of his theatrical companies a Westerner + named Broncho Bill. There were Indians in the troupe, and a certain + missionary had joined the aggregation to look after the morals of the + Indians. Thinking that Broncho Bill would bear a little looking after + also, the good man secured a seat by his side at the dinner-table, and + remarked pleasantly: + </p> + <p> + "This is Mr. Broncho Bill, is it not?" + </p> + <p> + "Yaas." + </p> + <p> + "Where were you born?" + </p> + <p> + "Near Kit Bullard's mill, on Big Pigeon." + </p> + <p> + "Religious parents, I suppose?" + </p> + <p> + "Yaas." + </p> + <p> + "What is your denomination?" + </p> + <p> + "My what?" + </p> + <p> + "Your denomination?" + </p> + <p> + "O—ah—yaas. Smith & Wesson." + </p> + <p> + While on his European tour Will was entertained by a great many + potentates. At a certain dinner given in his honor by a wealthy English + lord, Will met for the first time socially a number of blustering British + officers, fresh from India. One of them addressed himself to the scout as + follows: "I understand you are a colonel. You Americans are blawsted fond + of military titles, don't cherneow. By gad, sir, we'll have to come over + and give you fellows a good licking!" + </p> + <p> + "What, again?" said the scout, so meekly that for an instant his assailant + did not know how hard he was hit, but he realized it when the retort was + wildly applauded by the company. + </p> + <p> + Before closing these pages I will give an account of an episode which + occurred during the Black Hills gold excitement, and which illustrates the + faculty my hero possesses of adapting himself to all emergencies. Mr. + Mahan, of West Superior, Wisconsin, and a party of adventurous + gold-seekers were being chased by a band of Indians, which they had + succeeded in temporarily eluding. They met Buffalo Bill at the head of a + squad of soldiers who were looking for redskins. The situation was + explained to the scout, whereupon he said: + </p> + <p> + "I am looking for that identical crowd. Now, you draw up in line, and I + will look you over and pick out the men that I want to go back with me." + </p> + <p> + Without any questioning he was able to select the men who really wanted to + return and fight the Indians. He left but two behind, but they were the + ones who would have been of no assistance had they been allowed to go to + the front. Will rode some distance in advance of his party, and when the + Indians sighted him, they thought he was alone, and made a dash for him. + Will whirled about and made his horse go as if fleeing for his life. His + men had been carefully ambushed. The Indians kept up a constant firing, + and when he reached a certain point Will pretended to be hit, and fell + from his horse. On came the Indians, howling like a choir of maniacs. The + next moment they were in a trap, and Will and his men opened fire on them, + literally annihilating the entire squad. It was the Indian style of + warfare, and the ten "good Indians" left upon the field, had they been + able to complain, would have had no right to do so. + </p> + <p> + Will continued the march, and as the day was well advanced, began looking + for a good place to camp. Arriving at the top of a ridge overlooking a + little river, Will saw a spot where he had camped on a previous + expedition; but, to his great disappointment, the place was in possession + of a large village of hostiles, who were putting up their tepees, building + camp fires, and making themselves comfortable for the coming night. + </p> + <p> + Quick as a flash Will decided what to do. "There are too many of them for + us to whip in the tired condition of ourselves and horses," said our hero. + Then he posted his men along the top of the ridge, with instructions to + show themselves at a signal from him, and descended at once, solitary and + alone, to the encampment of hostiles. Gliding rapidly up to the chief, + Will addressed him in his own dialect as follows: + </p> + <p> + "I want you to leave here right away, quick! I don't want to kill your + women and children. A big lot of soldiers are following me, and they will + destroy your whole village if you are here when they come." + </p> + <p> + As he waved his hand in the direction of the hilltop, brass buttons and + polished gun-barrels began to glitter in the rays of the setting sun, and + the chief ordered his braves to fold their tents and move on. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0029" id="link2HCH0029"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXX. — CODY DAY AT THE OMAHA EXPOSITION. + </h2> + <p> + SINCE 1893 the "Wild West" exhibitions have been restricted to the various + cities of our own land. Life in "Buffalo Bill's Tented City," as it is + called, is like life in a small village. There are some six hundred + persons in the various departments. Many of the men have their families + with them; the Indians have their squaws and papooses, and the variety of + nationalities, dialects, and costumes makes the miniature city an + interesting and entertaining one. + </p> + <p> + The Indians may be seen eating bundles of meat from their fingers and + drinking tankards of iced buttermilk. The Mexicans, a shade more + civilized, shovel with their knives great quantities of the same food into + the capacious receptacles provided by nature. The Americans, despite what + is said of their rapid eating, take time to laugh and crack jokes, and + finish their repast with a product only known to the highest civilization—ice-cream. + </p> + <p> + When the "Wild West" visited Boston, one hot June day the parade passed a + children's hospital on the way to the show-grounds. Many of the little + invalids were unable to leave their couches. All who could do so ran to + the open windows and gazed eagerly at the passing procession, and the + greatest excitement prevailed. These more fortunate little ones described, + as best they could, to the little sufferers who could not leave their beds + the wonderful things they saw. The Indians were the special admiration of + the children. After the procession passed, one wee lad, bedridden by + spinal trouble, cried bitterly because he had not seen it. A kind-hearted + nurse endeavored to soothe the child, but words proved unavailing. Then a + bright idea struck the patient woman; she told him he might write a letter + to the great "Buffalo Bill" himself and ask him for an Indian's picture. + </p> + <p> + The idea was taken up with delight, and the child spent an eager hour in + penning the letter. It was pathetic in its simplicity. The little sufferer + told the great exhibitor that he was sick in bed, was unable to see the + Indians when they passed the hospital, and that he longed to see a + photograph of one. + </p> + <p> + The important missive was mailed, and even the impatient little invalid + knew it was useless to expect an answer that day. The morning had hardly + dawned before a child's bright eyes were open. Every noise was listened + to, and he wondered when the postman would bring him a letter. The nurse + hardly dared to hope that a busy man like Buffalo Bill would take time to + respond to the wish of a sick child. + </p> + <p> + "Colonel Cody is a very busy man," she said. "We must be patient." + </p> + <p> + At perhaps the twentieth repetition of this remark the door opened + noiselessly. In came a six-foot Indian, clad in leather trousers and + wrapped in a scarlet blanket. He wore a head-dress of tall, waving + feathers, and carried his bow in his hand. + </p> + <p> + The little invalids gasped in wonder; then they shrieked with delight. One + by one, silent and noiseless, but smiling, six splendid warriors followed + the first. The visitors had evidently been well trained, and had received + explicit directions as to their actions. + </p> + <p> + So unusual a sight in the orderly hospital so startled the nurse that she + could not even speak. The warriors drew up in a line and saluted her. The + happy children were shouting in such glee that the poor woman's fright was + unnoticed. + </p> + <p> + The Indians ranged themselves in the narrow space between the cots, laid + aside their gay blankets, placed their bows upon the floor, and waving + their arms to and fro, executed a quiet war-dance. A sham battle was + fought, followed by a song of victory. After this the blankets were again + donned, the kindly red men went away, still smiling as benignly as their + war paint would allow them to do. A cheer of gratitude and delight + followed them down the broad corridors. The happy children talked about + Buffalo Bill and the "Wild West" for weeks after this visit. + </p> + <p> + North Platte had long urged my brother to bring the exhibition there. The + citizens wished to see the mammoth tents spread over the ground where the + scout once followed the trail on the actual war-path; they desired that + their famous fellow-citizen should thus honor his home town. A performance + was finally given there on October 12, 1896, the special car bearing Will + and his party arriving the preceding day, Sunday. The writer of these + chronicles joined the party in Omaha, and we left that city after the + Saturday night performance. + </p> + <p> + The Union Pacific Railroad had offered my brother every inducement to make + this trip; among other things, the officials promised to make special time + in running from Omaha to North Platte. + </p> + <p> + When we awoke Sunday morning, we found that in some way the train had been + delayed, that instead of making special time we were several hours late. + Will telegraphed this fact to the officials. At the next station + double-headers were put on, and the gain became at once perceptible. At + Grand Island a congratulatory telegram was sent, noting the gain in time. + At the next station we passed the Lightning Express, the "flyer," to which + usually everything gives way, and the good faith of the company was + evidenced by the fact that this train was side-tracked to make way for + Buffalo Bill's "Wild West" train. Another message was sent over the wires + to the officials; it read as follows: + </p> + <p> + "Have just noticed that Lightning Express is side-tracked to make way for + Wild west. I herewith promote you to top seat in heaven." + </p> + <p> + The trip was a continued ovation. Every station was thronged, and Will was + obliged to step out on the platform and make a bow to the assembled + crowds, his appearance being invariably greeted with a round of cheers. + When we reached the station at North Platte, we found that the entire + population had turned out to receive their fellow-townsman. The "Cody + Guards," a band to which Will presented beautiful uniforms of white + broadcloth trimmed with gold braid, struck up the strains of "See, the + Conquering Hero Comes." The mayor attempted to do the welcoming honors of + the city, but it was impossible for him to make himself heard. Cheer + followed cheer from the enthusiastic crowd. + </p> + <p> + We had expected to reach the place some hours earlier, but our late + arrival encroached upon the hour of church service. The ministers + discovered that it was impossible to hold their congregations; so they + were dismissed, and the pastors accompanied them to the station, one + reverend gentleman humorously remarking: + </p> + <p> + "We shall be obliged to take for our text this morning 'Buffalo Bill and + his Wild West,' and will now proceed to the station for the discourse." + </p> + <p> + Will's tally-ho coach, drawn by six horses, was in waiting for the + incoming party. The members of his family seated themselves in that + conveyance, and we passed through the town, preceded and followed by a + band. As we arrived at the home residence, both bands united in a + welcoming strain of martial music. + </p> + <p> + My oldest sister, Julia, whose husband is manager of "Scout's Rest Ranch," + when informed that the "Wild West" was to visit North Platte, conceived + the idea of making this visit the occasion of a family reunion. We had + never met in an unbroken circle since the days of our first separation, + but as a result of her efforts we sat thus that evening in my brother's + home. The next day our mother-sister, as she had always been regarded, + entertained us at "Scout's Rest Ranch." + </p> + <p> + The "Wild West" exhibition had visited Duluth for the first time that same + year. This city has a population of 65,000. North Platte numbers 3,500. + When he wrote to me of his intention to take the exhibition to Duluth, + Will offered to make a wager that his own little town would furnish a + bigger crowd than would the city of my residence. I could not accept any + such inferred slur upon the Zenith City, so accepted the wager, a silk hat + against a fur cloak. + </p> + <p> + October 12th, the date of the North Platte performance, dawned bright and + cloudless. "To-day decides our wager," said Will. "I expect there will be + two or three dozen people out on this prairie. Duluth turned out a good + many thousands, so I suppose you think your wager as good as won." + </p> + <p> + The manager of the tents evidently thought the outlook a forlorn one. I + shared his opinion, and was, in fancy, already the possessor of a fine fur + cloak. + </p> + <p> + "Colonel, shall we stretch the full canvas?" asked the tentman. + </p> + <p> + "Every inch of it," was the prompt response. "We want to show North Platte + the capacity of the 'Wild West,' at any rate." + </p> + <p> + As we started for the grounds Will was evidently uncertain over the + outcome, in spite of his previous boast of the reception North Platte + would give him. "We'll have a big tent and plenty of room to spare in it," + he observed. + </p> + <p> + But as we drove to the grounds we soon began to see indications of a + coming crowd. The people were pouring in from all directions; the very + atmosphere seemed populated; as the dust was nearly a foot deep on the + roads, the moving populace made the air almost too thick for breathing. It + was during the time of the county fair, and managers of the Union Pacific + road announced that excursion trains would be run from every town and + hamlet, the officials and their families coming up from Omaha on a special + car. Where the crowds came from it was impossible to say. It looked as if + a feat of magic had been performed, and that the stones were turned into + men, or, perchance, that, as in olden tales, they came up out of the + earth. + </p> + <p> + Accustomed though he is to the success of the show, Will was dumfounded by + this attendance. As the crowds poured in I became alarmed about my wager. + I visited the ticket-seller and asked how the matter stood. + </p> + <p> + "It's pretty close," he answered. "Duluth seems to be dwindling away + before the mightiness of the Great American Desert." + </p> + <p> + This section of the country, which was a wilderness only a few years ago, + assembled over ten thousand people to attend a performance of the "Wild + West." + </p> + <p> + Omaha, where the opening performance of this exhibition was given, honored + Will last year by setting apart one day as "Cody Day." August 31st was + devoted to his reception, and a large and enthusiastic crowd gathered to + do the Nebraska pioneer honor. The parade reached the fair-grounds at + eleven o'clock, where it was fittingly received by one hundred and fifty + mounted Indians from the encampment. A large square space had been + reserved for the reception of the party in front of the Sherman gate. As + it filed through, great applause was sent up by the waiting multitude, and + the noise became deafening when my brother made his appearance on a + magnificent chestnut horse, the gift of General Miles. He was accompanied + by a large party of officials and Nebraska pioneers, who dismounted to + seat themselves on the grand-stand. Prominent among these were the + governor of the state, Senator Thurston, and Will's old friend and first + employer, Mr. Alexander Majors. As Will ascended the platform he was met + by General Manager Clarkson, who welcomed him in the name of the president + of the exposition, whose official duties precluded his presence. Governor + Holcomb was then introduced, and his speech was a brief review of the + evolution of Nebraska from a wilderness of a generation ago to the great + state which produced this marvelous exposition. Manager Clarkson remarked, + as he introduced Mr. Majors: "Here is the father of them all, Alexander + Majors, a man connected with the very earliest history of Nebraska, and + the business father of Colonel Cody." + </p> + <p> + This old pioneer was accorded a reception only a shade less enthusiastic + than that which greeted the hero of the day. He said: + </p> + <p> + "<i>Gentlemen, and My Boy, Colonel Cody</i>: [Laughter.] Can I say a few + words of welcome? Friend Creighton and I came down here together to-day, + and he thought I was not equal to the occasion. Gentlemen, I do not know + whether I am equal to the occasion at this time, but I am going to do the + best for you that I can. Give me your hand, Colonel. Gentlemen, + forty-three years ago this day, this fine-looking physical specimen of + manhood was brought to me by his mother—a little boy nine years old—and + little did I think at that time that the boy that was standing before me, + asking for employment of some kind by which I could afford to pay his + mother a little money for his services, was going to be a boy of such + destiny as he has turned out to be. In this country we have great men, we + have great men in Washington, we have men who are famous as politicians in + this country; we have great statesmen, we have had Jackson and Grant, and + we had Lincoln; we have men great in agriculture and in stock-growing, and + in the manufacturing business men who have made great names for + themselves, who have stood high in the nation. Next, and even greater, we + have a Cody. He, gentlemen, stands before you now, known the wide world + over as the last of the great scouts. When the boy Cody came to me, + standing straight as an arrow, and looked me in the face, I said to my + partner, Mr. Russell, who was standing by my side, 'We will take this + little boy, and we will pay him a man's wages, because he can ride a pony + just as well as a man can.' He was lighter and could do service of that + kind when he was nine years old. I remember when we paid him twenty-five + dollars for the first month's work. He was paid in half-dollars, and he + got fifty of them. He tied them up in his little handkerchief, and when he + got home he untied the handkerchief and spread the money all over the + table." + </p> + <p> + Colonel Cody—"I have been spreading it ever since." + </p> + <p> + A few remarks followed indicative of Mr. Majors's appreciation of the + exhibition, and he closed with the remark, "Bless your precious heart, + Colonel Cody!" and sat down, amid great applause. + </p> + <p> + Senator Thurston's remarks were equally happy. He said: + </p> + <p> + "Colonel Cody, this is your day. This is your exposition. This is your + city. And we all rejoice that Nebraska is your state. You have carried the + fame of our country and of our state all over the civilized world; you + have been received and honored by princes, by emperors and by kings; the + titled women in the courts of the nations of the world have been + captivated by your charm of manner and your splendid manhood. You are + known wherever you go, abroad or in the United States, as Colonel Cody, + the best representative of the great and progressive West. You stand here + to-day in the midst of a wonderful assembly. Here are representatives of + the heroic and daring characters of most of the nations of the world. You + are entitled to the honor paid you to-day, and especially entitled to it + here. This people know you as a man who has carried this demonstration of + yours to foreign lands, and exhibited it at home. You have not been a + showman in the common sense of the word. You have been a great national + and international educator of men. You have furnished a demonstration of + the possibilities of our country that has advanced us in the opinion of + all the world. But we who have been with you a third, or more than a + third, of a century, we remember you more dearly and tenderly than others + do. We remember that when this whole Western land was a wilderness, when + these representatives of the aborigines were attempting to hold their own + against the onward tide of civilization, the settler and the hardy + pioneer, the women and the children, felt safe whenever Cody rode along + the frontier; he was their protector and defender. + </p> + <p> + "Cody, this is your home. You live in the hearts of the people of our + state. God bless you and keep you and prosper you in your splendid work." + </p> + <p> + Will was deeply touched by these strong expressions from his friends. As + he moved to the front of the platform to respond, his appearance was the + signal for a prolonged burst of cheers. He said: + </p> + <p> + "You cannot expect me to make adequate response for the honor which you + have bestowed upon me to-day. You have overwhelmed my speaking faculties. + I cannot corral enough ideas to attempt a coherent reply in response to + the honor which you have accorded me. How little I dreamed in the long ago + that the lonely path of the scout and the pony-express rider would lead me + to the place you have assigned me to-day. Here, near the banks of the + mighty Missouri, which flows unvexed to the sea, my thoughts revert to the + early days of my manhood. I looked eastward across this rushing tide to + the Atlantic, and dreamed that in that long-settled region all men were + rich and all women happy. My friends, that day has come and gone. I stand + among you a witness that nowhere in the broad universe are men richer in + manly integrity, and women happier in their domestic kingdom, than here in + our own Nebraska. + </p> + <p> + "I have sought fortune in many lands, but wherever I have wandered, the + flag of our beloved state has been unfurled to every breeze: from the + Platte to the Danube, from the Tiber to the Clyde, the emblem of our + sovereign state has always floated over the 'Wild West.' Time goes on and + brings with it new duties and responsibilities, but we 'old men,' we who + are called old-timers, cannot forget the trials and tribulations which we + had to encounter while paving the path for civilization and national + prosperity. + </p> + <p> + "The whistle of the locomotive has drowned the howl of the coyote; the + barb-wire fence has narrowed the range of the cow-puncher; but no material + evidence of prosperity can obliterate our contribution to Nebraska's + imperial progress. + </p> + <p> + "Through your kindness to-day I have tasted the sweetest fruit that grows + on ambition's tree. If you extend your kindness and permit me to fall back + into the ranks as a high private, my cup will be full. + </p> + <p> + "In closing, let me call upon the 'Wild West, the Congress of Rough Riders + of the World,' to voice their appreciation of the kindness you have shown + them to-day." + </p> + <p> + At a given signal the "Wild West" gave three ringing cheers for Nebraska + and the Trans-Mississippi Exposition. The cowboy band followed with the + "Red, White, and Blue," and an exposition band responded with the + "Star-Spangled Banner." The company fell into line for a parade around the + grounds, Colonel Cody following on his chestnut horse, Duke. After him + came the officials and invited guests in carriages; then came the + Cossacks, the Cubans, the German cavalry, the United States cavalry, the + Mexicans, and representatives of twenty-five countries. + </p> + <p> + As the parade neared its end, my brother turned to his friends and + suggested that as they had been detained long past the dinner-hour in + doing him honor, he would like to compensate them by giving an informal + spread. This invitation was promptly accepted, and the company adjourned + to a cafe, where a tempting luncheon was spread before them. Never before + had such a party of pioneers met around a banquet-table, and many were the + reminiscences of early days brought out. Mr. Majors, the originator of the + Pony Express line, was there. The two Creighton brothers, who put through + the first telegraph line, and took the occupation of the express riders + from them, had seats of honor. A. D. Jones was introduced as the man who + carried the first postoffice of Omaha around in his hat, and who still + wore the hat. Numbers of other pioneers were there, and each contributed + his share of racy anecdotes and pleasant reminiscences. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0030" id="link2HCH0030"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXI. — THE LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS. + </h2> + <p> + THE story of frontier days is a tale that is told. The "Wild West" has + vanished like mist in the sun before the touch of the two great magicians + of the nineteenth century—steam and electricity. + </p> + <p> + The route of the old historic Santa Fe trail is nearly followed by the + Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, which was completed in 1880. The + silence of the prairie was once broken by the wild war-whoop of the Indian + as he struggled to maintain his supremacy over some adjoining tribe; the + muffled roar caused by the heavy hoof-beats of thousands of buffaloes was + almost the only other sound that broke the stillness. To-day the shriek of + the engine, the clang of the bell, and the clatter of the car-wheels form + a ceaseless accompaniment to the cheerful hum of busy life which + everywhere pervades the wilderness of thirty years ago. Almost the only + memorials of the struggles and privations of the hardy trappers and + explorers, whose daring courage made the achievements of the present + possible, are the historic landmarks which bear the names of some of these + brave men. But these are very few in number. Pike's Peak lifts its snowy + head to heaven in silent commemoration of the early traveler whose name it + bears. Simpson's Rest, a lofty obelisk, commemorates the mountaineer whose + life was for the most part passed upon its rugged slopes, and whose last + request was that he should be buried on its summit. Another cloud-capped + mountain-height bears the name of Fisher's Peak, and thereby hangs a tale. + </p> + <p> + {illust. caption = {signature of} W. F. Cody} + </p> + <p> + Captain Fisher commanded a battery in the army engaged in the conquest of + New Mexico. His command encamped near the base of the mountain which now + bears his name. Deceived by the illusive effect of the atmosphere, he + started out for a morning stroll to the supposed near-by elevation, + announcing that he would return in time for breakfast. The day passed with + no sign of Captain Fisher, and night lengthened into a new day. When the + second day passed without his return, his command was forced to believe + that he had fallen a prey to lurking Indians, and the soldiers were sadly + taking their seats for their evening meal when the haggard and wearied + captain put in an appearance. His morning stroll had occupied two days and + a night; but he set out to visit the mountain, and he did it. + </p> + <p> + The transcontinental line which supplanted the Old Salt Lake trail, and is + now known as the Union Pacific Railroad, antedated the Atchison, Topeka + and Santa Fe by eleven years. The story of the difficulties encountered, + and the obstacles overcome in the building of this road, furnishes greater + marvels than any narrated in the Arabian Nights' Tales. + </p> + <p> + This railroad superseded the Pony Express line, the reeking, panting + horses of which used their utmost endeavor and carried their tireless + riders fifteen miles an hour, covering their circuit in eight days' time + at their swiftest rate of speed. The iron horse gives a sniff of disdain, + and easily traverses the same distance, from the Missouri line to the + Pacific Coast, in three days. + </p> + <p> + Travelers who step aboard the swiftly moving, luxurious cars of to-day + give little thought to their predecessors; for the dangers the early + voyagers encountered they have no sympathy. The traveler in the stagecoach + was beset by perils without from the Indians and the outlaws; he faced the + equally unpleasant companionship of fatigue and discomfort within. The + jolting, swinging coach bounced and jounced the unhappy passengers as the + reckless driver lashed the flying horses. Away they galloped over + mountains and through ravines, with no cessation of speed. Even the + shipper pays the low rate of transportation asked to-day with reluctance, + and forgets the great debt he owes this adjunct of our civilization. + </p> + <p> + But great as are the practical benefits derived from the railways, we + cannot repress a sigh as we meditate on the picturesque phases of the + vanished era. Gone are the bullwhackers and the prairie-schooners! Gone + are the stagecoaches and their drivers! Gone are the Pony Express riders! + Gone are the trappers, the hardy pioneers, the explorers, and the scouts! + Gone is the prairie monarch, the shaggy, unkempt buffalo! + </p> + <p> + In 1869, only thirty years ago, the train on the Kansas Pacific-road was + delayed eight hours in consequence of the passage of an enormous herd of + buffaloes over the track in front of it. But the easy mode of travel + introduced by the railroad brought hundreds of sportsmen to the plains, + who wantonly killed this noble animal solely for sport, and thousands of + buffaloes were sacrificed for their skins, for which there was a + widespread demand. From 1868 to 1881, in Kansas alone, there was paid out + $2,500,000 for the bones of this animal, which were gathered up on the + prairie and used in the carbon works of the country. This represents a + total death-rate of 31,000,000 buffaloes in one state. As far as I am able + to ascertain, there remains at this writing only one herd, of less than + twenty animals, out of all the countless thousands that roamed the prairie + so short a time ago, and this herd is carefully preserved in a private + park. There may be a few isolated specimens in menageries and shows, but + this wholesale slaughter has resulted in the practical extermination of + the species. + </p> + <p> + As with the animal native to our prairies, so has it been with the race + native to our land. We may deplore the wrongs of the Indian, and + sympathize with his efforts to wrest justice from his so-called + protectors. We may admire his poetic nature, as evidenced in the myths and + legends of the race. We may be impressed by the stately dignity and innate + ability as orator and statesman which he displays. We may preserve the + different articles of his picturesque garb as relics. But the old, old + drama of history is repeating itself before the eyes of this generation; + the inferior must give way to the superior civilization. The poetic, + picturesque, primitive red man must inevitably succumb before the + all-conquering tread of his pitiless, practical, progressive white + brother. + </p> + <p> + Cooper has immortalized for us the extinction of a people in the "Last of + the Mohicans." Many another tribe has passed away, unhonored and unsung. + Westward the "Star of Empire" takes its way; the great domain west of the + Mississippi is now peopled by the white race, while the Indians are shut + up in reservations. Their doom is sealed; their sun is set. "Kismet" has + been spoken of them; the total extinction of the race is only a question + of time. In the words of Rudyard Kipling: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Take up the White Man's burden— + Ye dare not stoop to less— + Nor call too loud on freedom + To cloke your weariness. + By all ye will or whisper, + By all ye leave or do, + The silent, sullen peoples + Shall weigh your God and you." +</pre> + <p> + Of this past epoch of our national life there remains but one well-known + representative. That one is my brother. He occupies a unique place in the + portrait gallery of famous Americans to-day. It is not alone his + commanding personality, nor the success he has achieved along various + lines, which gives him the strong hold he has on the hearts of the + American people, or the absorbing interest he possesses in the eyes of + foreigners. The fact that in his own person he condenses a period of + national history is a large factor in the fascination he exercises over + others. He may fitly be named the "Last of the Great Scouts." He has had + great predecessors. The mantle of Kit Carson has fallen upon his + shoulders, and he wears it worthily. He has not, and never can have, a + successor. He is the vanishing-point between the rugged wilderness of the + past in Western life and the vast achievement in the present. + </p> + <p> + When the "Wild West" disbands, the last vestige of our frontier life + passes from the scene of active realities, and becomes a matter of + history. + </p> + <p> + "Life is real, life is earnest," sings the poet, and real and earnest it + has been for my brother. It has been spent in others' service. I cannot + recall a time when he has not thus been laden with heavy burdens. Yet for + himself he has won a reputation, national and international. A naval + officer visiting in China relates that as he stepped ashore he was offered + two books for purchase—one the Bible, the other a "Life of Buffalo + Bill." + </p> + <p> + For nearly half a century, which comprises his childhood, youth, and + manhood, my brother has been before the public. He can scarcely be said to + have had a childhood, so early was he thrust among the rough scenes of + frontier life, therein to play a man's part at an age when most boys think + of nothing more than marbles and tops. He enlisted in the Union army + before he was of age, and did his share in upholding the flag during the + Civil War as ably as many a veteran of forty, and since then he has + remained, for the most part, in his country's service, always ready to go + to the front in any time of danger. He has achieved distinction in many + and various ways. He is president of the largest irrigation enterprise in + the world, president of a colonization company, of a town-site company, + and of two transportation companies. He is the foremost scout and champion + buffalo-hunter of America, one of the crack shots of the world, and its + greatest popular entertainer. He is broad-minded and progressive in his + views, inheriting from both father and mother a hatred of oppression in + any form. Taking his mother as a standard, he believes the franchise is a + birthright which should appertain to intelligence and education, rather + than to sex. It is his public career that lends an interest to his private + life, in which he has been a devoted and faithful son and brother, a kind + and considerate husband, a loving and generous father. "Only the names of + them that are upright, brave, and true can be honorably known," were the + mother's dying words; and honorably known has his name become, in his own + country and across the sea. + </p> + <p> + With the fondest expectation he looks forward to the hour when he shall + make his final bow to the public and retire to private life. It is his + long-cherished desire to devote his remaining years to the development of + the Big Horn Basin, in Wyoming. He has visited every country in Europe, + and has looked upon the most beautiful of Old World scenes. He is familiar + with all the most splendid regions of his own land, but to him this new El + Dorado of the West is the fairest spot on earth. + </p> + <p> + He has already invested thousands of dollars and given much thought and + attention toward the accomplishment of his pet scheme. An irrigating ditch + costing nearly a million dollars now waters this fertile region, and + various other improvements are under way, to prepare a land flowing with + milk and honey for the reception of thousands of homeless wanderers. Like + the children of Israel, these would never reach the promised land but for + the untiring efforts of a Moses to go on before; but unlike the ancient + guide and scout of sacred history, my brother has been privileged to + penetrate the remotest corner of this primitive land of Canaan. The log + cabin he has erected there is not unlike the one of our childhood days. + Here he finds his haven of rest, his health-resort, to which he hastens + when the show season is over and he is free again for a space. He finds + refreshment in the healthful, invigorating atmosphere of his chosen + retreat; he enjoys sweet solace from the cares of life under the influence + of its magnificent scenery. + </p> + <p> + And here, in the shadow of the Rockies, yet in the very "light of things," + it is his wish to finish his days as he began them, in opening up for + those who come after him the great regions of the still undeveloped West, + and in poring over the lesson learned as a boy on the plains: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "That nature never did betray + The heart that loved her." +</pre> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Last of the Great Scouts, by Helen Cody Wetmore + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS *** + +***** This file should be named 1248-h.htm or 1248-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/4/1248/ + +Produced by Charles Keller and David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + </body> +</html> diff --git a/old/1248.txt b/old/1248.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0712c83 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1248.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9467 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Last of the Great Scouts, by Helen Cody Wetmore + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Last of the Great Scouts + The Life Story of William F. Cody ["Buffalo Bill"] + +Author: Helen Cody Wetmore + +Release Date: February 18, 2006 [EBook #1248] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Keller and David Widger + + + + + +LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS + +The Life Story of William F. Cody ["Buffalo Bill"] + + +by Helen Cody Wetmore + + + + +LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS + +THE LIFE STORY OF COL. WILLIAM F. CODY "BUFFALO BILL" + +AS TOLD BY HIS SISTER HELEN CODY WETMORE + + + + +TO THE MEMORY OF A MOTHER WHOSE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER STILL LIVES A +HALLOWED INFLUENCE + + + + +GENEALOGY OF BUFFALO BILL. + +The following genealogical sketch was compiled in 1897. The crest is +copied from John Rooney's "Genealogical History of Irish Families." + +It is not generally known that genuine royal blood courses in Colonel +Cody's veins. He is a lineal descendant of Milesius, king of Spain, that +famous monarch whose three sons, Heber, Heremon, and Ir, founded the +first dynasty in Ireland, about the beginning of the Christian era. The +Cody family comes through the line of Heremon. The original name was +Tireach, which signifies "The Rocks." Muiredach Tireach, one of the +first of this line, and son of Fiacha Straivetine, was crowned king of +Ireland, Anno Domini 320. Another of the line became king of Connaught, +Anno Domini 701. The possessions of the Sept were located in the present +counties of Clare, Galway, and Mayo. The names Connaught-Gallway, after +centuries, gradually contracted to Connallway, Connellway, Connelly, +Conly, Cory, Coddy, Coidy, and Cody, and is clearly shown by ancient +indentures still traceable among existing records. On the maternal side, +Colonel Cody can, without difficulty, follow his lineage to the best +blood of England. Several of the Cody family emigrated to America in +1747, settling in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The name is +frequently mentioned in Revolutionary history. Colonel Cody is a member +of the Cody family of Revolutionary fame. Like the other Spanish-Irish +families, the Codys have their proof of ancestry in the form of a crest, +the one which Colonel Cody is entitled to use being printed herewith. +The lion signifies Spanish origin. It is the same figure that forms a +part of the royal coat-of-arms of Spain to this day--Castile and +Leon. The arm and cross denote that the descent is through the line of +Heremon, whose posterity were among the first to follow the cross, as a +symbol of their adherence to the Christian faith. + + + + +PREFACE. + +In presenting this volume to the public the writer has a twofold +purpose. For a number of years there has been an increasing demand for +an authentic biography of "Buffalo Bill," and in response, many books +of varying value have been submitted; yet no one of them has borne +the hall-mark of veracious history. Naturally, there were incidents in +Colonel Cody's life--more especially in the earlier years--that could be +given only by those with whom he had grown up from childhood. For +many incidents of his later life I am indebted to his own and others' +accounts. I desire to acknowledge obligation to General P. H. Sheridan, +Colonel Inman, Colonel Ingraham, and my brother for valuable assistance +furnished by Sheridan's Memoirs, "The Santa Fe Trail," "The Great Salt +Lake Trail," "Buffalo Bill's Autobiography," and "Stories from the Life +of Buffalo Bill." + +A second reason that prompted the writing of my brother's life-story is +purely personal. The sobriquet of "Buffalo Bill" has conveyed to many +people an impression of his personality that is far removed from the +facts. They have pictured in fancy a rough frontier character, without +tenderness and true nobility. But in very truth has the poet sung: + + "The bravest are the tenderest-- + The loving are the daring." + +The public knows my brother as boy Indian-slayer, a champion +buffalo-hunter, a brave soldier, a daring scout, an intrepid +frontiersman, and a famous exhibitor. It is only fair to him that a +glimpse be given of the parts he played behind the scenes--devotion to +a widowed mother, that pushed the boy so early upon a stage of ceaseless +action, continued care and tenderness displayed in later years, and the +generous thoughtfulness of manhood's prime. + +Thus a part of my pleasant task has been to enable the public to see my +brother through his sister's eyes--eyes that have seen truly if kindly. +If I have been tempted into praise where simple narrative might to the +reader seem all that was required, if I have seemed to exaggerate in any +of my history's details, I may say that I am not conscious of having set +down more than "a plain, unvarnished tale." Embarrassed with riches of +fact, I have had no thought of fiction. H. C. W. + +CODYVIEW, DULUTH, MINNESOTA, February 26, 1899. + + + + +LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS. + + + +CHAPTER I. -- THE OLD HOMESTEAD IN IOWA. + +A PLEASANT, roomy farm-house, set in the sunlight against a background +of cool, green wood and mottled meadow--this is the picture that my +earliest memories frame for me. To this home my parents, Isaac and Mary +Cody, had moved soon after their marriage. + +The place was known as the Scott farm, and was situated in Scott County, +Iowa, near the historic little town of Le Clair, where, but a few years +before, a village of the Fox Indians had been located; where Black Hawk +and his thousand warriors had assembled for their last war-dance; where +the marquee of General Scott was erected, and the treaty with the Sacs +and Foxes drawn up; and where, in obedience to the Sac chief's terms, +Antoine Le Clair, the famous half-breed Indian scholar and interpreter, +had built his cabin, and given to the place his name. Here, in this +atmosphere of pioneer struggle and Indian warfare--in the farm-house +in the dancing sunshine, with the background of wood and meadow--my +brother, William Frederick Cody, was born, on the 26th day of February, +1846. + +Of the good, old-fashioned sort was our family, numbering five daughters +and two sons--Martha, Samuel, Julia, William, Eliza, Helen, and May. +Samuel, a lad of unusual beauty of face and nature, was killed through +an unhappy accident before he was yet fourteen. + +He was riding "Betsy Baker," a mare well known among old settlers +in Iowa as one of speed and pedigree, yet displaying at times a most +malevolent temper, accompanied by Will, who, though only seven years +of age, yet sat his pony with the ease and grace that distinguished the +veteran rider of the future. Presently Betsy Baker became fractious, and +sought to throw her rider. In vain did she rear and plunge; he kept his +saddle. Then, seemingly, she gave up the fight, and Samuel cried, in +boyish exultation: + +"Ah, Betsy Baker, you didn't quite come it that time!" + +His last words! As if she knew her rider was a careless victor off +his guard, the mare reared suddenly and flung herself upon her back, +crushing the daring boy beneath her. + +Though to us younger children our brother Samuel was but a shadowy +memory, in him had centered our parents' fondest hopes and aims. These, +naturally, were transferred to the younger, now the only son, and the +hope that mother, especially, held for him was strangely stimulated by +the remembrance of the mystic divination of a soothsayer in the years +agone. My mother was a woman of too much intelligence and force of +character to nourish an average superstition; but prophecies fulfilled +will temper, though they may not shake, the smiling unbelief of the most +hard-headed skeptic. Mother's moderate skepticism was not proof against +the strange fulfillment of one prophecy, which fell out in this wise: + +To a Southern city, which my mother visited when a girl, there came a +celebrated fortune-teller, and led by curiosity, my mother and my aunt +one day made two of the crowd that thronged the sibyl's drawing-rooms. + +Both received with laughing incredulity the prophecy that my aunt and +the two children with her would be dead in a fortnight; but the dread +augury was fulfilled to the letter. All three were stricken with +yellow fever, and died within less than the time set. This startling +confirmation of the soothsayer's divining powers not unnaturally +affected my mother's belief in that part of the prophecy relating to +herself that "she would meet her future husband on the steamboat by +which she expected to return home; that she would be married to him in a +year, and bear three sons, of whom only the second would live, but that +the name of this son would be known all over the world, and would one +day be that of the President of the United States." The first part of +this prophecy was verified, and Samuel's death was another link in the +curious chain of circumstances. Was it, then, strange that mother looked +with unusual hope upon her second son? + +That 'tis good fortune for a boy to be only brother to five sisters is +open to question. The older girls petted Will; the younger regarded him +as a superior being; while to all it seemed so fit and proper that the +promise of the stars concerning his future should be fulfilled that +never for a moment did we weaken in our belief that great things were +in store for our only brother. We looked for the prophecy's complete +fulfillment, and with childish veneration regarded Will as one destined +to sit in the executive's chair. + +My mother, always somewhat delicate, was so affected in health by +the shock of Samuel's death that a change of scene was advised. The +California gold craze was then at its height, and father caught the +fever, though in a mild form; for he had prospered as a farmer, and +we not only had a comfortable home, but were in easy circumstances. +Influenced in part by a desire to improve mother's health, and in +part, no doubt, by the golden day-dreams that lured so many Argonauts +Pacificward, he disposed of his farm, and bade us prepare for a Western +journey. Before his plans were completed he fell in with certain +disappointed gold-seekers returning from the Coast, and impressed by +their representations, decided in favor of Kansas instead of California. + +Father had very extravagant ideas regarding vehicles and horses, and +such a passion for equestrian display, that we often found ourselves +with a stable full of thoroughbreds and an empty cupboard. For our +Western migration we had, in addition to three prairie-schooners, a +large family carriage, drawn by a span of fine horses in silver-mounted +harness. This carriage had been made to order in the East, upholstered +in the finest leather, polished and varnished as though for a royal +progress. Mother and we girls found it more comfortable riding than the +springless prairie-schooners. + +Brother Will constituted himself an armed escort, and rode proudly +alongside on his pony, his gun slung across the pommel of his saddle, +and the dog Turk bringing up the rear. + +To him this Western trip thrilled with possible Indian skirmishes and +other stirring adventures, though of the real dangers that lay in our +path he did not dream. For him, therefore, the first week of our travels +held no great interest, for we were constantly chancing upon settlers +and farm-houses, in which the night might be passed; but with every +mile the settlers grew fewer and farther between; until one day Will +whispered to us, in great glee: "I heard father tell mother that he +expected we should have to camp to-night. Now we'll have some fun!" + +Will's hope was well founded. Shortly before nightfall we reached a +stream that demanded a ferry-boat for its crossing, and as the nearest +dwelling was a dozen miles away, it was decided that we should camp by +the stream-side. The family was first sent across the ferry, and upon +the eight-year-old lad of the house father placed the responsibility of +selecting the ground on which to pitch the tents. + +My brother's career forcibly illustrates the fact that environment plays +as large a part as heredity in shaping character. Perhaps his love for +the free life of the plains is a heritage derived from some long-gone +ancestor; but there can be no doubt that to the earlier experiences +of which I am writing he owed his ability as a scout. The faculty for +obtaining water, striking trails, and finding desirable camping-grounds +in him seemed almost instinct. + +The tents being pitched upon a satisfactory site, Will called to Turk, +the dog, and rifle in hand, set forth in search of game for supper. He +was successful beyond his fondest hopes. He had looked only for small +game, but scarcely had he put the camp behind him when Turk gave a +signaling yelp, and out of the bushes bounded a magnificent deer. Nearly +every hunter will confess to "buck fever" at sight of his first deer, so +it is not strange that a boy of Will's age should have stood immovable, +staring dazedly at the graceful animal until it vanished from sight. +Turk gave chase, but soon trotted back, and barked reproachfully at his +young master. But Will presently had an opportunity to recover Turk's +good opinion, for the dog, after darting away, with another signaling +yelp fetched another fine stag within gun range. This time the young +hunter, mastering his nerves, took aim with steady hand, and brought +down his first deer. + +On the following Sabbath we were encamped by another deep, swift-running +stream. After being wearied and overheated by a rabbit chase, Turk +attempted to swim across this little river, but was chilled, and would +have perished had not Will rushed to the rescue. The ferryman saw the +boy struggling with the dog in the water, and started after him with his +boat. But Will reached the bank without assistance. + +"I've hearn of dogs saving children, but this is the first time I ever +hearn of a child saving a dog from drowning," ejaculated the ferryman. +"How old be you?" + +"Eight, going on nine," answered Will. + +"You're a big boy for your age," said the man. "But it's a wonder you +didn't sink with that load; he's a big old fellow," referring to Turk, +who, standing on three feet, was vigorously shaking the water from his +coat. Will at once knelt down beside him, and taking the uplifted foot +in his hands, remarked: "He must have sprained one of his legs when he +fell over that log; he doesn't whine like your common curs when they get +hurt." + +"He's blooded stock, then," said the man. "What kind of dog do you call +him?" + +"He's an Ulm dog," said Will. + +"I never heard tell of that kind of dog before." + +"Did you ever hear of a tiger-mastiff, German mastiff, boar-hound, great +Dane? Turk's all of them together." + +"Well," said the ferryman, "you're a pretty smart little fellow, and got +lots of grit. You ought to make your mark in the world. But right now +you had better get into some dry clothes." And on the invitation of the +ferryman, Will and the limping dog got into the boat, and were taken +back to camp. + +Turk played so conspicuous and important a part in our early lives that +he deserves a brief description. He was a large and powerful animal of +the breed of dogs anciently used in Germany in hunting the wild boars. +Later the dogs were imported into England, where they were particularly +valued by people desiring a strong, brave watch-dog. When specially +trained, they are more fierce and active than the English mastiff. +Naturally they are not as fond of the water as the spaniel, the +stag-hound, or the Newfoundland, though they are the king of dogs on +land. Not alone Will, but the rest of the family, regarded Turk as the +best of his kind, and he well deserved the veneration he inspired. His +fidelity and almost human intelligence were time and again the means of +saving life and property; ever faithful, loyal, and ready to lay down +his life, if need be, in our service. + +Outlaws and desperadoes were always to be met with on Western trails in +those rugged days, and more than once Turk's constant vigilance warned +father in time to prevent attacks from suspicious night prowlers. The +attachment which had grown up between Turk and his young master was but +the natural love of boys for their dogs intensified. Will at that time +estimated dogs as in later years he did men, the qualities which +he found to admire in Turk being vigilance, strength, courage, and +constancy. With men, as with dogs, he is not lavishly demonstrative; +rarely pats them on the back. But deeds of merit do not escape his +notice or want his appreciation. The patience, unselfishness, and true +nobility observed in this faithful canine friend of his boyhood days +have many times proved to be lacking in creatures endowed with a soul; +yet he has never lost faith in mankind, or in the ultimate destiny of +his race. This I conceive to be a characteristic of all great men. + +This trip was memorable for all of us, perhaps especially so for brother +Will, for it comprehended not only his first deer, but his first negro. + +As we drew near the Missouri line we came upon a comfortable farm-house, +at which father made inquiry concerning a lodging for the night. A widow +lived there, and the information that father was brother to Elijah Cody, +of Platte County, Missouri, won us a cordial welcome and the hospitality +of her home. + +We were yet in the road, waiting father's report, when our startled +vision and childish imagination took in a seeming apparition, which +glided from the bushes by the wayside. + +It proved a full-blooded African, with thick lips, woolly hair, enormous +feet, and scant attire. To all except mother this was a new revelation +of humanity, and we stared in wild-eyed wonder; even Turk was surprised +into silence. At this point father rejoined us, to share in mother's +amusement, and to break the spell for us by pleasantly addressing the +negro, who returned a respectful answer, accompanied by an ample grin. +He was a slave on the widow's plantation. + +Reassured by the grin, Will offered his hand, and tasted the joy of +being addressed as "Massa" in the talk that followed. It was with +difficulty that we prevailed upon "Masse" to come to supper. + +After a refreshing night's sleep we went on our way, and in a few days +reached my uncle's home. A rest was welcome, as the journey had been +long and toilsome, despite the fact that it had been enlivened by many +interesting incidents, and was thoroughly enjoyed by all of the family. + + + +CHAPTER II. -- WILL'S FIRST INDIAN. + +MY uncle's home was in Weston, Platte County, Missouri, at that time the +large city of the West. As father desired to get settled again as soon +as possible, he left us at Weston, and crossed the Missouri River on +a prospecting tour, accompanied by Will and a guide. More than one day +went by in the quest for a desirable location, and one morning +Will, wearied in the reconnoissance, was left asleep at the night's +camping-place, while father and the guide rode away for the day's +exploring. + +When Will opened his eyes they fell upon the most interesting object +that the world just then could offer him--an Indian! + +The "noble red man," as he has been poetically termed by people who have +but known him from afar, was in the act of mounting Will's horse, while +near by stood his own, a miserable, scrawny beast. + +Will's boyish dreams were now a reality; he looked upon his first +Indian. Here, too, was a "buck"--not a graceful, vanishing deer, but +a dirty redskin, who seemingly was in some hurry to be gone. Without a +trace of "buck fever," Will jumped up, rifle in hand, and demanded: + +"Here, what are you doing with my horse?" + +The Indian regarded the lad with contemptuous composure. + +"Me swap horses with paleface boy," said he. + +The red man was fully armed, and Will did not know whether his father +and the guide were within call or not; but to suffer the Indian to +ride away with Uncle Elijah's fine horse was to forfeit his father's +confidence and shake his mother's and sisters' belief in the family +hero; so he put a bold face upon the matter, and remarked carelessly, as +if discussing a genuine transaction: + +"No; I won't swap." + +"Paleface boy fool!" returned the Indian, serenely. + +Now this was scarcely the main point at issue, so Will contented himself +with replying, quietly but firmly: + +"You cannot take my horse." + +The Indian condescended to temporize. "Paleface horse no good," said he. + +"Good enough for me," replied Will, smiling despite the gravity of the +situation. The Indian shone rather as a liar than a judge of horseflesh. +"Good enough for me; so you can take your old rack of bones and go." + +Much to Will's surprise, the red man dropped the rein, flung himself +upon his own pony, and made off. And down fell "Lo the poor Indian" from +the exalted niche that he had filled in Will's esteem, for while it was +bad in a copper hero to steal horses, it was worse to flee from a boy +not yet in his teens. But a few moments later Lo went back to his lofty +pedestal, for Will heard the guide's voice, and realized that it was the +sight of a man, and not the threats of a boy, that had sent the Indian +about his business--if he had any. + +The guide had returned to escort Will to the spot which father, after +a search of nearly a week, had discovered, and where he had decided +to locate our home. It was in Salt Creek Valley, a fertile blue-grass +region, sheltered by an amphitheater range of hills. The old Salt Lake +trail traversed this valley. There were at this time two great highways +of Western travel, the Santa Fe and the Salt Lake trails; later the +Oregon trail came into prominence. Of these the oldest and most historic +was the Santa Fe trail, the route followed by explorers three hundred +years ago. It had been used by Indian tribes from time, to white men, +immemorial. At the beginning of this century it was first used as an +artery of commerce. Over it Zebulon Pike made his well-known Western +trip, and from it radiated his explorations. The trail lay some distance +south of Leavenworth. It ran westward, dipping slightly to the south +until the Arkansas River was reached; then, following the course of this +stream to Bent's Fort, it crossed the river and turned sharply to the +south. It went through Raton Pass, and below Las Vegas it turned west to +Santa Fe. + +Exploration along the line of the Salt Lake trail began also with this +century. It became a beaten highway at the time of the Mormon exodus +from Nauvoo to their present place of abode. The trail crossed the +Missouri River at Leavenworth, and ran northerly to the Platte, touching +that stream at Fort Kearny. With a few variations it paralleled the +Platte to its junction with the Sweetwater, and left this river valley +to run through South Pass to big Sandy Creek, turning south to follow +this little stream. At Fort Bridger it turned westward again, passed +Echo Canon, and a few miles farther on ran into Salt Lake City. Over +this trail journeyed thousands of gold-hunters toward California, +hopeful and high-spirited on the westerly way, disappointed and +depressed, the large majority of them, on the back track. +Freighting outfits, cattle trains, emigrants--nearly all the western +travel--followed this track across the new land. A man named Rively, +with the gift of grasping the advantage of location, had obtained +permission to establish a trading-post on this trail three miles beyond +the Missouri, and as proximity to this depot of supplies was a manifest +convenience, father's selection of a claim only two miles distant was a +wise one. + +The Kansas-Nebraska Bill, which provided for the organizing of those +two territories and opened them for settlement, was passed in May. 1854. +This bill directly opposed the Missouri Compromise, which restricted +slavery to all territory south of 36'0 30" north latitude. A clause in +the new bill provided that the settlers should decide for themselves +whether the new territories were to be free or slave states. Already +hundreds of settlers were camped upon the banks of the Missouri, waiting +the passage of the bill before entering and acquiring possession of +the land. Across the curtain of the night ran a broad ribbon of dancing +camp-fires, stretching for miles along the bank of the river. + +None too soon had father fixed upon his claim. The act allowing settlers +to enter was passed in less than a week afterward. Besides the pioneers +intending actual settlement, a great rush was made into the territories +by members of both political parties. These became the gladiators, with +Kansas the arena, for a bitter, bloody contest between those desiring +and those opposing the extension of slave territory. + +Having already decided upon his location, father was among the first, +after the bill was passed, to file a claim and procure the necessary +papers, and shortly afterward he had a transient abiding-place prepared +for us. Whatever mother may have thought of the one-roomed cabin, whose +chinks let in the sun by day and the moon and stars by night, and whose +carpet was nature's greenest velvet, life in it was a perennial picnic +for the children. Meantime father was at work on our permanent home, +and before the summer fled we were domiciled in a large double-log +house--rough and primitive, but solid and comfort-breeding. + +This same autumn held an episode so deeply graven in my memory that time +has not blurred a dine of it. Jane, our faithful maid of all work, who +went with us to our Western home, had little time to play the governess. +Household duties claimed her every waking hour, as mother was delicate, +and the family a large one; so Turk officiated as both guardian and +playmate of the children. + +One golden September day Eliza and I set out after wild flowers, +accompanied by Turk and mother's caution not to stray too far, as wild +beasts, 'twas said, lurked in the neighboring forest; but the prettiest +flowers were always just beyond, and we wandered afield until we reached +a fringe of timber half a mile from the house, where we tarried under +the trees. Meantime mother grew alarmed, and Will was dispatched after +the absent tots. + +Turk, as we recalled, had sought to put a check upon our wanderings, and +when we entered the woods his restlessness increased. Suddenly he began +to paw up the carpet of dry leaves, and a few moments later the shrill +scream of a panther echoed through the forest aisles. + +Eliza was barely six years old, and I was not yet four. We clung to +each other in voiceless terror. Then from afar came a familiar +whistle--Will's call to his dog. That heartened us, babes as we were, +for was not our brother our reliance in every emergency? Rescue was +at hand; but Turk continued tearing up the leaves, after signaling his +master with a loud bark. Then, pulling at our dresses, he indicated the +refuge he had dug for us. Here we lay down, and the dog covered us with +the leaves, dragging to the heap, as a further screen, a large dead +branch. Then, with the heart of a lion, he put himself on guard. + +From our leafy covert we could see the panther's tawny form come gliding +through the brush. He saw Turk, and crouched for a spring. This came as +an arrow, but Turk dodged it; and then, with a scream such as I never +heard from dog before or since, our defender hurled himself upon the +foe. + +Turk was powerful, and his courage was flawless, but he was no match for +the panther. In a few moments the faithful dog lay stunned and bleeding +from one stroke of the forest-rover's steel-shod paw. The cruel beast +had scented other prey, and dismissing Turk, he paced to and fro, +seeking to locate us. We scarcely dared to breathe, and every throb of +our frightened little hearts was a prayer that Will would come to us in +time. + +At last the panther's roving eyes rested upon our inadequate +hiding-place, and as he crouched for the deadly leap we hid our faces. + +But Turk had arisen. Wounded as he was, he yet made one last heroic +effort to save us by again directing the panther's attention to himself. + +The helpless, hopeless ordeal of agony was broken by a rifle's sharp +report. The panther fell, shot through the heart, and out from the +screen of leaves rushed two hysterical little girls, with pallid faces +drowned in tears, who clung about a brother's neck and were shielded in +his arms. + +Will, himself but a child, caressed and soothed us in a most paternal +fashion; and when the stone of sobs was passed we turned to Turk. +Happily his injuries were not fatal, and he whined feebly when his +master reached him. + +"Bravo! Good dog!" cried Will. "You saved them, Turk! You saved them!" +And kneeling beside our faithful friend, he put his arms about the +shaggy neck. + +Dear old Turk! If there be a land beyond the sky for such as thou, may +the snuggest corner and best of bones be thy reward! + + + +CHAPTER III. -- THE SHADOW OF PARTISAN STRIFE. + +OWING to the conditions, already spoken of, under which Kansas was +settled, all classes were represented in its population. Honest, +thrifty farmers and well-to-do traders leavened a lump of shiftless +ne'er-do-wells, lawless adventurers, and vagabonds of all sorts and +conditions. If father at times questioned the wisdom of coming to this +new and untried land, he kept his own counsel, and set a brave face +against the future. + +He had been prominent in political circles in Iowa, and had filled +positions of public trust; but he had no wish to become involved in the +partisan strife that raged in Kansas. He was a Free Soil man, and there +were but two others in that section who did not believe in slavery. For +a year he kept his political views to himself; but it became rumored +about that he was an able public speaker, and the pro-slavery men +naturally ascribed to him the same opinions as those held by his brother +Elijah, a pronounced pro-slavery man; so they regarded father as a +promising leader in their cause. He had avoided the issue, and had +skillfully contrived to escape declaring for one side or the other, but +on the scroll of his destiny it was written that he should be one of the +first victims offered on the sacrificial altar of the struggle for human +liberty. + +The post-trader's was a popular rendezvous for all the settlers round. +It was a day in the summer of '55 that father visited the store, +accompanied, as usual, by Will and Turk. Among the crowd, which was +noisy and excited, he noted a number of desperadoes in the pro-slavery +faction, and noted, too, that Uncle Elijah and our two Free Soil +neighbors, Mr. Hathaway and Mr. Lawrence, were present. + +Father's appearance was greeted by a clamor for a speech. To speak +before that audience was to take his life in his hands; yet in spite of +his excuses he was forced to the chair. + +It was written! There was no escape! Father walked steadily to the +dry-goods box which served as a rostrum. As he passed Mr. Hathaway, +the good old man plucked him by the sleeve and begged him to serve out +platitudes to the crowd, and to screen his real sentiments. + +But father was not a man that dealt in platitudes. + +"Friends," said he, quietly, as he faced his audience and drew himself +to his full height,--"friends, you are mistaken in your man. I am sorry +to disappoint you. I have no wish to quarrel with you. But you +have forced me to speak, and I can do no less than declare my real +convictions. I am, and always have been, opposed to slavery. It is +an institution that not only degrades the slave, but brutalizes +the slave-holder, and I pledge you my word that I shall use my best +endeavors--yes, that I shall lay down my life, if need be--to keep this +curse from finding lodgment upon Kansas soil. It is enough that the +fairest portions of our land are already infected with this blight. +May it spread no farther. All my energy and my ability shall swell the +effort to bring in Kansas as a Free Soil state." + +Up to this point the crowd had been so dumfounded by his temerity that +they kept an astonished silence. Now the storm broke. The rumble of +angry voices swelled into a roar of fury. An angry mob surrounded the +speaker. Several desperadoes leaped forward with deadly intent, and one, +Charles Dunn by name, drove his knife to the hilt into the body of the +brave man who dared thus openly to avow his principles. + +As father fell, Will sprang to him, and turning to the murderous +assailant, cried out in boyhood's fury: + +"You have killed my father! When I'm a man I'll kill you!" + +The crowd slunk away, believing father dead. The deed appalled them; +they were not yet hardened to the lawlessness that was so soon to put +the state to blush. + +Mr. Hathaway and Will then carried father to a hiding-place in the long +grass by the wayside. The crowd dispersed so slowly that dusk came on +before the coast was clear. At length, supported by Will, father dragged +his way homeward, marking his tortured progress with a trail of blood. + +This path was afterward referred to in the early history of Kansas as +"The Cody Bloody Trail." + +It was such wild scenes as these that left their impress on the youth +and fashioned the Cody of later years--cool in emergency, fertile in +resource, swift in decision, dashing and intrepid when the time for +action came. + +Our troubles were but begun. Father's convalescence was long and +tedious; he never recovered fully. His enemies believed him dead, and +for a while we kept the secret guarded; but as soon as he was able to be +about persecution began. + +About a month after the tragedy at Rively's, Will ran in one evening +with the warning that a band of horsemen were approaching. Suspecting +trouble, mother put some of her own clothes about father, gave him a +pail, and bade him hide in the cornfield. He walked boldly from the +house, and sheltered by the gathering dusk, succeeded in passing the +horsemen unchallenged. The latter rode up to the house and dismounted. + +"Where's Cody?" asked the leader. He was informed that father was not at +home. + +"Lucky for him!" was the frankly brutal rejoinder. "We'll make sure work +of the killing next time." + +Disappointed in their main intention, the marauders revenged themselves +in their own peculiar way by looting the house of every article that +took their fancy; then they sat down with the announced purpose of +waiting the return of their prospective victim. + +Fearing the effect of the night air upon father, though it was yet +summer, mother made a sign to Will, who slipped from the room, and +guided by Turk, carried blankets to the cornfield, returning before his +absence had been remarked. The ruffians soon tired of waiting, and rode +away, after warning mother of the brave deed they purposed to perform. +Father came in for the night, returning to his covert with the dawn. + +In expectation of some such raid, we had secreted a good stock of +provisions; but as soon as the day was up Will was dispatched to +Rively's store to reconnoiter, under pretext of buying groceries. +Keeping eyes and ears open, he learned that father's enemies were on the +watch for him; so the cornfield must remain his screen. After several +days, the exposure and anxiety told on his strength. He decided to leave +home and go to Fort Leavenworth, four miles distant. When night fell +he returned to the house, packed a few needed articles, and bade us +farewell. Will urged that he ride Prince, but he regarded his journey +as safer afoot. It was a sad parting. None of us knew whether we should +ever again see our father. + +"I hope," he said to mother, "that these clouds will soon pass away, +and that we may have a happy home once more." Then, placing his hands on +Will's head, "You will have to be the man of the house until my return," +he said. "But I know I can trust my boy to watch over his mother and +sisters." + +With such responsibilities placed upon his shoulders, such confidence +reposed in him, small wonder that Will should grow a man in thought and +feeling before he grew to be one in years. + +Father reached Fort Leavenworth in safety, but the quarrel between the +pro-slavery party and the Free Soilers waxed more bitter, and he decided +that security lay farther on; so he took passage on an up-river boat to +Doniphan, twenty miles distant. This was then a mere landing-place, but +he found a small band of men in camp cooking supper. They were part of +Colonel Jim Lane's command, some three hundred strong, on their way West +from Indiana. + +Colonel Lane was an interesting character. He had been a friend to +Elijah Lovejoy, who was killed, in 1836, for maintaining an anti-slavery +newspaper in Illinois. The Kansas contest speedily developed the +fact that the actual settlers sent from the North by the emigrant-aid +societies would enable the Free State party to outnumber the ruffians +sent in by the Southerners; and when the pro-slavery men were driven to +substituting bullets for ballots, Colonel Lane recruited a band of hardy +men to protect the anti-slavery settlers, and incidentally to avenge the +murder of Lovejoy. + +The meeting of father and Lane's men was a meeting of friends, and he +chose to cast his lot with theirs. Shortly afterward he took part +in "The Battle of Hickory Point," in which the pro-slavery men were +defeated with heavy loss; and thenceforward the name of Jim Lane was a +terror to the lawless and a wall of protection to our family. + +The storm and stress of battle had drawn heavily on what little strength +was left to father, and relying for safety upon the proximity of Colonel +Lane and his men, he returned to us secretly by night, and was at once +prostrated on a bed of sickness. + +This proved a serious strain upon our delicate mother, for during +father's absence a little brother had been added to our home, and not +only had she, in addition to the care of Baby Charlie, the nursing of +a sick man, but she was constantly harassed by apprehensions for his +safety as well. + + + +CHAPTER IV. -- PERSECUTION CONTINUES. + +MOTHER'S fears were well grounded. A few days after father had returned +home, a man named Sharpe, who disgraced the small office of justice of +the peace, rode up to our house, very much the worse for liquor, and +informed mother that his errand was to "search the house for that +abolition husband of yours." The intoxicated ruffian then demanded +something to eat. While mother, with a show of hospitality, was +preparing supper for him, the amiable Mr. Sharpe killed time in +sharpening his bowie-knife on the sole of his shoe. + +"That," said he to Will, who stood watching him, "that's to cut the +heart out of that Free State father of yours!" And he tested the edge +with brutally suggestive care. + +Will's comment was to take down his rifle and place himself on the +staircase leading up to father's room. There was trouble in that quarter +for Mr. Sharpe, if he attempted to ascend those stairs. + +But the justice, as mother surmised, had no notion that father was at +home, else he would not have come alone. He ate heartily of the supper, +which Will hoped would choke him, and passing from drowsiness to drunken +slumber, soon tumbled from his chair. This so confused him that he +forgot his pretended errand, and shambled out of the house. He was +not so drunk that he could not tell a good bit of horseflesh, and he +straightway took a fancy to Prince, the pet pony of the family. An +unwritten plank in the platform of the pro-slavery men was that the Free +Soil party had no rights they were bound to respect, and Sharpe remarked +to Will, with a malicious grin: + +"That's a nice pony of yours, sonny. Guess I'll take him along with me." +And he proceeded to exchange the saddle from the back of his own horse +to that of Prince. + +"You old coward!" muttered Will, bursting with wrath. "I'll get even +with you some day." + +The justice was a tall, burly fellow, and he cut so ridiculous a figure +as he rode away on Prince's back, his heels almost touching the ground, +that Will laughed outright as he thought of a plan to save his pony. + +A shrill whistle brought Turk to the scene, and receiving his cue, the +dog proceeded to give Sharpe a very bad five minutes. He would nip at +one of the dangling legs, spring back out of reach of the whip with a +triumphant bark, then repeat the performance with the other leg. This +little comedy had a delighted spectator in Will, who had followed at a +safe distance. Just as Sharpe made one extra effort to reach Turk, the +boy whistled a signal to Prince, who responded with a bound that dumped +his rider in the dust. Here Turk stood over him and showed his teeth. + +"Call off your dog, bub!" the justice shouted to Will, "and you may keep +your little sheep, for he's no good, anyway." + +"That's a bargain!" cried Will, restored to good humor; and helping the +vanquished foe upon his own steed, he assured him that he need not fear +Turk so long as he kept his word. Sharpe departed, but we were far from +being rid of him. + +About a fortnight later we were enjoying an evening with father, who was +now able to come downstairs. He was seated in a big arm-chair before the +open fire, with his family gathered round him, by his side our frail, +beautiful mother, with Baby Charlie on her knee, Martha and Julia, with +their sewing, and Will, back of mother's chair, tenderly smoothing the +hair from her brow, while he related spiritedly some new escapade of +Turk. Suddenly he checked his narrative, listened for a space, and +announced: + +"There are some men riding on the road toward the house. We'd better be +ready for trouble." + +Mother, equal to every emergency, hurriedly disposed her slender forces +for defense. Martha and Julia were directed to help father to bed; that +done, to repair to the unfurnished front room above stairs; Will was +instructed to call the hired man and Jane, who was almost as large and +quite as strong as the average man; and the three were armed and given +their cue. They were all handy with their weapons, but mother sought to +win by strategy, if possible. She bade the older girls don heavy boots, +and gave them further instructions. By this time the horsemen had +reached the gate. Their leader was the redoubtable Justice Sharpe. He +rode up to the door, and rapped with the but of his riding-whip. Mother +threw up the window overhead. + +"Who's there? and what do you want?" she demanded. + +"We want that old abolition husband of yours, and, dead or alive, we +mean to have him!" + +"All right, Mr. Sharpe," was the steady answer. "I'll ask Colonel Lane +and his men to wait on you." + +The hired man, who had served in the Mexican War, here gave a sharp word +of command, which was responded to by trampling of heavy boots upon the +bare floor. Then, calling a halt, the pretended Colonel Lane advanced to +the window, and shouted to the horsemen: + +"Set foot inside that gate and my men will fire on you!" + +Sharpe, an arrant coward, had retreated at the first sound of a man's +voice, and after a short parley with his nonplused companions, he led +them away--outwitted by a woman. + +As a sort of consolation prize, Sharpe again made off with Prince; but +Will's sorrow in the morning was short-lived, for the sagacious little +creature slipped his halter and came flying home before the forenoon was +half spent. + +After this experience, father decided that, for our sakes as well as for +his own, he must again leave home, and as soon as he recovered a measure +of his strength he went to Grasshopper Falls, thirty-five miles west +of Leavenworth. Here he erected a sawmill, and hoped that he had put +so many miles between him and his enemies that he might be allowed to +pursue a peaceful occupation. He made us occasional visits, so timing +his journey that he reached home after nightfall, and left again before +the sun was up. + +One day when we were looking forward to one of these visits, our good +friend Mr. Hathaway made his appearance about eleven o'clock. + +"It is too bad to be the bearer of ill tidings," said he, "but the news +of your husband's expected visit has been noised about in some way, and +another plot to kill him is afoot. Some of his enemies are camped at Big +Stranger's Creek, and intend to shoot him as he passes there." + +Then followed a long and anxious consultation, which ended without any +plan of rescue. + +All of which had been overheard by Will, who was confined to his bed +with an attack of ague. In him, he decided, lay the only hope for +father's safety; so, dressing, he presented his fever-flushed face to +mother. As he held out a handkerchief, "Tie it tight around my head, +mother," said he; "then it won't ache so hard." + +A remonstrance against his getting out of bed brought out the fact that +he contemplated riding to Grasshopper Falls! + +He was almost too weak to stand, a storm threatened, and thirty miles +lay between him and father; yet he was not to be dissuaded from +his undertaking. So Julia and Martha saddled Prince and helped the +ague-racked courier to his saddle. + +The plunge into the open air and the excitement of the start encouraged +Will to believe that he could hold out. As he settled down to his long, +hard ride he reflected that it was not yet noon, and that father +would not set out until late in the day. Prince seemed to discern that +something extraordinary was afoot, and swung along at a swift, steady +gait. + +Big Stranger's Creek cut the road half-way to the Falls, and Will +approached it before the afternoon was half gone. The lowering sky +darkened the highway, and he hoped to pass the ambush unrecognized; but +as he came up to the stream he made out a camp and campers, one of whom +called out carelessly to him as he passed: + +"Are you all right on the goose?"--the cant phrase of the pro-slavery +men. + +"Never rode a goose in my life, gentlemen," was the reply. + +"That's Cody's boy!" shouted another voice; and the word "Halt!" rang +out just as Will had galloped safely past the camp. + +Will's answer was to drive the spurs into Prince and dart ahead, +followed by a rain of bullets. He was now well out of range, and the +pony still strong and fleet. + +The chase was on, and in the thrill of it Will forgot his weakness. A +new strength came with the rush of air and the ring of hoofs, and "I'll +reach the Falls in time!" was his heartening thought, as pursurer and +pursued sped through the forests, clattered over bridges, and galloped +up hill and down. + +Then broke the long-impending storm, and the hard road became the bed +of a muddy stream. The pursuit was abandoned, and this stimulus removed, +Will felt the chills and weakness coming on again. He was drenched to +the skin, and it was an effort to keep his saddle, but he set his teeth +firmly in his resolve to accomplish his heroic purpose. + +At last! A welcome light gleamed between the crystal bars of the rain. +His mission was accomplished. + +His ride had been longer by ten miles than that famous gallop of the +friend of his after years--Phil Sheridan. Like Sheridan, he reached the +goal in time, for father was just mounting his horse. + +But the ride proved too much for his strength, and Will collapsed. +Father started with him, a few days later, for Topeka, which was +headquarters for the Free State party. + +Father acquainted mother of their safety, and explained that he had gone +to Topeka because he feared his life was no longer safe at Grasshopper +Falls. + +Party strife in Kansas was now at its height. Thousands came into the +territory from adjacent slave states simply to vote, and the pro-slavery +party elected a legislature, whose first meeting was held at Le Compton. +This election the Free Soilers declared illegal, because of fraudulent +voting, and assembling at Topeka in the winter of 1855-56, they framed +a constitution excluding slavery, and organized a rival government. Of +this first Free-Soil Legislature father was a member. + +Thenceforth war was the order of the day, and in the fall of 1856 a +military governor was appointed, with full authority to maintain law and +order in Kansas. + +Recognizing the good work effected by the emigrant-aid societies, and +realizing that in a still larger Northern emigration to Kansas lay the +only hope of its admission as a free state, father went to Ohio in the +following spring, to labor for the salvation of the territory he had +chosen for his home. Here his natural gift of oratory had free play, and +as the result of his work on the stump he brought back to Kansas sixty +families, the most of whom settled in the vicinity of Grasshopper Falls, +now Valley Falls. + +This meant busy times for us, for with that magnificent disregard for +practical matters that characterizes many men of otherwise great gifts, +father had invited each separate family to make headquarters at his +home until other arrangements could be perfected. As a result, our house +overflowed, while the land about us was dotted with tents; but these +melted away, as one by one the families selected claims and put up +cabins. + +Among the other settlers was Judge Delahay, who, with his family, +located at Leavenworth, and began the publishing of the first abolition +newspaper in Kansas. The appointing of the military governor was the +means of restoring comparative tranquillity; but hundreds of outrages +were committed, and the judge and his newspaper came in for a share of +suffering. The printing-office was broken into, and the type and press +thrown into the Missouri River. Undaunted, the judge procured a new +press, and the paper continued. + +A semi-quiet now reigned in the territory; father resumed work at the +sawmill, and we looked forward to a peaceful home and the joy of being +once more permanently united. But it was not to be. The knife wound had +injured father's lung. With care and nursing it might have healed, but +constant suffering attended on the life that persecution had led him, +and in the spring of '57 he again came home, and took to his bed for the +last time. + +All that could be was done, but nothing availed. After a very short +illness he passed away--one of the first martyrs in the cause of freedom +in Kansas. + +The land of his adoption became his last, long resting-place. His +remains now lie on Pilot Knob, which overlooks the beautiful city of +Leavenworth. His death was regretted even by his enemies, who could not +help but grant a tribute of respect to a man who had been upright, just, +and generous to friend and foe. + + + +CHAPTER V. -- THE "BOY EXTRA." + +AT this sorrowful period mother was herself almost at death's door with +consumption, but far from sinking under the blow, she faced the new +conditions with a steadfast calm, realizing that should she, too, be +taken, her children would be left without a protector, and at the mercy +of the enemies whose malignity had brought their father to an untimely +end. Her indomitable will opposed her bodily weakness. "I will not die," +she told herself, "until the welfare of my children is assured." She was +needed, for our persecution continued. + +Hardly was the funeral over when a trumped-up claim for a thousand +dollars, for lumber and supplies, was entered against our estate. Mother +knew the claim was fictitious, as all the bills had been settled, but +the business had been transacted through the agency of Uncle Elijah, and +father had neglected to secure the receipts. In those bitter, troublous +days it too often happened that brother turned against brother, and +Elijah retained his fealty to his party at the expense of his dead +brother's family. + +This fresh affliction but added fuel to the flame of mother's energy. +Our home was paid for, but father's business had been made so broken +and irregular that our financial resources were of the slenderest, and +should this unjust claim for a thousand dollars be allowed, we would be +homeless. + +The result of mother's study of the situation was, "If I had the ready +money, I should fight the claim." + +"You fight the claim, and I'll get the money," Will replied. + +Mother smiled, but Will continued: + +"Russell, Majors & Waddell will give me work. Jim Willis says I am +capable of filling the position of 'extra.' If you'll go with me and ask +Mr. Majors for a job, I'm sure he'll give me one." + +Russell, Majors & Waddell were overland freighters and contractors, +with headquarters at Leavenworth. To Will's suggestion mother entered +a demurrer, but finally yielded before his insistence. Mr. Majors had +known father, and was more than willing to aid us, but Will's youth was +an objection not lightly overridden. + +"What can a boy of your age do?" he asked, kindly. + +"I can ride, shoot, and herd cattle," said Will; "but I'd rather be an +'extra' on one of your trains.' + +"But that is a man's work, and is dangerous besides." Mr. Majors +hesitated. "But I'll let you try it one trip, and if you do a man's +work, I'll give you a man's pay." + +So Will's name was put on the company roll, and he signed a pledge that +illustrates better than a description the character and disposition of +Mr. Majors. + +"I, William F. Cody," it read, "do hereby solemnly swear, before the +great and living God, that during my engagement with, and while I am +in the employ of, Russell, Majors & Waddell, I will, under no +circumstances, use profane language, that I will not quarrel or fight +with any other employee of the firm, and that in every respect I will +conduct myself honestly, be faithful to my duties, and so direct all my +acts as to win the confidence of my employers. So help me God!" + +Mr Majors employed many wild and reckless men, but the language of the +pledge penetrated to the better nature of them all. They endeavored, +with varying success, to live up to its conditions, although most of +them held that driving a bull-team constituted extenuating circumstances +for an occasional expletive. + +The pledge lightened mother's heart; she knew that Will would keep +his word; she felt, too, that a man that required such a pledge of his +employees was worthy of their confidence and esteem. + +The train was to start in a day, and all of us were busy with the +preparations for Will's two months' trip. The moment of parting came, +and it was a trying ordeal for mother, so recently bereaved of husband. +Will sought to soothe her, but the younger sisters had better success, +for with tears in our eyes we crowded about him, imploring him to "run +if he saw any Indians." + +'Tis but a step from tears to smiles; the situation was relieved, and +Will launched his life bark amid adieus of hope and confidence and love. +His fortitude lasted only till he was out of sight of the house; but +youth is elastic, the plains lay before him, and mother and sisters were +to be helped; so he presented a cheerful face to his employers. + +That night the bed of the "boy extra" was a blanket under a wagon; but +he slept soundly, and was ready when the train started with the dawn. + +The "bull-train" took its name from the fact that each of the +thirty-five wagons making up a full train was hauled by several yoke of +oxen, driven by one man, known as a bullwhacker. This functionary's +whip cracked like a rifle, and could be heard about as far. The wagons +resembled the ordinary prairie-schooner, but were larger and more +strongly built; they were protected from the weather by a double +covering of heavy canvas, and had a freight capacity of seven thousand +pounds. + +Besides the bullwhackers there were cavallard drivers (who cared for +the loose cattle), night herders, and sundry extra hands, all under the +charge of a chief wagon-master, termed the wagon-boss, his lieutenants +being the boss of the cattle train and the assistant wagon-master. The +men were disposed in messes, each providing its own wood and water, +doing its own cooking, and washing up its own tin dinner service, while +one man in each division stood guard. Special duties were assigned to +the "extras," and Will's was to ride up and down the train delivering +orders. This suited his fancy to a dot, for the oxen were snail-gaited, +and to plod at their heels was dull work. Kipling tells us it is quite +impossible to "hustle the East"; it were as easy, as Will discovered, to +hustle a bull-train. + +From the outset the "boy extra" was a favorite with the men. They liked +his pluck in undertaking such work, and when it was seen that he took +pride in executing orders promptly, he became a favorite with the bosses +as well. In part his work was play to him; he welcomed an order as a +break in the monotony of the daily march, and hailed the opportunity of +a gallop on a good horse. + +The world of Will's fancy was bounded by the hazy rim where plain and +sky converge, and when the first day's journey was done, and he had +staked out and cared for his horse, he watched with fascinated eyes +the strange and striking picture limned against the black hills and the +sweeping stretch of darkening prairie. Everything was animation; the +bullwhackers unhitching and disposing of their teams, the herders +staking out the cattle, and--not the least interesting--the mess cooks +preparing the evening meal at the crackling camp-fires, with the huge, +canvas-covered wagons encircling them like ghostly sentinels; the ponies +and oxen blinking stupidly as the flames stampeded the shadows in +which they were enveloped; and more weird than all, the buckskin-clad +bullwhackers, squatted around the fire, their beards glowing red in its +light, their faces drawn in strange black and yellow lines, while the +spiked grasses shot tall and sword-like over them. + +It was wonderful--that first night of the "boy extra." + +But Will discovered that life on the plains is not all a supper +under the stars when the sparks fly upward; it has its hardships and +privations. There were days, as the wagons dragged their slow lengths +along, when the clouds obscured the sky and the wind whistled dismally; +days when torrents fell and swelled the streams that must be crossed, +and when the mud lay ankle-deep; days when the cattle stampeded, and the +round-up meant long, extra hours of heavy work; and, hardest but most +needed work of all, the eternal vigil 'gainst an Indian attack. + +Will did not share the anxiety of his companions. To him a brush with +Indians would prove that boyhood's dreams sometimes come true, and +in imagination he anticipated the glory of a first encounter with the +"noble red man," after the fashion of the heroes in the hair-lifting +Western tales he had read. He was soon to learn, as many another has +learned, that the Indian of real Life is vastly different from the +Indian of fiction. He refuses to "bite the dust" at sight of a paleface, +and a dozen of them have been known to hold their own against as many +white men. + +Some twenty miles west of Fort Kearny a halt was made for dinner at the +bank of a creek that emptied into the Platte River. No signs of +Indians had been observed, and there was no thought of special danger. +Nevertheless, three men were constantly on guard. Many of the trainmen +were asleep under the wagons while waiting dinner, and Will was watching +the maneuvers of the cook in his mess. Suddenly a score of shots rang +out from the direction of a neighboring thicket, succeeded by a chorus +of savage yells. + +Will saw the three men on the lookout drop in their tracks, and saw the +Indians divide, one wing stampeding the cattle, the other charging down +upon the camp. + +The trainmen were old frontiersmen, and although taken wholly by +surprise, they lined up swiftly in battle array behind the wagons, with +the bosses, Bill and Frank McCarthy, at their head, and the "boy extra" +under the direction of the wagon-master. + +A well-placed volley of rifle-balls checked the Indians, and they +wheeled and rode away, after sending in a scattering cloud of arrows, +which wounded several of the trainmen. The decision of a hasty council +of war was, that a defensive stand would be useless, as the Indians +outnumbered the whites ten to one, and red reinforcements were +constantly coming up, until it seemed to Will as if the prairie were +alive with them. The only hope of safety lay in the shelter of the +creek's high bank, so a run was made for it. The Indians charged again, +with the usual accompaniment of whoops, yells, and flying arrows; +but the trainmen had reached the creek, and from behind its natural +breastwork maintained a rifle fire that drove the foe back out of range. + +To follow the creek and river to Fort Kearny was not accounted much of a +chance for escape, but it was the only avenue that lay open; so, with a +parting volley to deceive the besiegers into thinking that the fort was +still held, the perilous and difficult journey was begun. + +The Indians quickly penetrated the ruse, and another charge had to be +repulsed. Besides the tiresome work of wading, there were wounded men +to help along, and a ceaseless watch to keep against another rush of the +reds. It was a trying ordeal for a man, doubly so for a boy like Will; +but he was encouraged to coolness and endurance by a few words from +Frank McCarthy, who remarked, admiringly, "Well, Billy, you didn't scare +worth a cent." + +After a few miles of wading the little party issued out upon the Platte +River. By this time the wounded men were so exhausted that a halt was +called to improvise a raft. On this the sufferers were placed, and three +or four men detailed to shove it before them. In consideration of his +youth, Will was urged to get upon the raft, but he declined, saying that +he was not wounded, and that if the stream got too deep for him to wade, +he could swim. This was more than some of the men could do, and they, +too, had to be assisted over the deep places. + +Thus wore the long and weary hours away, and though the men, who knew +how hard a trip it was, often asked, "How goes it, Billy?" he uttered no +word of complaint. + +But half a day's wading, without rest or food, gradually weighted his +heels, and little by little he lagged behind his companions. The moon +came out and silvered tree and river, but the silent, plodding band had +no eyes for the glory of the landscape. + +Will had fallen behind some twenty rods, but in a moment fatigue was +forgotten, the blood jumped in his veins, for just ahead of him the +moonlight fell upon the feathered head-dress of an Indian chief, who was +peering over the bank. Motionless, he watched the head, shoulders, and +body of the brave come into view. The Indian supposed the entire party +ahead, and Will made no move until the savage bent his bow. + +Then he realized, with a thumping heart, that death must come to one of +his comrades or the Indian. + +Even in direst necessity it is a fearful thing to deliberately take a +human life, but Will had no time for hesitation. There was a shot, and +the Indian rolled down the bank into the river. + +His expiring yell was answered by others. The reds were not far away. +Frank McCarthy, missing Will, stationed guards, and ran back to look for +him. He found the lad hauling the dead warrior ashore, and seizing his +hand, cried out: "Well done, my boy; you've killed your first Indian, +and done it like a man!" + +Will wanted to stop and bury the body, but being assured that it was +not only an uncustomary courtesy, but in this case quite impossible, he +hastened on. As they came up with the waiting group McCarthy called out: + +"Pards, little Billy has killed his first redskin!" + +The announcement was greeted with cheers, which grated on Will's ears, +for his heart was sick, and the cheers seemed strangely out of place. + +Little time, however, was afforded for sentiment of any sort. Enraged +at the death of their scout, the Indians made a final charge, which was +repulsed, like the others, and after this Bill McCarthy took the lead, +with Frank at the rear, to prevent further straggling of the forces. + +It was a haggard-faced band that came up to Fort Kearny with the dawn. +The wounded men were left at the post, while the others returned to the +wrecked bull-train under escort of a body of troops. They hoped to make +some salvage, but the cattle had either been driven away or had joined +one of the numerous herds of buffalo; the wagons and their freight had +been burned, and there was nothing to do but bury the three pickets, +whose scalped and mutilated bodies were stretched where they had fallen. + +Then the troops and trainmen parted company, the former to undertake +a bootless quest for the red marauders, the latter to return to +Leavenworth, their occupation gone. The government held itself +responsible for the depredations of its wards, and the loss of the +wagons and cattle was assumed at Washington. + + + +CHAPTER VI. -- FAMILY DEFENDER AND HOUSEHOLD TEASE. + +THE fame to which Byron woke one historic morning was no more unexpected +to him than that which now greeted Will. The trainmen had not been +over-modest in their accounts of his pluck; and when a newspaper +reporter lent the magic of his imagination to the plain narrative, it +became quite a story, headed in display type, "The Boy Indian Slayer." + +But Will was speedily concerned with other than his own affairs, for as +soon as his position with the freighters was assured, mother engaged a +lawyer to fight the claim against our estate. This legal light was +John C. Douglass, then unknown, unhonored, and unsung, but talented and +enterprising notwithstanding. He had just settled in Leavenworth, and he +could scarcely have found a better case with which to storm the heights +of fame--the dead father, the sick mother, the helpless children, and +relentless persecution, in one scale; in the other, an eleven-year-old +boy doing a man's work to earn the money needed to combat the family's +enemies. Douglass put his whole strength into the case. + +He knew as well as we that our cause was weak; it hung by a single +thread--a missing witness, Mr. Barnhart. This man had acted as +bookkeeper when the bills were paid, but he had been sent away, and +the prosecution--or persecution--had thus far succeeded in keeping his +where-abouts a secret. To every place where he was likely to be Lawyer +Douglass had written; but we were as much in the dark as ever when the +morning for the trial of the suit arrived. + +The case had excited much interest, and the court-room was crowded, many +persons having been drawn thither by a curiosity to look upon "The Boy +Indian Slayer." There was a cheerful unanimity of opinion upon the utter +hopelessness of the Cody side of the case. Not only were prominent and +wealthy men arrayed against us, but our young and inexperienced lawyer +faced the heaviest legal guns of the Leavenworth bar. Our only witnesses +were a frail woman and a girl of eighteen, though by their side, with +his head held high, was the family protector, our brave young brother. +Against us were might and malignity; upon our side, right and the high +courage with which Christianity steels the soul of a believer. Mother +had faith that the invisible forces of the universe were fighting for +our cause. + +She and Martha swore to the fact that all the bills had been settled; +and after the opposition had rested its case, Lawyer Douglass arose for +the defense. His was a magnificent plea for the rights of the widow and +the orphan, and was conceded to be one of the finest speeches ever +heard in a Kansas court-room; but though all were moved by our counsel's +eloquence--some unto tears by the pathos of it--though the justice +of our cause was freely admitted throughout the court-room, our best +friends feared the verdict. + +But the climax was as stunning to our enemies as it was unexpected. As +Lawyer Douglass finished his last ringing period, the missing +witness, Mr. Barnhart, hurried into the court-room. He had started +for Leavenworth upon the first intimation that his presence there was +needed, and had reached it just in time. He took the stand, swore to +his certain knowledge that the bills in question had been paid, and the +jury, without leaving their seats, returned a verdict for the defense. + +Then rose cheer upon cheer, as our friends crowded about us and offered +their congratulations. Our home was saved, and Lawyer Douglass had won a +reputation for eloquence and sterling worth that stood undimmed through +all his long and prosperous career. + +The next ripple on the current of our lives was sister Martha's wedding +day. Possessed of remarkable beauty, she had become a belle, and as +young ladies were scarce in Kansas at that time, she was the toast of +all our country round. But her choice had fallen on a man unworthy of +her. Of his antecedents we knew nothing; of his present life little +more, save that he was fair in appearance and seemingly prosperous. In +the sanction of the union Will stood aloof. Joined to a native intuition +were the sharpened faculties of a lad that lived beyond his years. +Almost unerring in his insight, he disliked the object of our sister's +choice so thoroughly that he refused to be a witness of the nuptials. +This dislike we attributed to jealousy, as brother and sister worshiped +each other, but the sequel proved a sad corroboration of his views. + +Nature seemed to join her protest to Will's silent antagonism. A +terrific thunder-storm came up with the noon hour of the wedding. +So deep and sullen were the clouds that we were obliged to light the +candles. When the wedding pair took their places before Hymen's altar, a +crash of thunder rocked the house and set the casements rattling. + +The couple had their home awaiting them in Leavenworth, and departed +almost immediately after the ceremony. + +The cares and responsibilities laid upon our brother's shoulders did not +quench his boyish spirits and love of fun. Not Buffalo Bill's! He gave +us a jack-o'-lantern scare once upon a time, which I don't believe any +of us will ever forget. We had never seen that weird species of pumpkin, +and Will embroidered a blood-and-thunder narrative. + +"The pumpkins all rise up out of the ground," said he, "on fire, with +the devil's eyes, and their mouths open, like blood-red lions, and grab +you, and go under the earth. You better look out!" + +"That ain't so!" all of us little girls cried; "you know it's a fib. +Ain't it, mother?" and we ran as usual to mother. + +"Will, you mustn't tell the children such tales. Of course they're just +fibs," said mother. + +"So there!" we cried, in triumph. But Will had a "so there" answer for +us a few nights later. We were coming home late one evening, and found +the gate guarded by mad-looking yellow things, all afire, and grinning +hideously like real live men in the moon dropped down from the sky. + +"Jack-o'-lanterns!" screamed Eliza, grabbing May by the hand, and +starting to run. I began to say my prayers, of course, and cry for +mother. All at once the heads moved! Even Turk's tail shot between his +legs, and he howled in fright. We saw the devil's eyes, the blood-red +lion's mouths, and all the rest, and set up such a chorus of wild yells +that the whole household rushed to our rescue. While we were panting out +our story, we heard Will snickering behind the door. + +"So there, smarties! You'll believe what I tell you next time. You +bet--ter--had!" + +But he liked best to invade our play-room and "work magic" on our +dolls. Mother had set aside one apartment in our large log house for +a play-room, and here each one of our doll families dwelt in peace and +harmony, when Will wasn't around. But there was tragedy whenever he +came near. He would scalp the mother dolls, and tie their babies to the +bedposts, and would storm into their pasteboard-box houses at night, +after we had fixed them all in order, and put the families to standing +on their heads. He was a dreadful tease. It was in this play-room that +the germ of his Wild West took life. He formed us into a regular little +company--Turk and the baby, too--and would start us in marching order +for the woods. He made us stick horses and wooden tomahawks, spears, and +horsehair strings, so that we could be cowboys, Indians, bullwhackers, +and cavalrymen. All the scenes of his first freighting trip were +acted out in the woods of Salt Creek Valley. We had stages, robbers, +"hold-ups," and most ferocious Indian battles. + +Will was always the "principal scalper," however, and we had few of our +feathers left after he was on the warpath. We were so little we couldn't +reach his feathers. He always wore two long shiny ones, which had been +the special pride of our black rooster, and when he threw a piece of an +old blanket gotten from the Leavenworth barracks around his shoulders, +we considered him a very fine general indeed. + +All of us were obedient to the letter on "show days," and scarcely ever +said "Now, stop," or "I'll tell mother on you!" But during one of these +exciting performances Will came to a short stop. + +"I believe I'll run a show when I get to be a man," said he. + +"That fortune lady said you'd got to be President of the United States," +said Eliza. + +"How could ze presiman won a show?" asked May. + +"How could that old fortune-teller know what I'm going to be?" Will +would answer, disdainfully. "I rather guess I can have a show, in spite +of all the fortune-tellers in the country. I'll tell you right now, +girls, I don't propose to be President, but I do mean to have a show!" + +Such temerity in disputing one's destiny was appalling; and though our +ideas of destiny were rather vague, we could grasp one dreadful fact: +Will had refused to be President of the United States! So we ran crying +to mother, and burying our faces in her lap, sobbed out: "Oh, mother! +Will says he ain't going to be President. Don't he have to be?" + +Still, in spite of Will's fine scorn of fortune-tellers, the prophecy +concerning his future must have been sometimes in his mind. This was +shown in an episode that the writer is in duty bound, as a veracious +chronicler, to set down. + +Our neighbor, Mr. Hathaway, had a son, Eugene, of about Will's age, and +the two were fast friends. One day, when Will was visiting at Eugene's +house, the boys introduced themselves to a barrel of hard cider. +Temperance sentiment had not progressed far enough to bring hard cider +under the ban, and Mr. Hathaway had lately pressed out a quantity of the +old-fashioned beverage. The boys, supposing it a harmless drink, took +all they desired--much more than they could carry. They were in a +deplorable condition when Mr. Hathaway found them; and much distressed, +the good old man put Eugene to bed and brought Will home. + +The family hero returned to us with a flourish of trumpets. He stood up +in the wagon and sang and shouted; and when Mr. Hathaway reproved him, +"Don't talk to me," was his lofty rejoinder. "You forget that I am to be +President of the United States." + +There is compensation for everything. Will never touched cider again; +and never again could he lord it over his still admiring but no longer +docile sisters. If he undertook to boss or tease us more than to our +fancy, we would subdue him with an imitation of his grandiloquent, +"You forget that I am to be President of the United States." Indeed, so +severe was this retaliation that we seldom saw him the rest of the day. + +But he got even with us when "preacher day" came around. + +Like "Little Breeches" father, Will never did go in much on religion, +and when the ministers assembled for "quarterly meeting" at our house, +we never knew what to expect from him. Mother was a Methodist, and as +our log house was larger than the others in the valley, it fell to our +lot to entertain the preachers often. We kept our preparations on the +quiet when Will was home, but he always managed to find out what was +up, and then trouble began. His first move was to "sick" Turk on the +yellow-legged chickens. They were our best ones, and the only thing we +had for the ministers to eat. Then Will would come stalking in: + +"Say, mother, just saw all the yellow-legged chickens a-scooting up +the road. Methodist preachers must be in the wind, for the old hens are +flying like sixty!" + +"Now, Will, you call Turk off, and round up those chickens right away." + +"Catch meself!" And Will would dance around and tease so he nearly drove +us all distracted. It was with the greatest difficulty that mother could +finally prevail upon him to round up the chickens. That done, he would +tie up the pump-handle, milk the cows dry, strew the path to the gate +with burrs and thistles, and stick up a sign, "Thorney is the path and +stickery the way that leedith unto the kingdom of heaven. Amen!" + +Then when mother had put a nice clean valance, freshly starched and +ruffled, around the big four-poster bed in the sitting-room, Will would +daub it up with smearcase, and just before the preachers arrived, sneak +in under it, and wait for prayers. + +Mother always desired us to file in quietly, but we couldn't pass the +bed without our legs being pinched; so we "hollered," but were afraid to +tell mother the reason before the ministers. We had to bear it, but we +snickered ourselves when the man Will called "Elder Green Persimmon," +because when he prayed his mouth went inside out, came mincing into +the room, and as he passed the valance and got a pinch, jerked out a +sour-grape sneeze: + +"Mercy on us! I thought I was bitten by that fierce dog of yours, Mrs. +Cody; but it must have been a burr." + +Then the "experiences" would begin. Will always listened quietly, +until the folks began telling how wicked they had been before they got +religion; then he would burst in with a vigorous "Amen!" + +The elders did not know Will's voice; so they would get warmed up by +degree as the amens came thicker and faster. When he had worked them +all up to a red-hot pitch, Will would start that awful snort of his +that always made us double up with giggles, and with a loud +cockle-doodle-doo! would bolt from the bed like a lightning flash and +make for the window. + +So "preacher day," as Will always called it, became the torment of our +lives. + +To tell the truth, Will always was teasing us, but if he crooked his +finger at us we would bawl. We bawled and squalled from morning till +night. Yet we fairly worshiped him, and cried harder when he went away +than when he was home. + + + +CHAPTER VII. -- INDIAN ENCOUNTER AND SCHOOL-DAY INCIDENTS. + +WILL was not long at home. The Mormons, who were settled in Utah, +rebelled when the government, objecting to the quality of justice meted +out by Brigham Young, sent a federal judge to the territory. Troops, +under the command of General Albert Sidney Johnston, were dispatched +to quell the insurrection, and Russell, Majors & Waddell contracted to +transport stores and beef cattle to the army massing against the Mormons +in the fall of 1857. The train was a large one, better prepared against +such an attack as routed the McCarthy brothers earlier in the summer; +yet its fate was the same. + +Will was assigned to duty as "extra" under Lew Simpson, an experienced +wagon-master, and was subject to his orders only. There was the double +danger of Mormons and Indians, so the pay was good. Forty dollars a +month in gold looked like a large sum to an eleven-year-old. + +Will's second departure was quite as tragic as the first. We girls, +as before, were loud in our wailings, and offered to forgive him the +depredations in the doll-house and all his teasings, if only he would +not go away and be scalped by the Indians. Mother said little, but +her anxious look, as she recalled the perils of the former trip, spoke +volumes. He carried with him the memory of the open-mouthed admiration +of little Charlie, to whom "Brother Will" was the greatest hero in the +world. Turk's grief at the parting was not a whit less than ours, and +the faithful old fellow seemed to realize that in Will's absence the +duty of the family protector devolved on him; so he made no attempt to +follow Will beyond the gate. + +The train made good progress, and more than half the journey to Fort +Bridger was accomplished without a setback. When the Rockies were +reached, a noon halt was made near Green River, and here the men were +surrounded and overcome by a large force of Danites, the "Avenging +Angels" of the Mormon Church, who had "stolen the livery of the court of +heaven to serve the devil in." These were responsible for the atrocious +Mountain Meadow Massacre, in June of this same year, though the wily +"Saints" had planned to place the odium of an unprovoked murder of +innocent women and children upon the Indians, who had enough to answer +for, and in this instance were but the tools of the Mormon Church. +Brigham Young repudiated his accomplice, and allowed John D. Lee to +become the scapegoat. The dying statement of this man is as pathetic as +Cardinal Wolsey's arraignment of Henry VIII. + +"A victim must be had," said he, "and I am that victim. For thirty years +I studied to make Brigham Young's will my law. See now what I have come +to this day. I have been sacrificed in a cowardly, dastardly manner. I +do not fear death. I cannot go to a worse place than I am now in." + +John D. Lee deserved his fate, but Brigham Young was none the less a +coward. + +The Danites spared the lives of the trainmen, but they made sad havoc +of the supplies. These they knew to be intended for the use of the army +opposed to Brigham Young. They carried off all the stores they could +handle, drove with them or stampeded the cattle, and burned the wagons. +The trainmen were permitted to retain one wagon and team, with just +enough supplies to last them to army headquarters. + +It was a disheartened, discomfited band that reached Fort Bridger. The +information that two other trains had been destroyed added to their +discouragement, for that meant that they, in common with the other +trainmen and the soldiers at the fort, must subsist on short rations for +the winter. There were nearly four hundred of these trainmen, and it was +so late in the season that they had no choice but to remain where they +were until spring opened. + +It was an irksome winter. The men at the fort hauled their firewood two +miles; as the provisions dwindled, one by one the oxen were slaughtered, +and when this food supply was exhausted, starvation reared its gaunt +form. Happily the freighters got word of the situation, and a relief +team reached the fort before the spring was fairly opened. + +As soon as practicable the return journey was undertaken. At Fort +Laramie two large trains were put in charge of Lew Simpson, as brigade +wagon-master, and Will was installed as courier between the two +caravans, which traveled twenty miles apart--plenty of elbow room for +camping and foraging. + +One morning, Simpson, George Woods, and Will, who were in the rear +train, set out for the forward one, mounted upon mules, and armed, as +the trainmen always were, with rifle, knife, and a brace of revolvers. +About half of the twenty miles had been told off when the trio saw a +band of Indians emerge from a clump of trees half a mile away and sweep +toward them. Flight with the mules was useless; resistance promised +hardly more success, as the Indians numbered a full half-hundred: but +surrender was death and mutilation. + +"Shoot the mules, boys!" ordered Simpson, and five minutes later two men +and a boy looked grimly over a still palpitating barricade. + +The defense was simple; rifles at range, revolvers for close quarters, +knives at the last. The chief, easily distinguished by his feathered +head-dress, was assigned to Will. Already his close shooting was the +pride of the frontiersmen. Simpson's coolness steadied the lad, who +realized that the situation was desperate. + +The Indians came on with the rush and scream of the March wind. "Fire!" +said Simpson, and three ponies galloped riderless as the smoke curled +from three rifle barrels. + +Dismayed by the fall of their chief, the redskins wheeled and rode out +of range. Will gave a sigh of relief. + +"Load up again, Billy!" smiled Simpson. "They'll soon be back." + +"They've only three or four rifles," said Woods. There had been little +lead in the cloud of arrows. + +"Here they come!" warned Simpson, and the trio ran their rifles out over +the dead mules. + +Three more riderless ponies; but the Indians kept on, supposing they +had drawn the total fire of the whites. A revolver fusillade undeceived +them, and the charging column wavered and broke for cover. + +Simpson patted Will on the shoulder as they reloaded. "You're a game +one, Billy!" said he. + +"You bet he is," echoed Woods, coolly drawing an arrow from his +shoulder. "How is that, Lew--poisoned?" + +Will waited breathless for the decision, and his relief was as great as +Woods's when Simpson, after a critical scrutiny, answered "No." + +The wound was hastily dressed, and the little company gave an undivided +attention to the foe, who were circling around their quarry, hanging to +the off sides of their ponies and firing under them. With a touch of +the grim humor that plain life breeds, Will declared that the mules were +veritable pincushions, so full of arrows were they stuck. + +The besieged maintained a return fire, dropping pony after pony, and +occasionally a rider. This proved expensive sport to the Indians, and +the whole party finally withdrew from range. + +There was a long breathing spell, which the trio improved by +strengthening their defense, digging up the dirt with their knives +and piling it upon the mules. It was tedious work, but preferable to +inactivity and cramped quarters. + +Two hours went by, and the plan of the enemy was disclosed. A light +breeze arose, and the Indians fired the prairie. Luckily the grass +near the trail was short, and though the heat was intense and the smoke +stifling, the barricade held off the flame. Simpson had kept a close +watch, and presently gave the order to fire. A volley went through +the smoke and blaze, and the yell that followed proved that it was +not wasted. This last ruse failing, the Indians settled down to their +favorite game--waiting. + +A thin line of them circled out of range; ponies were picketed and tents +pitched; night fell, and the stars shot out. + +As Woods was wounded, he was excused from guard duty, Will and Simpson +keeping watch in turn. Will took the first vigil, and, tired though he +was, experienced no difficulty in keeping awake, but he went soundly to +sleep the moment he was relieved. He was wakened by a dream that Turk +was barking to him, and vaguely alarmed, he sat up to find Simpson +sleeping across his rifle. + +The midnight hush was unbroken, and the darkness lay thick upon the +plain, but shapes blacker than night hovered near, and Will laid his +hand on Simpson's shoulder. + +The latter was instantly alive, and Woods was wakened. A faint click +went away on the night breeze, and a moment later three jets of flame +carried warning to the up-creeping foe that the whites were both alive +and on the alert. + +There was no more sleep within the barricade. The dawn grew into day, +and anxious eyes scanned the trail for reinforcements--coming surely, +but on what heavy and slow-turning wheels! + +Noon came and passed. The anxious eyes questioned one another. Had the +rear train been overcome by a larger band of savages? But suddenly +half a dozen of the Indians were seen to spring up with gestures of +excitement, and spread the alarm around the circle. + +"They hear the cracking of the bull-whips," said Simpson. + +The Indians who had seen the first team pass, and had assumed that +Simpson and his companions were straggling members of it, did not +expect another train so soon. There was "mounting in hot haste," and the +Indians rode away in one bunch for the distant foothills, just as the +first ox-team broke into view. + +And never was there fairer picture to more appreciative eyes than those +same lumbering, clumsy animals, and never sweeter music than the harsh +staccato of the bullwhips. + +When hunger was appeased, and Woods's wound properly dressed, Will, for +the second time, found himself a hero among the plainsmen. His nerve and +coolness were dwelt upon by Simpson, and to the dream that waked him in +season was ascribed the continued life on earth of the little company. +Will, however, was disposed to allow Turk the full credit for the +service. + +The remainder of the trip was devoid of special incident, and as Will +neared home he hurried on in advance of the train. His heart beat high +as he thought of the dear faces awaiting him, unconscious that he was so +near. + +But the home toward which he was hastening with beating heart and winged +heels was shadowed by a great grief. Sister Martha's married life, +though brief, had amply justified her brother's estimate of the man into +whose hands she had given her life. She was taken suddenly ill, and it +was not until several months later that Will learned that the cause of +her sickness was the knowledge that had come to her of the faithless +nature of her husband. The revelation was made through the visit of one +of Mr. C----'s creditors, who, angered at a refusal to liquidate a debt, +accused Mr. C----of being a bigamist, and threatened to set the law upon +him. The blow was fatal to one of Martha's pure and affectionate +nature, already crushed by neglect and cruelty. All that night she +was delirious, and her one thought was "Willie," and the danger he was +in--not alone the physical danger, but the moral and spiritual peril +that she feared lay in association with rough and reckless men. She +moaned and tossed, and uttered incoherent cries; but as the morning +broke the storm went down, and the anxious watchers fancied that she +slept. Suddenly she sat up, the light of reason again shining in her +eyes, and with a joyous cry, "Tell mother Willie's saved! Willie's +saved!" she fell back on her pillow, and her spirit passed away. On her +face was the peace that the world can neither give nor take away. The +veil of the Unknown had been drawn aside for a space. She had "sent her +soul through the Invisible," and it had found the light that lit the +last weary steps through the Valley of the Shadow. + +Mr. C---- had moved from Leavenworth to Johnson County, twenty-five +miles away, and as there were neither telegraph nor mail facilities, +he had the body sent home, himself accompanying it. Thus our first +knowledge of Martha's sickness came when her lifeless clay was borne +across our threshold, the threshold that, less than a year before, she +had crossed a bright and bonny bride. Dazed by the shock, we longed +for Will's return before we must lay his idolized sister forever in her +narrow cell. + +All of the family, Mr. C---- included, were gathered in the +sitting-room, sad and silent, when Turk suddenly raised his head, +listened a second, and bounded out of doors. + +"Will is coming!" cried mother, and we all ran to the door. Turk was +racing up the long hill, at the top of which was a moving speck that the +dog knew to be his master. His keen ears had caught the familiar whistle +half a mile away. + +When Turk had manifested his joy at the meeting, he prepared Will for +the bereavement that awaited him; he put his head down and emitted a +long and repeated wail. Will's first thought was for mother, and he +fairly ran down the hill. The girls met him some distance from the +house, and sobbed out the sad news. + +And when he had listened, the lad that had passed unflinching through +two Indian fights, broke down, and sobbed with the rest of us. + +"Did that rascal, C----, have anything to do with her death?" he asked, +when the first passion of grief was over. + +Julia, who knew no better at the time, replied that Mr. C----was the +kindest of husbands, and was crushed with sorrow at his loss; but spite +of the assurance, Will, when he reached the house, had neither look nor +word for him. He just put his arms about mother's neck, and mingled his +grief with her words of sympathy and love. + +Martha was shortly after laid by father's side, and as we stood weeping +in that awful moment when the last spadeful of earth completes the +sepulture, Will, no longer master of himself, stepped up before Mr. +C----: + +"Murderer," he said, "one day you shall answer to me for the death of +her who lies there!" + +When Will next presented himself at Mr. Majors's office, he was told +that his services had been wholly satisfactory, and that he could have +work at any time he desired. This was gratifying, but a sweeter pleasure +was to lay his winter's wages in mother's lap. Through his help, and her +business ability, our pecuniary affairs were in good condition. We +were comfortably situated, and as Salt Creek Valley now boasted of a +schoolhouse, mother wished Will to enter school. He was so young when +he came West that his school-days had been few; nor was the prospect +of adding to their number alluring. After the excitement of life on the +plains, going to school was dull work; but Will realized that there was +a world beyond the prairie's horizon, and he entered school, determined +to do honest work. + +Our first teacher was of the good, old-fashioned sort. He taught +because he had to live. He had no love for his work, and knew nothing of +children. The one motto he lived up to was, "Spare the rod and spoil the +child." As Will was a regular Tartar in the schoolroom, he, more than +all the other scholars, made him put his smarting theory into practice. +Almost every afternoon was attended with the dramatic attempt to switch +Will. The schoolroom was separated into two grand divisions, "the boys +on teacher's side," and those "on the Cody side." The teacher would send +his pets out to get switches, and part of our division--we girls, of +course--would begin to weep; while those who had spunk would spit on +their hands, clench their fists, and "dare 'em to bring them switches +in!" Those were hot times in old Salt Creek Valley! + +One morning Turk, too, was seized with educational ambition, and +accompanied Will to school. We tried to drive him home, but he followed +at a distance, and as we entered the schoolhouse, he emerged from the +shrubbery by the roadside and crept under the building. + +Alas for the scholars, and alas for the school! Another ambitious dog +reposed beneath the temple of learning. + +Will, about that time, was having a bad quarter of an hour. An +examination into his knowledge, or lack of it, was under way, and he was +hard pressed. Had he been asked how to strike a trail, locate water, +or pitch a tent, his replies would have been full and accurate, but +the teacher's queries seemed as foolish as the "Reeling and Writhing, +Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision" of the Mock Turtle in +"Alice in Wonderland." + +Turk effected an unexpected rescue. Snarls were heard beneath the +schoolhouse; then savage growls and yelps, while the floor resounded +with the whacks of the canine combatants. With a whoop that would not +have disgraced an Indian, Will was out of doors, shouting, "Eat him up, +Turk! Eat him up!" + +The owner of the opposing dog was one Steve Gobel. 'Twixt him and Will +a good-sized feud existed. Steve was also on the scene, with a defiant, +"Sic 'em, Nigger!" and the rest of the school followed in his wake. + +Of the twisting, yelping bundle of dog-flesh that rolled from under the +schoolhouse it was difficult to say which was Turk and which Nigger. +Eliza and I called to Turk, and wept because he would not hear. The +teacher ordered the children back to their studies, but they were +as deaf as Turk; whereat the enraged pedagogue hopped wildly about, +flourishing a stick and whacking every boy that strayed within reach of +it. + +Nigger soon had enough of the fight, and striking his tail-colors, fled +yelping from the battle-ground. His master, Steve Gobel, a large youth +of nineteen or twenty years, pulled off his coat to avenge upon Will +the dog's defeat, but the teacher effected a Solomon-like compromise by +whipping both boys for bringing their dogs to school, after which the +interrupted session was resumed. + +But Gobel nursed his wrath, and displayed his enmity in a thousand small +ways. Will paid no attention to him, but buckled down to his school +work. Will was a born "lady's man," and when Miss Mary Hyatt complicated +the feud 'twixt him and Steve, it hurried to its climax. Mary was older +than Will, but she plainly showed her preference for him over Master +Gobel. Steve had never distinguished himself in an Indian fight; he was +not a hero, but just a plain boy. + +Now, indeed, was Will's life unendurable; "patience had had its perfect +work." He knew that a boy of twelve, however strong and sinewy, was +not a match for an almost full-grown man; so, to balance matters, he +secreted on his person an old bowie-knife. When next he met Steve, +the latter climaxed his bullying tactics by striking the object of his +resentment; but he was unprepared for the sudden leap that bore him +backward to the earth. Size and strength told swiftly in the struggle +that succeeded, but Will, with a dextrous thrust, put the point of the +bowie into the fleshy part of Steve's lower leg, a spot where he knew +the cut would not be serious. + +The stricken bully shrieked that he was killed; the children gathered +round, and screamed loudly at the sight of blood. "Will Cody has killed +Steve Gobel!" was the wailing cry, and Will, though he knew Steve was +but pinked, began to realize that frontier styles of combat were not +esteemed in communities given up to the soberer pursuits of spelling, +arithmetic, and history. Steve, he knew, was more frightened than hurt; +but the picture of the prostrate, ensanguined youth, and the group of +awestricken children, bore in upon his mind the truth that his act was +an infraction of the civil code; that even in self-defense, he had no +right to use a knife unless his life was threatened. + +The irate pedagogue was hastening to the scene, and after one glance at +him, Will incontinently fled. At the road he came upon a wagon train, +and with a shout of joy recognized in the "boss" John Willis, a +wagon-master employed by Russell, Majors & Waddell, and a great friend +of the "boy extra." Will climbed up behind Willis on his horse, and +related his escapade to a close and sympathetic listener. + +"If you say so, Billy," was his comment, "I'll go over and lick the +whole outfit, and stampede the school." + +"No, let the school alone," replied Will; "but I guess I'll graduate, if +you'll let me go along with you this trip." + +Willis readily agreed, but insisted upon returning to the schoolhouse. +"I m not going," said he, "to let you be beaten by a bully of a boy, and +a Yankee school-teacher, with a little learning, but not a bit of sand." +His idea of equalizing forces was that he and "Little Billy" should +fight against the pedagogue and Steve. + +Will consented, and they rode back to the schoolhouse, on the door +of which Willis pounded with his revolver butt, and when the door was +opened he invited Gobel and the "grammar man" to come forth and do +battle. But Steve had gone home, and the teacher, on seeing the two +gladiators, fled, while the scholars, dismissing themselves, ran home in +a fright. + +That night mother received a note from the teacher. + +He was not hired, he wrote, to teach desperadoes; therefore Will was +dismissed. But Will had already dismissed himself, and had rejoined the +larger school whose walls are the blue bowl called the sky. And long +after was his name used by the pedagogue to conjure up obedience in his +pupils; unless they kissed the rod, they, too, might go to the bad, and +follow in Will Cody's erring footsteps. + +Willis and Will had gone but a piece on the road when horsemen were seen +approaching. + +"Mr. Gobel and the officers are after me," said Will. + +"Being after you and gittin' you are two different things," said the +wagon-master. "Lie low, and I'll settle the men." + +Mr. Gobel and his party rode up with the information that they had come +to arrest Will; but they got no satisfaction from Willis. He would not +allow them to search the wagons, and they finally rode away. That +night, when the camp was pitched, the wagon-master gave Will a mule, and +accompanied him home. We were rejoiced to see him, especially mother, +who was much concerned over his escapade. + +"Oh, Will, how could you do such a thing?" she said, sorrowfully. "It is +a dreadful act to use a knife on any one." + +Will disavowed any homicidal intentions; but his explanations made +little headway against mother's disapproval and her disappointment over +the interruption of his school career. As it seemed the best thing to +do, she consented to his going with the wagon train under the care of +John Willis, and the remainder of the night was passed in preparations +for the journey. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. -- DEATH AND BURIAL OF TURK. + +THIS trip of Will's covered only two months, and was succeeded by +another expedition, to the new post at Fort Wallace, at Cheyenne Pass. + +Meanwhile mother had decided to improve the opportunity afforded by +her geographical position, and under her supervision "The Valley Grove +House" was going up. + +The hotel commanded a magnificent prospect. Below lay the beautiful +Salt Creek Valley. It derived its name from the saline properties of the +little stream that rushed along its pebbly bed to empty its clear waters +into the muddy Missouri. From the vantage-ground of our location Salt +Creek looked like a silver thread, winding its way through the rich +verdure of the valley. The region was dotted with fertile farms; from +east to west ran the government road, known as the Old Salt Lake Trail, +and back of us was Cody Hill, named for my father. Our house stood on +the side hill, just above the military road, and between us and the +hilltop lay the grove that gave the hotel its name. Government hill, +which broke the eastern sky-line, hid Leavenworth and the Missouri +River, culminating to the south in Pilot Knob, the eminence on which my +father was buried, also beyond our view. + +Mother's business sagacity was justified in the hotel venture. The trail +began its half-mile ascent of Cody Hill just below our house, and at +this point the expedient known as "doubling" was employed. Two teams +hauled a wagon up the steep incline, the double team returning for the +wagon left behind. Thus the progress of a wagon train, always slow, +became a very snail's pace, and the hotel was insured a full quota of +hungry trainmen. + +Will found that his wages were of considerable aid to mother in the +large expense incurred by the building of the hotel; and the winter +drawing on, forbidding further freighting trips, he planned an +expedition with a party of trappers. More money was to be made at this +business during the winter than at any other time. + +The trip was successful, and contained only one adventure spiced +with danger, which, as was so often the case, Will twisted to his own +advantage by coolness and presence of mind. + +One morning, as he was making the round of his traps, three Indians +appeared on the trail, each leading a pony laden with pelts. One had a +gun; the others carried bows and arrows. The odds were three to one, and +the brave with the gun was the most to be feared. + +This Indian dropped his bridle-rein and threw up his rifle; but before +it was at his shoulder Will had fired, and he fell forward on his face. +His companions bent their bows, one arrow passing through Will's hat and +another piercing his arm--the first wound he ever received. Will swung +his cap about his head. + +"This way! Here they are!" he shouted to an imaginary party of friends +at his back. Then with his revolver he wounded another of the Indians, +who, believing reinforcements were at hand, left their ponies and fled. + +Will took the ponies on the double-quick back to camp, and the trappers +decided to pull up stakes at once. It had been a profitable season, and +the few more pelts to be had were not worth the risk of an attack by +avenging Indians; so they packed their outfit, and proceeded to Fort +Laramie. Will realized a handsome sum from the sale of his captured +furs, besides those of the animals he had himself trapped. + +At the fort were two men bound east, and impatient to set out, and Will, +in his haste to reach home, joined forces with them. Rather than wait +for an uncertain wagon train, they decided to chance the dangers of the +road. They bought three ponies and a pack-mule for the camp outfit, and +sallied forth in high spirits. + +Although the youngest of the party, Will was the most experienced +plainsman, and was constantly on the alert. They reached the Little Blue +River without sign of Indians, but across the stream Will espied a band +of them. The redskins were as keen of eye, and straightway exchanged the +pleasures of the chase for the more exciting pursuit of human game. But +they had the river to cross; and this gave the white men a good start. +The pursuit was hot, and grew hotter, but the kindly darkness fell, and +under cover of it the trio got safely away. That night they camped in a +little ravine that afforded shelter from both Indians and weather. + +A look over the ravine disclosed a cave that promised a snug harbor, and +therein Will and one of his companions spread their blankets and fell +asleep. The third man, whose duty it was to prepare the supper, kindled +a fire just inside the cave, and returned outside for a supply of fuel. +When he again entered the cave the whole interior was revealed by the +bright firelight, and after one look he gave a yell of terror, dropped +his firewood, and fled. + +Will and the other chap were on their knees instantly, groping for their +rifles, in the belief that the Indians were upon them; but the sight +that met their eyes was more terror-breeding than a thousand Indians. A +dozen bleached and ghastly skeletons were gathered with them around the +camp-fire, and seemed to nod and sway, and thrust their long-chilled +bones toward the cheery blaze. + +Ghastly as it was within the cave, Will found it more unpleasant in the +open. The night was cold, and a storm threatened. + +"Well," said he to his companions, "we know the worst that's in there +now. Those old dead bones won't hurt us. Let's go back." + +"Not if I know myself, sonny," returned one of the men decidedly, and +the other heartily agreed with him, swearing that as it was, he should +not be able to close his eyes for a week. So, after a hurried lunch upon +the cold provisions, the party mounted their ponies and pushed on. The +promised snowstorm materialized, and shortly became a young blizzard, +and obliged to dismount and camp in the open prairie, they made a +miserable night of it. + +But it had an end, as all things have, and with the morning they resumed +the trail, reaching Marysville, on the Big Blue, after many trials and +privations. + +From here the trail was easier, as the country was pretty well settled, +and Will reached home without further adventure or misadventure. Here +there was compensation for hardship in the joy of handing over to mother +all his money, realizing that it would lighten her burdens--burdens +borne that she might leave her children provided for when she could +no longer repel the dread messenger, that in all those years seemed to +hover so near that even our childish hearts felt its presence ere it +actually crossed the threshold. + +It was early in March when Will returned from his trapping expedition. +Mother's business was flourishing, though she herself grew frailer with +the passing of each day. The summer that came on was a sad one for us +all, for it marked Turk's last days on earth. One evening he was lying +in the yard, when a strange dog came up the road, bounded in, gave Turk +a vicious bite, and went on. We dressed the wound, and thought little of +it, until some horsemen rode up, with the inquiry, "Have you seen a dog +pass here?" + +We answered indignantly that a strange dog had passed, and had bitten +our dog. + +"Better look out for him, then," warned the men as they rode away. "The +dog is mad." + +Consternation seized us. It was dreadful to think of Turk going mad--he +who had been our playmate from infancy, and who, through childhood's +years, had grown more dear to us than many human beings could; but +mother knew the matter was serious, and issued her commands. Turk must +be shut up, and we must not even visit him for a certain space. And so +we shut him up, hoping for the best; but it speedily became plain that +the poison was working in his veins, and that the greatest kindness we +could do him was to kill him. + +That was a frightful alternative. Will utterly refused to shoot him, and +the execution was delegated to the hired man, Will stipulating that +none of his weapons should be used, and that he be allowed to get out of +ear-shot. + +Late that afternoon, just before sunset, we assembled in melancholy +silence for the funeral. A grave had been dug on the highest point of +the eastern extremity of Cody Hill, and decorated in black ribbons, we +slowly filed up the steep path, carrying Turk's body on a pine board +softened with moss. Will led the procession with his hat in his hand, +and every now and then his fist went savagely at his eyes. When we +reached the grave, we formed around it in a tearful circle, and Will, +who always called me "the little preacher," told me to say the Lord's +Prayer. The sun was setting, and the brilliant western clouds were +shining round about us. There was a sighing in the treetops far below +us, and the sounds in the valley were muffled and indistinct. + +"Our Father which art in heaven," I whispered softly, as all the +children bent their heads, "Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, +Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven." I paused, and the other +children said the rest in chorus. The next day Will procured a large +block of red bloodstone, which abounds in that country, squared it off, +carved the name of Turk upon it in large letters, and we placed it at +the head of the grave. + +To us there had been no incongruity in the funeral ceremonials and +burial. Turk had given us all that dog could give; we, for our part, +gave him Christian sepulture. Our sorrow was sincere. We had lost an +honest, loyal friend. For many succeeding days his grave was garlanded +with fresh flowers, placed there by loving hands. Vale Turk! Would that +our friends of the higher evolution were all as stanch as thou! + +THE BURIAL OF TURK. + + Only a dog! but the tears fall fast. + As we lay him to rest underneath the green sod, + Where bountiful nature, the sweet summer through, + Will deck him with daisies and bright goldenrod. + + The loving thought of a boyish heart + Marks the old dog's grave with a bloodstone red; + The name, carved in letters rough and rude, + Keeps his memory green, though his life be sped. + For the daring young hero of wood and plain, + + Like all who are generous, strong, and brave, + Has a heart that is loyal and kind and true, + And shames not to weep o'er his old friend's grave. + + Only a dog, do you say? but I deem + A dog who with faithfulness fills his trust, + More worthy than many a man to be given + A tribute of love, when but ashes and dust. + +An unusually good teacher now presided at the schoolhouse in our +neighborhood, and Will was again persuaded into educational paths. +He put in a hard winter's work; but with the coming of spring and its +unrest, the swelling of buds and the springing of grass, the return +of the birds and the twittering from myriad nests, the Spirits of the +Plains beckoned to him, and he joined a party of gold-hunters on the +long trail to Pike's Peak. + +The gold excitement was at its apogee in 1860. By our house had passed +the historic wagon bearing on its side the classic motto, "Pike's Peak +or Bust!" Afterward, stranded by the wayside, a whole history of failure +and disappointment, borne with grim humor, was told by the addition of +the eloquent word, "Busted!" + +For all his adventures, Will was only fourteen, and although tall for +his age, he had not the physical strength that might have been expected +from his hardy life. It was not strange that he should take the gold +fever; less so that mother should dread to see him again leave home to +face unknown perils; and it is not at all remarkable that upon reaching +Auraria, now Denver, he should find that fortunes were not lying around +much more promiscuously in a gold country than in any other. + +Recent events have confirmed a belief that under the excitement of a +gold craze men exercise less judgment than at any other time. Except in +placer mining, which almost any one can learn, gold mining is a science. +Now and again a nugget worth a fortune is picked up, but the average +mortal can get a better livelihood, with half the work, in almost any +other field of effort. To become rich a knowledge of ores and mining +methods is indispensable. + +But Will never reached the gold-fields. Almost the first person he met +on the streets of Julesberg was George Chrisman, who had been chief +wagon-master for Russell, Majors & Waddell. Will had become well +acquainted with Chrisman on the various expeditions he had made for the +firm. + +This man was located at Julesberg as agent for the Pony Express line, +which was in process of formation. This line was an enterprise of +Russell, Majors & Waddell. Mr. Russell met in Washington the Senator +from California. This gentleman knew that the Western firm of +contractors was running a daily stagecoach from the Missouri River to +Sacramento, and he urged upon Mr. Russell the desirability of operating +a pony express line along the same route. There was already a line known +as the "Butterfield Route," but this was circuitous; the fastest time +ever made on it was twenty-one days. + +Mr. Russell laid the matter before his partners. They were opposed +to it, as they were sure it would be a losing venture; but the senior +member urged the matter so strongly that they consented to try it, for +the good of the country, with no expectation of profit. They utilized +the stagecoach stations already established, and only about two months +were required to put the Pony Express line in running order. + +Riders received from a hundred and twenty to a hundred and twenty-five +dollars a month, but they earned it. In order to stand the life great +physical strength and endurance were necessary; in addition, riders must +be cool, brave, and resourceful. Their lives were in constant peril, +and they were obliged to do double duty in case the comrade that was to +relieve them had been disabled by outlaws or Indians. + +Two hundred and fifty miles was the daily distance that must be made; +this constituted an average of a little over ten miles an hour. In the +exceedingly rough country this average could not be kept up; to balance +it, there were a few places in the route where the rider was expected to +cover twenty-five miles an hour. + +In making such a run, it is hardly necessary to say that no extra weight +was carried. Letters were written on the finest tissue paper; the charge +was at the rate of five dollars for half an ounce. A hundred of +these letters would make a bulk not much larger than an ordinary +writing-tablet. + + +The mail-pouches were never to carry more than twenty pounds. They +were leather bags, impervious to moisture; the letters, as a further +protection, were wrapped in oiled silk. The pouches were locked, sealed, +and strapped to the rider's side. They were not unlocked during the +journey from St. Joseph to Sacramento. + +The first trip was made in ten days; this was a saving of eleven days +over the best time ever made by the "Butterfield Route." Sometimes the +time was shortened to eight days; but an average trip was made in nine. +The distance covered in this time was nineteen hundred and sixty-six +miles. + +President Buchanan's last presidential message was carried in December, +1860, in a few hours over eight days. President Lincoln's inaugural, the +following March, was transmitted in seven days and seventeen hours. This +was the quickest trip ever made. + +The Pony Express line made its worth at once felt. It would have become +a financial success but that a telegraph line was put into operation +over the same stretch of territory, under the direction of Mr. Edward +Creighton. The first message was sent over the wires the 24th of +October, 1861. The Pony Express line had outlived its usefulness, and +was at once discontinued. But it had accomplished its main purpose, +which was to determine whether the route by which it went could be made +a permanent track for travel the year through. The cars of the Union +Pacific road now travel nearly the same old trails as those followed by +the daring riders of frontier days. + +Mr. Chrisman gave Will a cordial greeting. He explained the business of +the express line to his young friend, and stated that the company had +nearly perfected its arrangements. It was now buying ponies and putting +them into good condition, preparatory to beginning operations. He added, +jokingly: + +"It's a pity you're not a few years older, Billy. I would give you a job +as Pony Express rider. There's good pay in it." + +Will was at once greatly taken with the idea, and begged so hard to be +given a trial that Mr. Chrisman consented to give him work for a month. +If the life proved too hard for him, he was to be laid off at the end +of that time. He had a short run of forty-five miles; there were three +relay stations, and he was expected to make fifteen miles an hour. + +The 3d of April, 1860, Mr. Russell stood ready to receive the mail from +a fast New York train at St. Joseph. He adjusted the letter-pouch on the +pony in the presence of an excited crowd. Besides the letters, several +large New York papers printed special editions on tissue paper for +this inaugural trip. The crowd plucked hairs from the tail of the first +animal to start on the novel journey, and preserved these hairs as +talismans. The rider mounted, the moment for starting came, the signal +was given, and off he dashed. + +At the same moment Sacramento witnessed a similar scene; the rider of +that region started on the two thousand mile ride eastward as the other +started westward. All the way along the road the several other riders +were ready for their initial gallop. + +Will looked forward eagerly to the day when the express line should +be set in motion, and when the hour came it found him ready, standing +beside his horse, and waiting for the rider whom he was to relieve. +There was a clatter of hoofs, and a horseman dashed up and flung him +the saddlebags. Will threw them upon the waiting pony, vaulted into the +saddle, and was off like the wind. + +The first relay station was reached on time, and Will changed with +hardly a second's loss of time, while the panting, reeking animal he had +ridden was left to the care of the stock-tender. This was repeated at +the end of the second fifteen miles, and the last station was reached a +few minutes ahead of time. The return trip was made in good order, and +then Will wrote to us of his new position, and told us that he was in +love with the life. + + + +CHAPTER IX. -- WILL AS PONY EXPRESS RIDER. + +AFTER being pounded against a saddle three dashes daily for three +months, to the tune of fifteen miles an hour, Will began to feel a +little loose in his joints, and weary withal, but he was determined +to "stick it out." Besides the daily pounding, the track of the Pony +Express rider was strewn with perils. A wayfarer through that wild +land was more likely to run across outlaws and Indians than to pass +unmolested, and as it was known that packages of value were frequently +dispatched by the Pony Express line, the route was punctuated by +ambuscades. + +Will had an eye out every trip for a hold-up, but three months went by +before he added that novelty to his other experiences. One day, as he +flew around a bend in a narrow pass, he confronted a huge revolver in +the grasp of a man who manifestly meant business, and whose salutation +was: + +"Halt! Throw up your hands!" + +Most people do, and Will's hands were raised reluctantly. The highwayman +advanced, saying, not unkindly: + +"I don't want to hurt you, boy, but I do want them bags." + +Money packages were in the saddlebags, and Will was minded to save them +if he could, so, as the outlaw reached for the booty, Will touched the +pony with his foot, and the upshot was satisfactory to an unexpected +degree. The plunge upset the robber, and as the pony swept over him he +got a vicious blow from one hoof. Will wheeled for a revolver duel, but +the foe was prostrate, stunned, and bleeding at the head. Will disarmed +the fellow, and pinioned his arms behind him, and then tied up his +broken head. Will surmised that the prisoner must have a horse hidden +hard by, and a bit of a search disclosed it. When he returned with the +animal, its owner had opened his eyes and was beginning to remember a +few things. Will helped him to mount, and out of pure kindness tied him +on; then he straddled his own pony, and towed the dismal outfit along +with him. + +It was the first time that he had been behind on his run, but by way of +excuse he offered to Mr. Chrisman a broken-headed and dejected gentleman +tied to a horse's back; and Chrisman, with a grin, locked the excuse up +for future reference. + +A few days after this episode Will received a letter from Julia, telling +him that mother was ill, and asking him to come home. He at once sought +out Mr. Chrisman, and giving his reason, asked to be relieved. + +"I'm sorry your mother is sick," was the answer, "but I'm glad something +has occurred to make you quit this life. It's wearing you out, Billy, +and you're too gritty to give it up without a good reason." + +Will reached home to find mother slightly improved. For three weeks was +he content to remain idly at home; then (it was November of 1860) his +unquiet spirit bore him away on another trapping expedition, this time +with a young friend named David Phillips. + +They bought an ox-team and wagon to transport the traps, camp outfit, +and provisions, and took along a large supply of ammunition, besides +extra rifles. Their destination was the Republican River. It coursed +more than a hundred miles from Leavenworth, but the country about it was +reputed rich in beaver. Will acted as scout on the journey, going ahead +to pick out trails, locate camping grounds, and look out for breakers. +The information concerning the beaver proved correct; the game was +indeed so plentiful that they concluded to pitch a permanent camp and +see the winter out. + +They chose a hollow in a sidehill, and enlarged it to the dimensions of +a decent-sized room. A floor of logs was put in, and a chimney fashioned +of stones, the open lower part doing double duty as cook-stove and +heater; the bed was spread in the rear, and the wagon sheltered the +entrance. A corral of poles was built for the oxen, and one corner of +it protected by boughs. Altogether, they accounted their winter quarters +thoroughly satisfactory and agreeable. + +The boys had seen no Indians on their trip out, and were not concerned +in that quarter, though they were too good plainsmen to relax their +vigilance. There were other foes, as they discovered the first night in +their new quarters. They were aroused by a commotion in the corral where +the oxen were confined, and hurrying out with their rifles, they found +a huge bear intent upon a feast of beef. The oxen were bellowing in +terror, one of them dashing crazily about the inclosure, and the other +so badly hurt that it could not get up. + +Phillips, who was in the lead, fired first, but succeeded only in +wounding the bear. Pain was now added to the savagery of hunger, and the +infuriated monster rushed upon Phillips. Dave leaped back, but his foot +slipped on a bit of ice, and he went down with a thud, his rifle flying +from his hand as he struck. + +But there was a cool young head and a steady hand behind him. A ball +from Will's rifle entered the distended mouth of the onrushing bear and +pierced the brain, and the huge mass fell lifeless almost across Dave's +body. + +Phillips's nerves loosened with a snap, and he laughed for very relief +as he seized Will's hands. + +"That's the time you saved my life, old fellow!" said he. "Perhaps I can +do as much for you sometime." + +"That's the first bear I ever killed," said Will, more interested in +that topic than in the one Dave held forth on. + +One of the oxen was found to be mortally hurt, and a bullet ended its +misery. Will then took his first lesson in the gentle art of skinning a +bear. + +Dave's chance to square his account with Will came a fortnight later. +They were chasing a bunch of elk, when Will fell, and discovered that he +could not rise. + +"I'm afraid I've broken my leg," said he, as Dave ran to him. + +Phillips had once been a medical student, and he examined the leg with a +professional eye. "You're right, Billy; the leg's broken," he reported. + +Then he went to work to improvise splints and bind up the leg; and this +done, he took Will on his back and bore him to the dugout. Here the leg +was stripped, and set in carefully prepared splints, and the whole bound +up securely. + +The outlook was unpleasant, cheerfully as one might regard it. Living +in the scoop of a sidehill when one is strong and able to get about and +keep the blood coursing is one thing; living there pent up through a +tedious winter is quite another. Dave meditated as he worked away at the +pair of crutches. + +"Tell you what I think I'd better do," said he. "The nearest settlement +is some hundred miles away, and I can get there and back in twenty days. +Suppose I make the trip, get a team for our wagon, and come back for +you?" + +The idea of being left alone and well-nigh helpless struck dismay to +Will's heart, but there was no help for it, and he assented. Dave put +matters into shipshape, piled wood in the dugout, cooked a quantity of +food and put it where Will could reach it without rising, and fetched +several days' supply of water. Mother, ever mindful of Will's education, +had put some school-books in the wagon, and Dave placed these beside the +food and water. When Phillips finally set out, driving the surviving ox +before him, he left behind a very lonely and homesick boy. + +During the first day of his confinement Will felt too desolate to eat, +much less to read; but as he grew accustomed to solitude he derived real +pleasure from the companionship of books. Perhaps in all his life he +never extracted so much benefit from study as during that brief period +of enforced idleness, when it was his sole means of making the dragging +hours endurable. Dave, he knew, could not return in less than twenty +days, and one daily task, never neglected, was to cut a notch in the +stick that marked the humdrum passage of the days. Within the week he +could hobble about on his crutches for a short distance; after that he +felt more secure. + +A fortnight passed. And one day, weary with his studies, he fell asleep +over his books. Some one touched his shoulder, and looking up, he saw an +Indian in war paint and feathers. + +"How?" said Will, with a show of friendliness, though he knew the brave +was on the war-path. + +Half a score of bucks followed at the heels of the first, squeezing into +the little dugout until there was barely room for them to sit down. + +With a sinking heart Will watched them enter, but he plucked up +spirit again when the last, a chief, pushed in, for in this warrior he +recognized an Indian that he had once done a good turn. + +Whatever Lo's faults, he never forgets a kindness any more than he +forgets an injury. The chief, who went by the name of Rain-in-the-Face, +at once recognized Will, and asked him what he was doing in that place. +Will displayed his bandages, and related the mishap that had made them +necessary, and refreshed the chief's memory of a certain occasion when +a blanket and provisions had drifted his way. Rain-in-the-Face replied, +with proper gravity, that he and his chums were out after scalps, and +confessed to designs upon Will's, but in consideration of Auld Lang Syne +he would spare the paleface boy. + +Auld Lang Syne, however, did not save the blankets and provisions, and +the bedizened crew stripped the dugout almost bare of supplies; but Will +was thankful enough to see the back of the last of them. + +Two days later a blizzard set in. Will took an inventory, and found +that, economy considered, he had food for a week; but as the storm would +surely delay Dave, he put himself on half rations. + +Three weeks were now gone, and he looked for Dave momentarily; but as +night followed day, and day grew into night again, he was given over +to keen anxiety. Had Phillips lost his way? Had he failed to locate the +snow-covered dugout? Had he perished in the storm? Had he fallen victim +to Indians? These and like questions haunted the poor lad continually. +Study became impossible, and he lost his appetite for what food there +was left; but the tally on the stick was kept. + +The twenty-ninth day dawned. Starvation stalked into the dugout. The +wood, too, was nigh gone. But great as was Will's physical suffering, +his mental distress was greater. He sat before a handful of fire, +shivering and hungry, wretched and despondent. + +Hark! Was that his name? Choking with emotion, unable to articulate, he +listened intently. Yes; it was his name, and Dave's familiar voice, and +with all his remaining energy he made an answering call. + +His voice enabled Phillips to locate the dugout, and a passage was +cleared through the snow. And when Will saw the door open, the tension +on his nerves let go, and he wept--"like a girl," as he afterward told +us. + +"God bless you, Dave!" he cried, as he clasped his friend around the +neck. + + + +CHAPTER X. -- ECHOES FROM SUMTER. + +THE guns that opened on Fort Sumter set the country all ablaze. In +Kansas, where blood had already been shed, the excitement reached an +extraordinary pitch. Will desired to enlist, but mother would not listen +to the idea. + +My brother had never forgotten the vow made in the post-trader's, and +now with the coming of war his opportunity seemed ripe and lawful; he +could at least take up arms against father's old-time enemies, and at +the same time serve his country. This aspect of the case was presented +to mother in glowing colors, backed by most eloquent pleading; but she +remained obdurate. + +"You are too young to enlist, Willie," she said. "They would not accept +you, and if they did, I could not endure it. I have only a little time +to live; for my sake, then, wait till I am no more before you enter the +army." + +This request was not to be disregarded, and Will promised that he would +not enlist while mother lived. + +Kansas had long been the scene of bitter strife between the two parties, +and though there was a preponderance of the Free-Soil element when it +was admitted to the Union in 1861, we were fated to see some of the +horrors of slavery. Suffering makes one wondrous kind; mother had +suffered so much herself that the misery of others ever vibrated a +chord of sympathy in her breast, and our house became a station on "the +underground railway." Many a fugitive slave did we shelter, many here +received food and clothing, and, aided by mother, a great number reached +safe harbors. + +One old man, named Uncle Tom, became so much attached to us that he +refused to go on. We kept him as help about the hotel. He was with us +several months, and we children grew very fond of him. Every evening +when supper was over, he sat before the kitchen fire and told a +breathless audience strange stories of the days of slavery. And one +evening, never to be forgotten, Uncle Tom was sitting in his accustomed +place, surrounded by his juvenile listeners, when he suddenly sprang +to his feet with a cry of terror. Some men had entered the hotel +sitting-room, and the sound of their voices drove Uncle Tom to his own +little room, and under the bed. + +"Mrs. Cody," said the unwelcome visitors, "we understand that you are +harboring our runaway slaves. We propose to search the premises; and if +we find our property, you cannot object to our removing it." + +Mother was sorely distressed for the unhappy Uncle Tom, but she knew +objection would be futile. She could only hope that the old colored man +had made good his escape. + +But no! Uncle Tom lay quaking under his bed, and there his brutal master +found him. It is not impossible that there were slaveholders kind and +humane, but the bitter curse of slavery was the open door it left +for brutality and inhumanity; and never shall I forget the barbarity +displayed by the owner of Uncle Tom before our horrified eyes. The poor +slave was so old that his hair was wholly white; yet a rope was tied to +it, and, despite our pleadings, he was dragged from the house, every cry +he uttered evoking only a savage kick from a heavy riding-boot. When he +was out of sight, and his screams out of hearing, we wept bitterly on +mother's loving breast. + +Uncle Tom again escaped, and made his way to our house, but he reached +it only to die. We sorrowed for the poor old slave, but thanked God that +he had passed beyond the inhumanity of man. + +Debarred from serving his country as a soldier, Will decided to do so in +some other capacity, and accordingly took service with a United States +freight caravan, transporting supplies to Fort Laramie. On this trip +his frontier training and skill as a marksman were the means of saving a +life. + +In Western travel the perils from outlaws and Indians were so real that +emigrants usually sought the protection of a large wagon-train. Several +families of emigrants journeyed under the wing of the caravan to which +Will was attached. + +When in camp one day upon the bank of the Platte River, and the members +of the company were busied with preparations for the night's rest and +the next day's journey, Mamie Perkins, a little girl from one of the +emigrant families, was sent to the river for a pail of water. A moment +later a monster buffalo was seen rushing upon the camp. A chorus of +yells and a fusillade from rifles and revolvers neither checked nor +swerved him. Straight through the camp he swept, like a cyclone, leaping +ropes and boxes, overturning wagons, and smashing things generally. + +Mamie, the little water-bearer, had filled her pail and was returning in +the track selected by the buffalo. Too terrified to move, she watched, +with white face and parted lips, the maddened animal sweep toward her, +head down and tail up, its hoofs beating a thunderous tattoo on the +plain. + +Will had been asleep, but the commotion brought him to his feet, and +snatching up his rifle, he ran toward the little girl, aimed and fired +at the buffalo. The huge animal lurched, staggered a few yards farther, +then dropped within a dozen feet of the terrified child. + +A shout of relief went up, and while a crowd of praising men gathered +about the embryo buffalo-hunter, Mamie was taken to her mother. Will +never relished hearing his praises sung, and as the camp was determined +to pedestal him as a hero, he ran away and hid in his tent. + +Upon reaching Fort Laramie, Will's first business was to look up Alf +Slade, agent of the Pony Express line, whose headquarters were at +Horseshoe Station, twenty miles from the fort. He carried a letter of +recommendation from Mr. Russell, but Slade demurred. + +"You're too young for a Pony Express rider," said he. + +"I rode three months a year ago, sir, and I'm much stronger now," said +Will. + +"Oh, are you the boy rider that was on Chrisman's division?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"All right; I'll try you. If you can't stand it, I 'll give you +something easier." + +Will's run was from Red Buttes, on the North Platte, to Three Crossings, +on the Sweetwater--seventy-six miles. + +The wilderness was of the kind that is supposed to howl, and no person +fond of excitement had reason to complain of lack of it. One day Will +arrived at his last station to find that the rider on the next run had +been mortally hurt by Indians. There being no one else to do it, he +volunteered to ride the eighty-five miles for the wounded man. He +accomplished it, and made his own return trip on time--a continuous ride +of three hundred and twenty-two miles. There was no rest for the rider, +but twenty-one horses were used on the run--the longest ever made by a +Pony Express rider. + +Shortly afterward Will fell in with California Joe, a remarkable +frontier character. He was standing beside a group of bowlders that +edged the trail when Will first clapped eyes on him, and the Pony +Express man instantly reached for his revolver. The stranger as quickly +dropped his rifle, and held up his hands in token of friendliness. +Will drew rein, and ran an interested eye over the man, who was clad in +buckskin. + +California Joe, who was made famous in General Custer's book, entitled +"Life on the Plains," was a man of wonderful physique, straight and +stout as a pine. His red-brown hair hung in curls below his shoulders; +he wore a full beard, and his keen, sparkling eyes were of the brightest +hue. He came from an Eastern family, and possessed a good education, +somewhat rusty from disuse. + +"Hain't you the boy rider I has heard of--the youngest rider on the +trail?" he queried, in the border dialect. Will made an affirmative +answer, and gave his name. + +"Waal," said Joe, "I guess you've got some money on this trip. I was +strikin' fer the Big Horn, and I found them two stiffs up yonder layin' +fer ye. We had a little misunderstandin', and now I has 'em to plant." + +Will thanked him warmly, and begged him not to risk the perils of the +Big Horn; but California Joe only laughed, and told him to push ahead. + +When Will reached his station he related his adventure, and the +stock-tender said it was "good by, California Joe" But Will had +conceived a better opinion of his new friend, and he predicted his safe +return. + +This confidence was justified by the appearance of California Joe, three +months later, in the camp of the Pony Riders on the Overland trail. He +received a cordial greeting, and was assured by the men that they had +not expected to see him alive again. In return he told them his story, +and a very interesting story it was. + +"Some time ago," said he (I shall not attempt to reproduce his dialect), +"a big gang of gold-hunters went into the Big Horn country. They never +returned, and the general sent me to see if I could get any trace of +them. The country is full of Indians, and I kept my eye skinned for +them, but I wasn't looking for trouble from white men. I happened to +leave my revolver where I ate dinner one day, and soon after discovering +the loss I went back after the gun. Just as I picked it up I saw a white +man on my trail. I smelled trouble, but turned and jogged along as if +I hadn't seen anything. That night I doubled back over my trail until I +came to the camp where the stranger belonged. As I expected, he was +one of a party of three, but they had five horses. I'll bet odds, Pard +Billy"--this to Will--"that the two pilgrims laying for you belonged to +this outfit. + +"They thought I'd found gold, and were going to follow me until I struck +the mine, then do me up and take possession. + +"The gold is there, too, lots of it. There's silver, iron, copper, and +coal, too, but no one will look at them so long as gold is to be had; +but those that go for gold will, many of them, leave their scalps +behind. + +"We kept the trail day after day; the men stuck right to me, the chap +ahead keeping me in sight and marking out the trail for his pard. When +we got into the heart of the Indian country I had to use every caution; +I steered clear of every smoke that showed a village or camp, and didn't +use my rifle on game, depending on the rations I had with me. + +"At last I came to a spot that showed signs of a battle. Skulls and +bones were strewn around, and after a look about I was satisfied beyond +doubt that white men had been of the company. The purpose of my trip was +accomplished; I could safely report that the party of whites had been +exterminated by Indians. + +"The question now was, could I return without running into Indians? The +first thing was to give my white pursuers the slip. + +"That night I crept down the bed of a small stream, passed their camp, +and struck the trail a half mile or so below. + +"It was the luckiest move I ever made. I had ridden but a short distance +when I heard the familiar war-whoop, and knew that the Indians had +surprised my unpleasant acquaintances and taken their scalps. I should +have shared the same fate if I hadn't moved. + +"But, boys, it is a grand and beautiful country, full of towering +mountains, lovely valleys, and mighty trees." + +About the middle of September the Indians became very troublesome +along the Sweetwater. Will was ambushed one day, but fortunately he was +mounted on one of the fleetest of the company's horses, and lying flat +on the animal's back, he distanced the redskins. At the relay station he +found the stock-tender dead, and as the horses had been driven off, he +was unable to get a fresh mount; so he rode the same horse to Plontz +Station, twelve miles farther. + +A few days later the station boss of the line hailed Will with the +information: + +"There's Injun signs about; so keep your eyes open." + +"I'm on the watch, boss," was Will's answer, as he exchanged ponies and +dashed away. + +The trail ran through a grim wild. It was darkened by mountains, +overhung with cliffs, and fringed with monster pines. The young rider's +every sense had been sharpened by frontier dangers. Each dusky rock +and tree was scanned for signs of lurking foes as he clattered down the +twilight track. + +One large bowlder lay in plain view far down the valley, and for a +second he saw a dark object appear above it. + +He kept his course until within rifle-shot, and then suddenly swerved +away in an oblique line. The ambush had failed, and a puff of smoke +issued from behind the bowlder. Two braves, in gorgeous war paint, +sprang up, and at the same time a score of whooping Indians rode out of +timber on the other side of the valley. + +Before Will the mountains sloped to a narrow pass; could he reach +that he would be comparatively safe. The Indians at the bowlder were +unmounted, and though they were fleet of foot, he easily left them +behind. The mounted reds were those to be feared, and the chief rode +a very fleet pony. As they neared the pass Will saw that it was life +against life. He drew his revolver, and the chief, for his part, fitted +an arrow to his bow. + +Will was a shade the quicker. His revolver cracked, and the warrior +pitched dead from his saddle. His fall was the signal for a shower of +arrows, one of which wounded the pony slightly; but the station was +reached on time. + +The Indians were now in evidence all the time. Between Split Rock +and Three Crossings they robbed a stage, killed the driver and two +passengers, and wounded Lieutenant Flowers, the assistant division +agent. They drove the stock from the stations, and continually harassed +the Pony Express riders and stage-drivers. So bold did the reds become +that the Pony riders were laid off for six weeks, though stages were to +make occasional runs if the business were urgent. A force was +organized to search for missing stock. There were forty men in the +party--stage-drivers, express-riders, stock-tenders, and ranchmen; +and they were captained by a plainsman named Wild Bill, who was a good +friend of Will for many years. + +He had not earned the sobriquet through lawlessness. It merely denoted +his dashing and daring. Physically he was well-nigh faultless--tall, +straight, and symmetrical, with broad shoulders and splendid chest. He +was handsome of face, with a clear blue eye, firm and well-shaped mouth, +aquiline nose, and brown, curling hair, worn long upon his shoulders. +Born of a refined and cultured family, he, like Will, seemingly +inherited from some remote ancestor his passion for the wild, free life +of the plains. + +At this time Wild Bill was a well-known scout, and in this capacity +served the United States to good purpose during the war. + + + +CHAPTER XI. -- A SHORT BUT DASHING INDIAN CAMPAIGN. + +AS Will was one of the laid-off riders, he was allowed to join the +expedition against the Indian depredators, though he was the youngest +member of the company. + +The campaign was short and sharp. The Indian trail was followed to +Powder River, and thence along the banks of the stream the party +traveled to within forty miles of the spot where old Fort Reno now +stands; from here the trail ran westerly, at the foot of the mountains, +and was crossed by Crazy Woman's Fork, a tributary of the Powder. + +Originally this branch stream went by the name of the Big Beard, because +of a peculiar grass that fringed it. On its bank had stood a village of +the Crow Indians, and here a half-breed trader had settled. He bought +the red man's furs, and gave him in return bright-colored beads and +pieces of calico, paints, and blankets. In a short time he had all the +furs in the village; he packed them on ponies, and said good by to his +Indian friends. They were sorry to see him go, but he told them he would +soon return from the land of the paleface, bringing many gifts. Months +passed; one day the Indian sentinels reported the approach of a strange +object. The village was alarmed, for the Crows had never seen ox, horse, +or wagon; but the excitement was allayed when it was found that the +strange outfit was the property of the half-breed trader. + +He had brought with him his wife, a white woman; she, too, was an object +of much curiosity to the Indians. + +The trader built a lodge of wood and stones, and exposed all his goods +for sale. He had brought beads, ribbons, and brass rings as gifts for +all the tribe. + +One day the big chief visited the store; the trader led him into a back +room, swore him to secrecy, and gave him a drink of black water. The +chief felt strangely happy. Usually he was very dignified and stately; +but under the influence of the strange liquid he sang and danced on the +streets, and finally fell into a deep sleep, from which he could not be +wakened. This performance was repeated day after day, until the Indians +called a council of war. They said the trader had bewitched their chief, +and it must be stopped, or they would kill the intruder. A warrior was +sent to convey this intelligence to the trader; he laughed, took the +warrior into the back room, swore him to secrecy, and gave him a drink +of the black water. The young Indian, in his turn, went upon the street, +and laughed and sang and danced, just as the chief had done. Surprised, +his companions gathered around him and asked him what was the matter. +"Oh, go to the trader and get some of the black water!" said he. + +They asked for the strange beverage. The trader denied having any, and +gave them a drink of ordinary water, which had no effect. When the young +warrior awoke, they again questioned him. He said he must have been +sick, and have spoken loosely. + +After this the chief and warrior were both drunk every day, and all +the tribe were sorely perplexed. Another council of war was held, and +a young chief arose, saying that he had made a hole in the wall of the +trader's house, and had watched; and it was true the trader gave their +friends black water. The half-breed and the two unhappy Indians were +brought before the council, and the young chief repeated his accusation, +saying that if it were not true, they might fight him. The second victim +of the black water yet denied the story, and said the young chief lied; +but the trader had maneuvered into the position he desired, and he +confessed. They bade him bring the water, that they might taste it; but +before he departed the young chief challenged to combat the warrior that +had said he lied. This warrior was the best spearsman of the tribe, +and all expected the death of the young chief; but the black water had +palsied the warrior's arm, his trembling hand could not fling true, he +was pierced to the heart at the first thrust. The tribe then repaired +to the trader's lodge, and he gave them all a drink of the black water. +They danced and sang, and then lay upon the ground and slept. + +After two or three days the half-breed declined to provide black water +free; if the warriors wanted it, they must pay for it. At first he gave +them a "sleep," as they called it, for one robe or skin, but as the +stock of black water diminished, two, then three, then many robes +were demanded. At last he said he had none left except what he himself +desired. The Indians offered their ponies, until the trader had all the +robes and all the ponies of the tribe. + +Now, he said, he would go back to the land of the paleface and procure +more of the black water. Some of the warriors were willing he should do +this; others asserted that he had plenty of black water left, and was +going to trade with their enemy, the Sioux. The devil had awakened in +the tribe. The trader's stores and packs were searched, but no black +water was found. 'Twas hidden, then, said the Indians. The trader must +produce it, or they would kill him. Of course he could not do this. He +had sowed the wind; he reaped the whirlwind. He was scalped before the +eyes of his horrified wife, and his body mutilated and mangled. The poor +woman attempted to escape; a warrior struck her with his tomahawk, and +she fell as if dead. The Indians fired the lodge. As they did so, a +Crow squaw saw that the white woman was not dead. She took the wounded +creature to her own lodge, bound up her wounds, and nursed her back to +strength. But the unfortunate woman's brain was crazed, and could not +bear the sight of a warrior. + +As soon as she could get around she ran away. The squaws went out to +look for her, and found her crooning on the banks of the Big Beard. She +would talk with the squaws, but if a warrior appeared, she hid herself +till he was gone. The squaws took her food, and she lived in a covert on +the bank of the stream for many months. One day a warrior, out hunting, +chanced upon her. Thinking she was lost, he sought to catch her, to take +her back to the village, as all Indian tribes have a veneration for the +insane; but she fled into the hills, and was never seen afterward. The +stream became known as the "Place of the Crazy Woman," or Crazy Woman's +Fork, and has retained the name to this day. + +At this point, to return to my narrative, the signs indicated that +reinforcements had reached the original body of Indians. The plainsmen +were now in the heart of the Indian country, the utmost caution was +required, and a sharp lookout was maintained. When Clear Creek, another +tributary of the Powder, was come up with, an Indian camp, some three +miles distant, was discovered on the farther bank. + +A council of war was held. Never before had the white man followed +the red so far into his domain, and 'twas plain the Indian was off his +guard; not a scout was posted. + +At Wild Bill's suggestion, the attack waited upon nightfall. Veiled by +darkness, the company was to surprise the Indian camp and stampede the +horses. + +The plan was carried out without a hitch. The Indians outnumbered the +white men three to one, but when the latter rushed cyclonically through +the camp, no effort was made to repel them, and by the time the Indians +had recovered from their surprise the plainsmen had driven off all +the horses--those belonging to the reds as well as those that had been +stolen. A few shots were fired, but the whites rode scathless away, and +unpursued. + +The line of march was now taken up for Sweetwater Bridge, and here, four +days later, the plainsmen brought up, with their own horses and about a +hundred Indian ponies. + +This successful sadly repressed the hostilities for a space. The +recovered horses were put back on the road, and the stage-drivers and +express-riders resumed their interrupted activity. + +"Billy," said Mr. Slade, who had taken a great fancy to Will--"Billy, +this is a hard life, and you're too young to stand it. You've done +good service, and in consideration of it I'll make you a supernumerary. +You'll have to ride only when it's absolutely necessary." + +There followed for Will a period of _dolce far niente_; days when he +might lie on his back and watch the clouds drift across the sky; when +he might have an eye to the beauty of the woodland and the sweep of the +plain, without the nervous strain of studying every tree and knoll that +might conceal a lurking redskin. Winter closed in, and with it came the +memories of the trapping season of 1860-61, when he had laid low his +first and last bear. But there were other bears to be killed--the +mountains were full of them; and one bracing morning he turned his +horse's head toward the hills that lay down the Horseshoe Valley. +Antelope and deer fed in the valley, the sage-hen and the jack-rabbit +started up under his horse's hoofs, but such small game went by +unnoticed. + +Two o'clock passed without a sign of bear, save some tracks in the snow. +The wintry air had put a keen edge on Will's appetite, and hitching his +tired horse, he shot one of the lately scorned sage-hens, and broiled it +over a fire that invited a longer stay than an industrious bear-hunter +could afford. But nightfall found him and his quarry still many miles +asunder, and as he did not relish the prospect of a chaffing from the +men at the station, he cast about for a camping-place, finding one in an +open spot on the bank of a little stream. Two more sage-hens were added +to the larder, and he was preparing to kindle a fire when the whinnying +of a horse caught his ear. He ran to his own horse to check the certain +response, resaddled him, and disposed everything for flight, should it +be necessary. Then, taking his rifle, he put forth on a reconnoissance. + +He shortly came upon a bunch of horses, a dozen or more, around a crook +of the stream. Above them, on the farther bank, shone a light. Drawing +nearer, he saw that it came from a dugout, and he heard his own language +spoken. Reassured, he walked boldly up to the door and rapped. + +Silence--followed by a hurried whispering, and the demand: + +"Who's there?" + +"Friend and white man," answered Will. + +The door opened reluctantly, and an ugly-looking customer bade him +enter. The invitation was not responded to with alacrity, for eight such +villainous-looking faces as the dugout held it would have been hard to +match. Too late to retreat, there was nothing for it but a determined +front, and let wit point the way of escape. Two of the men Will +recognized as discharged teamsters from Lew Simpson's train, and from +his knowledge of their longstanding weakness he assumed, correctly, that +he had thrust his head into a den of horsethieves. + +"Who's with you?" was the first query; and this answered, with sundry +other information esteemed essential, "Where's your horse?" demanded the +most striking portrait in the rogues' gallery. + +"Down by the creek," said Will. + +"All right, sonny; we'll go down and get him," was the obliging +rejoinder. + +"Oh, don't trouble yourself," said Will. "I'll fetch him and put up +here over night, with your permission. I'll leave my gun here till I get +back." + +"That's right; leave your gun, you won't need it," said the leader of +the gang, with a grin that was as near amiability as his rough, stern +calling permitted him. "Jim and I will go down with you after the +horse." + +This offer compelled an acquiescence, Will consoling himself with the +reflection that it is easier to escape from two men than from eight. + +When the horse was reached, one of the outlaws obligingly volunteered to +lead it. + +"All right," said Will, carelessly. "I shot a couple of sage-hens here; +I'll take them along. Lead away!" + +He followed with the birds, the second horsethief bringing up the rear. +As the dugout was neared he let fall one of the hens, and asked the chap +following to pick it up, and as the obliging rear guard stopped, Will +knocked him senseless with the butt of his revolver. The man ahead heard +the blow, and turned, with his hand on his gun, but Will dropped him +with a shot, leaped on his horse, and dashed off. + +The sextet in the dugout sprang to arms, and came running down the bank, +and likely getting the particulars of the escape from the ruffian by +the sage-hen, who was probably only stunned for the moment, they buckled +warmly to the chase. The mountain-side was steep and rough, and men on +foot were better than on horseback; accordingly Will dismounted, and +clapping his pony soundly on the flank, sent him clattering on down the +declivity, and himself stepped aside behind a large pine. The pursuing +party rushed past him, and when they were safely gone, he climbed back +over the mountain, and made his way as best he could to the Horseshoe. +It was a twenty-five mile plod, and he reached the station early in the +morning, weary and footsore. + +He woke the plainsmen, and related his adventure, and Mr. Slade at +once organized a party to hunt out the bandits of the dugout. Twenty +well-armed stock-tenders, stage-drivers, and ranchmen rode away at +sunrise, and, notwithstanding his fatigue, Will accompanied them as +guide. + +But the ill-favored birds had flown; the dugout was deserted. + +Will soon tired of this nondescript service, and gladly accepted a +position as assistant wagon-master under Wild Bill, who had taken a +contract to fetch a load of government freight from Rolla, Missouri. + +He returned with a wagon-train to Springfield, in that state, and thence +came home on a visit. It was a brief one, however, for the air was too +full of war for him to endure inaction. Contented only when at work, +he continued to help on government freight contracts, until he received +word that mother was dangerously ill. Then he resigned his position and +hastened home. + + + +CHAPTER XII. -- THE MOTHER'S LAST ILLNESS. + +IT was now the autumn of 1863, and Will was a well-grown young man, +tall, strong, and athletic, though not yet quite eighteen years old. Our +oldest sister, Julia, had been married, the spring preceding, to Mr. J. +A. Goodman. + +Mother had been growing weaker from day to day; being with her +constantly, we had not remarked the change for the worse; but Will was +much shocked by the transformation which a few months had wrought. Only +an indomitable will power had enabled her to overcome the infirmities of +the body, and now it seemed to us as if her flesh had been refined away, +leaving only the sweet and beautiful spirit. + +Will reached home none too soon, for only three weeks after his return +the doctor told mother that only a few hours were left to her, and if +she had any last messages, it were best that she communicate them at +once. That evening the children were called in, one by one, to receive +her blessing and farewell. Mother was an earnest Christian character, +but at that time I alone of all the children appeared religiously +disposed. Young as I was, the solemnity of the hour when she charged me +with the spiritual welfare of the family has remained with me through +all the years that have gone. Calling me to her side, she sought to +impress upon my childish mind, not the sorrow of death, but the glory +of the resurrection. Then, as if she were setting forth upon a pleasant +journey, she bade me good by, and I kissed her for the last time in +life. When next I saw her face it was cold and quiet. The beautiful +soul had forsaken its dwelling-place of clay, and passed on through the +Invisible, to wait, a glorified spirit, on the farther shore for the +coming of the loved ones whose life-story was as yet unfinished. + +Julia and Will remained with her throughout the night. Just before +death there came to her a brief season of long-lost animation, the +last flicker of the torch before darkness. She talked to them almost +continuously until the dawn. Into their hands was given the task of +educating the others of the family, and on their hearts and consciences +the charge was graven. Charlie, who was born during the early Kansas +troubles, had ever been a delicate child, and he lay an especial burden +on her mind. + +"If," she said, "it be possible for the dead to call the living, I shall +call Charlie to me." + +Within the space of a year, Charlie, too, was gone; and who shall say +that the yearning of a mother's heart for her child was not stronger +than the influences of the material world? + +Upon Will mother sought to impress the responsibilities of his destiny. +She reminded him of the prediction of the fortune-teller, that "his name +would be known the world over." + +"But," said she, "only the names of them that are upright, brave, +temperate, and true can be honorably known. Remember always that 'he +that overcometh his own soul is greater than he who taketh a city.' +Already you have shown great abilities, but remember that they carry +with them grave responsibilities. You have been a good son to me. In +the hour of need you have always aided me so that I can die now feeling +that my children are not unprovided for. I have not wished you to enlist +in the war, partly because I knew you were too young, partly because my +life was drawing near its close. But now you are nearly eighteen, and +if when I am gone your country needs you in the strife of which we in +Kansas know the bitterness, I bid you go as soldier in behalf of the +cause for which your father gave his life." + +She talked until sleep followed exhaustion. When she awoke she tried to +raise herself in bed. Will sprang to aid her, and with the upward look +of one that sees ineffable things, she passed away, resting in his arms. + + Oh, the glory and the gladness + Of a life without a fear; + Of a death like nature fading + In the autumn of the year; + Of a sweet and dreamless slumber, + In a faith triumphant borne, + Till the bells of Easter wake her + On the resurrection morn! + + Ah, for such a blessed falling + Into quiet sleep at last, + When the ripening grain is garnered, + And the toil and trial past; + When the red and gold of sunset + Slowly changes into gray; + Ah, for such a quiet passing, + Through the night into the day! + +The morning of the 22d day of November, 1863, began the saddest day of +our lives. We rode in a rough lumber wagon to Pilot Knob Cemetery, a +long, cold, hard ride; but we wished our parents to be united in death +as they had been in life, so buried mother in a grave next to father's. + +The road leading from the cemetery forked a short distance outside of +Leavenworth, one branch running to that city, the other winding homeward +along Government Hill. When we were returning, and reached this fork, +Will jumped out of the wagon. + +"I can't go home when I know mother is no longer there," said he. "I +am going to Leavenworth to see Eugene Hathaway. I shall stay with him +to-night." + +We, pitied Will--he and mother had been so much to each other--and +raised no objection, as we should have done had we known the real +purpose of his visit. + +The next morning, therefore, we were much surprised to see him and +Eugene ride into the yard, both clothed in, the blue uniforms of United +States soldiers. Overwhelmed with grief over mother's death, it seemed +more than we could bear to see our big brother ride off to war. We +threatened to inform the recruiting officers that he was not yet +eighteen; but he was too thoroughly in earnest to be moved by our +objections. The regiment in which he had enlisted was already ordered to +the front, and he had come home to say good by. He then rode away to +the hardships, dangers, and privations of a soldier's life. The joy of +action balanced the account for him, while we were obliged to accept the +usual lot of girlhood and womanhood--the weary, anxious waiting, when +the heart is torn with uncertainty and suspense over the fate of the +loved ones who bear the brunt and burden of the day. + +The order sending Will's regiment to the front was countermanded, and +he remained for a time in Fort Leavenworth. His Western experiences were +well known there, and probably for this reason he was selected as +a bearer of military dispatches to Fort Larned. Some of our old +pro-slavery enemies, who were upon the point of joining the Confederate +army, learned of Will's mission, which they thought afforded them an +excellent chance to gratify their ancient grudge against the father by +murdering the son. The killing could be justified on the plea of service +rendered to their cause. Accordingly a plan was made to waylay Will and +capture his dispatches at a creek he was obliged to ford. + +He received warning of this plot. On such a mission the utmost vigilance +was demanded at all times, and with an ambuscade ahead of him, he was +alertness itself. His knowledge of Indian warfare stood him in good +stead now. Not a tree, rock, or hillock escaped his keen glance. When he +neared the creek at which the attack was expected, he left the road, and +attempted to ford the stream four or five hundred yards above the common +crossing, but found it so swollen by recent rains that he was unable to +cross; so he cautiously picked his way back to the trail. + +The assassins' camp was two or three hundred feet away from the creek. +Darkness was coming on, and he took advantage of the shelter afforded +by the bank, screening himself behind every clump of bushes. His enemies +would look for his approach from the other direction, and he hoped to +give them the slip and pass by unseen. + +When he reached the point where he could see the little cabin where +the men were probably hiding, he ran upon a thicket in which five +saddle-horses were concealed. + +"Five to one! I don't stand much show if they see me," he decided as he +rode quietly and slowly along, his carbine in his hand ready for use. + +"There he goes, boys! he's at the ford!" came a sudden shout from the +camp, followed by the crack of a rifle. Two or three more shots rang +out, and from the bound his horse gave Will knew one bullet had reached +a mark. He rode into the water, then turned in his saddle and aimed like +a flash at a man within range. The fellow staggered and fell, and Will +put spurs to his horse, turning again only when the stream was crossed. +The men were running toward the ford, firing as they came, and getting +a warm return fire. As Will was already two or three hundred yards in +advance, pursuers on foot were not to be feared, and he knew that before +they could reach and mount their horses he would be beyond danger. Much +depended on his horse. Would the gallant beast, wounded as he was, be +able to long maintain the fierce pace he had set? Mile upon mile was put +behind before the stricken creature fell. Will shouldered the saddle +and bridle and continued on foot. He soon reached a ranch where a fresh +mount might be procured, and was shortly at Fort Larned. + +After a few hours' breathing-spell, he left for Fort Leavenworth with +return dispatches. As he drew near the ford, he resumed his sharp +lookout, though scarcely expecting trouble. The planners of the +ambuscade had been so certain that five men could easily make away +with one boy that there had been no effort at disguise, and Will had +recognized several of them. He, for his part, felt certain that they +would get out of that part of the country with all dispatch; but he +employed none the less caution in crossing the creek, and his carbine +was ready for business as he approached the camp. + +The fall of his horse's hoofs evoked a faint call from one of the +buildings. It was not repeated; instead there issued hollow moans. + +It might be a trap; again, a fellow-creature might be at death's door. +Will rode a bit nearer the cabin entrance. + +"Who's there?" he called. + +"Come in, for the love of God! I am dying here alone!" was the reply. + +"Who are you?" + +"Ed Norcross." + +Will jumped from his horse. This was the man at whom he had fired. He +entered the cabin. + +"What is the matter?" he asked. + +"I was wounded by a bullet," moaned Norcross, "and my comrades deserted +me." + +Will was now within range of the poor fellow lying on the floor. + +"Will Cody!" he cried. + +Will dropped on his knee beside the dying man, choking with the emotion +that the memory of long years of friendship had raised. + +"My poor Ed!" he murmured. "And it was my bullet that struck you." + +"It was in defense of your own life, Will," said Norcross. "God knows, I +don't blame you. Don't think too hard of me. I did everything I could +to save you. It was I who sent you warning. I hoped you might find some +other trail." + +"I didn't shoot with the others," continued Norcross, after a short +silence. "They deserted me. They said they would send help back, but +they haven't." + +Will filled the empty canteen lying on the floor, and rearranged the +blanket that served as a pillow; then he offered to dress the neglected +wound. But the gray of death was already upon the face of Norcross. + +"Never mind, Will," he whispered; "it's not worth while. Just stay with +me till I die." + +It was not a long vigil. Will sat beside his old friend, moistening his +pallid lips with water. In a very short time the end came. Will disposed +the stiffening limbs, crossing the hands over the heart, and with a last +backward look went out of the cabin. + +It was his first experience in the bitterness and savagery of war, and +he set a grave and downcast face against the remainder of his journey. + +As he neared Leavenworth he met the friend who had conveyed the dead +man's warning message, and to him he committed the task of bringing +home the body. His heaviness of spirit was scarcely mitigated by the +congratulations of the commander of Fort Leavenworth upon his pluck and +resources, which had saved both his life and the dispatches. + +There followed another period of inaction, always irritating to a lad +of Will's restless temperament. Meantime, we at home were having our own +experiences. + +We were rejoiced in great measure when sister Julia decided that we had +learned as much as might be hoped for in the country school, and +must thereafter attend the winter and spring terms of the school at +Leavenworth. The dresses she cut for us, however, still followed the +country fashion, which has regard rather to wear than to appearance, and +we had not been a day in the city school before we discovered that our +apparel had stamped "provincial" upon us in plain, large characters. In +addition to this, our brother-in-law, in his endeavor to administer the +estate economically, bought each of us a pair of coarse calfskin +shoes. To these we were quite unused, mother having accustomed us to +serviceable but pretty ones. The author of our "extreme" mortification, +totally ignorant of the shy and sensitive nature of girls, only laughed +at our protests, and in justice to him it may be said that he really had +no conception of the torture he inflicted upon us. + +We turned to Will. In every emergency he was our first thought, and here +was an emergency that taxed his powers to an extent we did not dream of. +He made answer to our letter that he was no longer an opulent trainman, +but drew only the slender income of a soldier, and even that pittance +was in arrears. Disappointment was swallowed up in remorse. Had we +reflected how keenly he must feel his inability to help us, we would +not have sent him the letter, which, at worst, contained only a sly +suggestion of a fine opportunity to relieve sisterly distress. All his +life he had responded to our every demand; now allegiance was due his +country first. But, as was always the way with him, he made the best of +a bad matter, and we were much comforted by the receipt of the following +letter: + +"MY DEAR SISTERS: + +"I am sorry that I cannot help you and furnish you with such clothes +as you wish. At this writing I am so short of funds myself that if an +entire Mississippi steamer could be bought for ten cents I couldn't +purchase the smokestack. I will soon draw my pay, and I will send it, +every cent, to you. So brave it out, girls, a little longer. In the mean +time I will write to Al. + +"Lovingly, + +"WILL." + + +We were comforted, yes; but my last hope was gone, and I grew desperate. +I had never worn the obnoxious shoes purchased by my guardian, and I +proceeded to dispose of them forever. I struck what I regarded as a +famous bargain with an accommodating Hebrew, and came into possession +of a pair of shiny morocco shoes, worth perhaps a third of what mine +had cost. One would say they were designed for shoes, and they certainly +looked like shoes, but as certainly they were not wearable. Still they +were of service, for the transaction convinced my guardian that the +truest economy did not lie in the pur-chasing of calfskin shoes for at +least one of his charges. A little later he received a letter from Will, +presenting our grievances and advocating our cause. Will also sent us +the whole of his next month's pay as soon as he drew it. + +In February, 1864, Sherman began his march through Mississippi. +The Seventh Kansas regiment, known as "Jennison's Jayhawkers," was +reorganized at Fort Leavenworth as veterans, and sent to Memphis, Tenn., +to join General A. J. Smith's command, which was to operate against +General Forrest and cover the retreat of General Sturgis, who had +been so badly whipped by Forrest at Cross-Roads. Will was exceedingly +desirous of engaging in a great battle, and through some officers with +whom he was acquainted preferred a petition to be transferred to this +regiment. The request was granted, and his delight knew no bounds. He +wrote to us that his great desire was about to be gratified, that he +should soon know what a real battle was like. + +He was well versed in Indian warfare; now he was ambitious to learn, +from experience, the superiority of civilized strife--rather, I should +say, of strife between civilized people. + +General Smith had acquainted himself with the record made by the young +scout of the plains, and shortly after reaching Memphis he ordered Will +to report to headquarters for special service. + +"I am anxious," said the general, "to gain reliable information +concerning the enemy's movements and position. This can only be done by +entering the Confederate camp. You possess the needed qualities--nerve, +coolness, resource--and I believe you could do it." + +"You mean," answered Will, quietly, "that you wish me to go as a spy +into the rebel camp." + +"Exactly. But you must understand the risk you run. If you are captured, +you will be hanged." + +"I am ready to take the chances, sir," said Will; "ready to go at once, +if you wish." + +General Smith's stern face softened into a smile at the prompt response. + +"I am sure, Cody," said he, kindly, "that if any one can go through +safely, you will. Dodging Indians on the plains was good training +for the work in hand, which demands quick intelligence and ceaseless +vigilance. I never require such service of any one, but since you +volunteer to go, take these maps of the country to your quarters and +study them carefully. Return this evening for full instructions." + +During the few days his regiment had been in camp, Will had been on +one or two scouting expeditions, and was somewhat familiar with the +immediate environments of the Union forces. The maps were unusually +accurate, showing every lake, river, creek, and highway, and even the +by-paths from plantation to plantation. + +Only the day before, while on a reconnoissance, Will had captured a +Confederate soldier, who proved to be an old acquaintance named Nat +Golden. Will had served with Nat on one of Russell, Majors & Waddell's +freight trains, and at one time had saved the young man's life, and +thereby earned his enduring friendship. Nat was born in the East, became +infected with Western fever, and ran away from home in order to become a +plainsman. + +"Well, this is too bad," said Will, when he recognized his old friend. +"I would rather have captured a whole regiment than you. I don't like +to take you in as a prisoner. What did you enlist on the wrong side for, +anyway?" + +"The fortunes of war, Billy, my boy," laughed Nat. "Friend shall be +turned against friend, and brother against brother, you know. You +wouldn't have had me for a prisoner, either, if my rifle hadn't snapped; +but I'm glad it did, for I shouldn't want to be the one that shot you." + +"Well, I don't want to see you strung up," said Will; "so hand me over +those papers you have, and I will turn you in as an ordinary prisoner." + +Nat's face paled as he asked, "Do you think I'm a spy, Billy?" + +"I know it." + +"Well," was the reply, "I've risked my life to obtain these papers, but +I suppose they will be taken from me anyway; so I might as well give +them up now, and save my neck." + +Examination showed them to be accurate maps of the location and position +of the Union army; and besides the maps, there were papers containing +much valuable information concerning the number of soldiers and officers +and their intended movements. Will had not destroyed these papers, and +he now saw a way to use them to his own advantage. When he reported for +final instructions, therefore, at General Smith's tent, in the evening, +Will said to him: + +"I gathered from a statement dropped by the prisoner captured yesterday, +that a Confederate spy has succeeded in making out and carrying to the +enemy a complete map of the position of our regiment, together with some +idea of the projected plan of campaign." + +"Ah," said the general; "I am glad that you have put me on my guard. I +will at once change my position, so that the information will be of no +value to them." + +Then followed full instructions as to the duty required of the +volunteer. + +"When will you set out?" asked the general. + +"To-night, sir. I have procured my uniform, and have everything prepared +for an early start." + +"Going to change your colors, eh?" + +"Yes, for the time being, but not my principles." + +The general looked at Will approvingly. "You will need all the wit, +pluck, nerve, and caution of which you are possessed to come through +this ordeal safely," said he. "I believe you can accomplish it, and I +rely upon you fully. Good by, and success go with you!" + +After a warm hand-clasp, Will returned to his tent, and lay down for a +few hours' rest. By four o'clock he was in the saddle, riding toward the +Confederate lines. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. -- IN THE SECRET-SERVICE. + +IN common walks of life to play the spy is an ignoble role; yet the work +has to be done, and there must be men to do it. There always are such +men--nervy fellows who swing themselves into the saddle when their +commander lifts his hand, and ride a mad race, with Death at the horse's +flank every mile of the way. They are the unknown heroes of every war. + +It was with a full realization of the dangers confronting him that Will +cantered away from the Union lines, his borrowed uniform under his +arm. As soon as he had put the outposts behind him, he dismounted and +exchanged the blue clothes for the gray. Life on the plains had bronzed +his face. For aught his complexion could tell, the ardent Southern sun +might have kissed it to its present hue. Then, if ever, his face was +his fortune in good part; but there was, too, a stout heart under his +jacket, and the light of confidence in his eyes. + +The dawn had come up when he sighted the Confederate outposts. What lay +beyond only time could reveal; but with a last reassuring touch of +the papers in his pocket, he spurred his horse up to the first of the +outlying sentinels. Promptly the customary challenge greeted him: + +"Halt! Who goes there?" + +"Friend." + +"Dismount, friend! Advance and give the countersign!" + +"Haven't the countersign," said Will, dropping from his horse, "but I +have important information for General Forrest. Take me to him at once." + +"Are you a Confederate soldier?" + +"Not exactly. But I have some valuable news about the Yanks, I reckon. +Better let me see the general." + +"Thus far," he added to himself, "I have played the part. The +combination of 'Yank' and 'I reckon' ought to establish me as a +promising candidate for Confederate honors." + +His story was not only plausible, but plainly and fairly told; but +caution is a child of war, and the sentinel knew his business. The +pseudo-Confederate was disarmed as a necessary preliminary, and marched +between two guards to headquarters, many curious eyes (the camp being +now astir) following the trio. + +When Forrest heard the report, he ordered the prisoner brought before +him. One glance at the general's handsome but harsh face, and the young +man steeled his nerves for the encounter. There was no mercy in those +cold, piercing eyes. This first duel of wits was the one to be most +dreaded. Unless confidence were established, his after work must be done +at a disadvantage. + +The general's penetrating gaze searched the young face before him for +several seconds. + +"Well, sir," said he, "what do you want with me?" + +Yankee-like, the reply was another question: + +"You sent a man named Nat Golden into the Union lines, did you not, +sir?" + +"And if I did, what then?" + +"He is an old friend of mine. He tried for the Union camp to verify +information that he had received, but before he started he left certain +papers with me in case he should be captured." + +"Ah!" said Forrest, coldly. "And he was captured?" + +"Yes, sir; but, as I happen to know, he wasn't hanged, for these weren't +on him." + +As he spoke, Will took from his pocket the papers he had obtained from +Golden, and passed them over with the remark, "Golden asked me to take +them to you." + +General Forrest was familiar with the hapless Golden's handwriting, and +the documents were manifestly genuine. His suspicion was not aroused. + +"These are important papers," said he, when he had run his eye over +them. "They contain valuable information, but we may not be able to +use it, as we are about to change our location. Do you know what these +papers contain?" + +"Every word," was the truthful reply. "I studied them, so that in case +they were destroyed you would still have the information from me." + +"A wise thing to do," said Forrest, approvingly. "Are you a soldier?" + +"I have not as yet joined the army, but I am pretty well acquainted with +this section, and perhaps could serve you as a scout." + +"Um!" said the general, looking the now easy-minded young man over. "You +wear our uniform." + +"It's Golden's," was the second truthful answer. "He left it with me +when he put on the blue." + +"And what is your name?" + +"Frederick Williams." + +Pretty near the truth. Only a final "s" and a rearrangement of his given +names. + +"Very well," said the general, ending the audience; "you may remain in +camp. If I need you, I'll send for you." + +He summoned an orderly, and bade him make the volunteer scout +comfortable at the couriers' camp. Will breathed a sigh of relief as he +followed at the orderly's heels. The ordeal was successfully passed. The +rest was action. + +Two days went by. In them Will picked up valuable information here and +there, drew maps, and was prepared to depart at the first favorable +opportunity. It was about time, he figured, that General Forrest found +some scouting work for him. That was a passport beyond the lines, and he +promised himself the outposts should see the cleanest pair of heels that +ever left unwelcome society in the rear. But evidently scouting was a +drug in the general's market, for the close of another day found Will +impatiently awaiting orders in the couriers' quarters. This sort of +inactivity was harder on the nerves than more tangible perils, and +he about made up his mind that when he left camp it would be without +orders, but with a hatful of bullets singing after him. And he was quite +sure that his exit lay that way when, strolling past headquarters, +he clapped eyes on the very last person that he expected or wished to +see--Nat Golden. + +And Nat was talking to an adjutant-general! + +There were just two things to do, knock Golden on the head, or cut and +run. Nat would not betray him knowingly, but unwittingly was certain +to do so the moment General Forrest questioned him. There could be +no choice between the two courses open; it was cut and run, and as +a preliminary Will cut for his tent. First concealing his papers, +he saddled his horse and rode toward the outposts with a serene +countenance. + +{illust. caption = "NOW RIDE FOR YOUR LIVES!"} + +The same sergeant that greeted him when he entered the lines chanced to +be on duty, and of him Will asked an unimportant question concerning the +outer-flung lines. Yet as he rode along he could not forbear throwing +an apprehensive glance behind. No pursuit was making, and the farthest +picket-line was passed by a good fifty yards. Ahead was a stretch of +timber. Suddenly a dull tattoo of horses' hoofs caught his ear, and he +turned to see a small cavalcade bearing down upon him at a gallop. He +sank the spurs into his horse's side and plunged into the timber. It +was out of the frying-pan into the fire. He ran plump into a half-dozen +Confederate cavalrymen, guarding two Union prisoners. "Men, a Union spy +is escaping!" shouted Will. "Scatter at once, and head him off. I'll +look after your prisoners." There was a ring of authority in the +command; it came at least from a petty officer; and without thought of +challenging it, the cavalrymen hurried right and left in search of the +fugitive. "Come," said Will, in a hurried but smiling whisper to the +dejected pair of Union men. "I'm the spy! There!" cutting the ropes that +bound their wrists. "Now ride for your lives!" Off dashed the trio, and +not a minute too soon. Will's halt had been brief, but it had been of +advantage to his pursuers, who, with Nat Golden at their head, came on +in full cry, not a hundred yards behind. Here was a race with Death at +the horse's flanks. The timber stopped a share of the singing bullets, +but there were plenty that got by the trees, one of them finding +lodgment in the arm of one of the fleeing Union soldiers. Capture meant +certain death for Will; for his companions it meant Andersonville or +Libby, at the worst, which was perhaps as bad as death; but Will would +not leave them, though his horse was fresh, and he could easily have +distanced them. Of course, if it became necessary, he was prepared +to cut their acquaintance, but for the present he made one of the +triplicate targets on which the galloping marksmen were endeavoring +to score a bull's-eye. The edge of the wood was shortly reached, and +beyond--inspiring sight!--lay the outposts of the Union army. The +pickets, at sight of the fugitives, sounded the alarm, and a body of +blue-coats responded. Will would have gladly tarried for the skirmish +that ensued, but he esteemed it his first duty to deliver the papers he +had risked his life to obtain; so, leaving friend and foe to settle the +dispute as best they might, he put for the clump of trees where he had +hidden his uniform, and exchanged it for the gray, that had served its +purpose and was no longer endurable. Under his true colors he rode +into camp. General Forrest almost immediately withdrew from that +neighborhood, and after the atrocious massacre at Fort Pillow, on the +12th of April, left the state. General Smith was recalled, and Will was +transferred, with the commission of guide and scout for the Ninth Kansas +Regiment. The Indians were giving so much trouble along the line of the +old Santa Fe trail that troops were needed to protect the stagecoaches, +emigrants, and caravans traveling that great highway. Like nearly all +our Indian wars, this trouble was precipitated by the injustice of the +white man's government of certain of the native tribes. In 1860 Colonel +A. G. Boone, a worthy grandson of the immortal Daniel, made a treaty with +the Comanches, Kiowas, Cheyennes, and Arapahoes, and at their request he +was made agent. During his wise, just, and humane administration all of +these savage nations were quiet, and held the kindliest feelings toward +the whites. Any one could cross the plains without fear of molestation. +In 1861 a charge of disloyalty was made against Colonel Boone by Judge +Wright, of Indiana, and he succeeded in having the right man removed +from the right place. Russell, Majors & Waddell, recognizing his +influence over the Indians, gave him fourteen hundred acres of land near +Pueblo, Colorado. Colonel Boone moved there, and the place was named +Booneville. Fifty chieftains from the tribes referred to visited Colonel +Boone in the fall of 1862, and implored him to return to them. He told +them that the President had sent him away. They offered to raise money, +by selling their horses, to send him to Washington, to tell the Great +Father what their agent was doing--that he stole their goods and sold +them back again; and they bade the colonel say that there would be +trouble unless some one were put in the dishonest man's place. With the +innate logic for which the Indian is noted, they declared that they had +as much right to steal from passing caravans as the agent had to steal +from them. No notice was taken of so trifling a matter as an injustice +to the Indian. The administration had its hands more than full in the +attempt to right the wrongs of the negro. In the fall of 1863 a caravan +passed along the trail. It was a small one, but the Indians had been +quiet for so long a time that travelers were beginning to lose fear +of them. A band of warriors rode up to the wagon-train and asked for +something to eat. The teamsters thought they would be doing humanity a +service if they killed a redskin, on the ancient principle that "the only +good Indian is a dead one." Accordingly, a friendly, inoffensive Indian +was shot. The bullet that reached his heart touched that of every +warrior in these nations. Every man but one in the wagon-train was +slain, the animals driven off, and the wagons burned. The fires of +discontent that had been smoldering for two years in the red man's +breast now burst forth with volcanic fury. Hundreds of atrocious murders +followed, with wholesale destruction of property. The Ninth Kansas +Regiment, under the command of Colonel Clark, was detailed to protect +the old trail between Fort Lyon and Fort Larned, and as guide and scout +Will felt wholly at home. He knew the Indian and his ways, and had no +fear of him. His fine horse and glittering trappings were an innocent +delight to him; and who will not pardon in him the touch of pride--say +vanity--that thrilled him as he led his regiment down the Arkansas +River? During the summer there were sundry skirmishes with the Indians. +The same old vigilance, learned in earlier days on the frontier, was in +constant demand, and there was many a rough and rapid ride to drive the +hostiles from the trail. Whatever Colonel Clark's men may have had to +complain of, there was no lack of excitement, no dull days, in that +summer. In the autumn the Seventh Kansas was again ordered to the front, +and at the request of its officers Will was detailed for duty with +his old regiment. General Smith's orders were that he should go +to Nashville. Rosecrans was then in command of the Union forces in +Missouri. His army was very small, numbering only about 6,500 men, while +the Confederate General Price was on the point of entering the state +with 20,000. This superiority of numbers was so great that General Smith +received an order countermanding the other, and remained in Missouri, +joining forces with Rosecrans to oppose Price. Rosecrans's entire force +still numbered only 11,000, and he deemed it prudent to concentrate his +army around St. Louis. General Ewing's forces and a portion of General +Smith's command occupied Pilot Knob. On Monday, the 24th of September, +1864, Price advanced against this position, but was repulsed with heavy +losses. An adjacent fort in the neighborhood of Ironton was assaulted, +but the Confederate forces again sustained a severe loss. This fort +held a commanding lookout on Shepard Mountain, which the Confederates +occupied, and their wall-directed fire obliged General Ewing to fall +back to Harrison Station, where he made a stand, and some sharp fighting +followed. General Ewing again fell back, and succeeded in reaching +General McNeill, at Rolla, with the main body of his troops. This was +Will's first serious battle, and it so chanced that he found himself +opposed at one point by a body of Missouri troops numbering many of the +men who had been his father's enemies and persecutors nine years before. +In the heat of the conflict he recognized more than one of them, and +with the recognition came the memory of his boyhood's vow to avenge his +father's death. Three of those men fell in that battle; and whether or +not it was he who laid them low, from that day on he accounted himself +freed of his melancholy obligation. After several hard-fought battles, +Price withdrew from Missouri with the remnant of his command--seven +thousand where there had been twenty. During this campaign Will received +honorable mention "for most conspicuous bravery and valuable service +upon the field," and he was shortly brought into favorable notice in many +quarters. The worth of the tried veterans was known, but none of the +older men was in more demand than Will. His was seemingly a charmed +life. Often was he detailed to bear dispatches across the battlefield, +and though horses were shot under him--riddled by bullets or torn by +shells--he himself went scathless. During this campaign, too, he ran +across his old friend of the plains, Wild Bill. Stopping at a farm-house +one day to obtain a meal, he was not a little surprised to hear the +salutation: "Well, Billy, my boy, how are you?" He looked around to see +a hand outstretched from a coat-sleeve of Confederate gray, and as he +knew Wild Bill to be a stanch Unionist, he surmised that he was engaged +upon an enterprise similar to his own. There was an exchange of chaffing +about gray uniforms and blue, but more serious talk followed. "Take +these papers, Billy," said Wild Bill, passing over a package. "Take 'em +to General McNeill, and tell him I'm picking up too much good news to +keep away from the Confederate camp." "Don't take too many chances," +cautioned Will, well knowing that the only chances the other would not +take would be the sort that were not visible. Colonel Hickok, to give +him his real name, replied, with a laugh: "Practice what you preach, my +son. Your neck is of more value than mine. You have a future, but mine +is mostly past. I'm getting old." At this point the good woman of +the house punctuated the colloquy with a savory meal, which the pair +discussed with good appetite and easy conscience, in spite of their +hostess's refusal to take pay from Confederate soldiers. "As long as I +have a crust in the house," said she, "you boys are welcome to it." But +the pretended Confederates paid her for her kindness in better currency +than she was used to. They withheld information concerning a proposed +visit of her husband and son, of which, during one spell of loquacity, +she acquainted them. The bread she cast upon the waters returned to her +speedily. The two friends parted company, Will returning to the Union +lines, and Colonel Hickok to the opposing camp. A few days later, when +the Confederate forces were closing up around the Union lines, and a +battle was at hand, two horsemen were seen to dart out of the hostile +camp and ride at full speed for the Northern lines. For a space +the audacity of the escape seemed to paralyze the Confederates; but +presently the bullets followed thick and fast, and one of the saddles +was empty before the rescue party--of which Will was one--got fairly +under way. As the survivor drew near, Will shouted: "It's Wild Bill, the +Union scout." A cheer greeted the intrepid Colonel Hickok, and he rode +into camp surrounded by a party of admirers. The information he brought +proved of great value in the battle of Pilot Knob (already referred +to), which almost immediately followed. CHAPTER XIV. A RESCUE AND A +BETROTHAL. AFTER the battle of Pilot Knob Will was assigned, through the +influence of General Polk, to special service at military headquarters +in St. Louis. Mrs. Polk had been one of mother's school friends, and the +two had maintained a correspondence up to the time of mother's death. +As soon as Mrs. Polk learned that the son of her old friend was in the +Union army, she interested herself in obtaining a good position for him. +But desk-work is not a Pony Express rush, and Will found the St. Louis +detail about as much to his taste as clerking in a dry-goods store. +His new duties naturally became intolerable, lacking the excitement and +danger-scent which alone made his life worth while to him. One event, +however, relieved the dead-weight monotony of his existence; he met +Louise Frederici, the girl who became his wife. The courtship has +been written far and wide with blood-and-thunder pen, attended by +lariat-throwing and runaway steeds. In reality it was a romantic affair. +More than once, while out for a morning canter, Will had remarked a +young woman of attractive face and figure, who sat her horse with the +grace of Diana Vernon. Now, few things catch Will's eye more quickly +than fine horsemanship. He desired to establish an acquaintance with the +young lady, but as none of his friends knew her, he found it impossible. +At length a chance came. Her bridle-rein broke one morning; there was a +runaway, a rescue, and then acquaintance was easy. From war to love, or +from love to war, is but a step, and Will lost no time in taking it. +He was somewhat better than an apprentice to Dan Cupid. If the reader +remembers, he went to school with Steve Gobel. True, his opportunities +to enjoy feminine society had not been many, which; perhaps, accounts +for the promptness with which he embraced them when they did arise. +He became the accepted suitor of Miss Louise Frederici before the war +closed and his regiment was mustered out. The spring of 1865 found him +not yet twenty, and he was sensible of the fact that before he could +dance at his own wedding he must place his worldly affairs upon a surer +financial basis than falls to the lot of a soldier; so, much as he would +have enjoyed remaining in St. Louis, fortune pointed to wider fields, +and he set forth in search of remunerative and congenial employment. +First, there was the visit home, where the warmest of welcomes awaited +him. During his absence the second sister, Eliza, had married a Mr. +Myers, but the rest of us were at the old place, and the eagerness with +which we awaited Will's home-coming was stimulated by the hope that +he would remain and take charge of the estate. Before we broached this +subject, however, he informed us of his engagement to Miss Frederici, +which, far from awakening jealousy, aroused our delight, Julia voicing +the sentiment of the family in the comment: "When you're married, Will, +you will have to stay at home." This led to the matter of his remaining +with us to manage the estate--and to the upsetting of our plans. The pay +of a soldier in the war was next to nothing, and as Will had been unable +to put any money by, he took the first chance that offered to better his +fortunes. This happened to be a job of driving horses from Leavenworth +to Fort Kearny, and almost the first man he met after reaching the fort +was an old plains friend, Bill Trotter. "You're just the chap I've been +looking for," said Trotter, when he learned that Will desired regular +work. "I'm division station agent here, but stage-driving is dangerous +work, as the route is infested with Indians and outlaws. Several drivers +have been held up and killed lately, so it's not a very enticing job, +but the pay's good, and you know the country. If any one can take the +stage through, you can. Do you want the job?" When a man is in love and +the wedding-day has been dreamed of, if not set, life takes on an added +sweetness, and to stake it against the marksmanship of Indian or outlaw +is not, perhaps, the best use to which it may be put. Will had come +safely through so many perils that it seemed folly to thrust his head +into another batch of them, and thinking of Louise and the coming +wedding-day, his first thought was no. But it was the old story, and +there was Trotter at his elbow expressing confidence in his ability as a +frontiersman--an opinion Will fully shared, for a man knows what he can +do. The pay was good, and the sooner earned the sooner would the wedding +be, and Trotter received the answer he expected. The stage line was +another of the Western enterprises projected by Russell, Majors & +Waddell. When gold was discovered on Pike's Peak there was no method +of traversing the great Western plain except by plodding ox-team, +mule-pack, or stagecoach. A semi-monthly stage line ran from St. +Joseph to Salt Lake City, but it was poorly equipped and very tedious, +oftentimes twenty-one days being required to make the trip. The senior +member of the firm, in partnership with John S. Jones, of Missouri, +established a new line between the Missouri River and Denver, at that +time a straggling mining hamlet. One thousand Kentucky mules were +bought, with a sufficient number of coaches to insure a daily run each +way. The trip was made in six days, which necessitated travel at the +rate of a hundred miles a day. The first stage reached Denver on May +17, 1859. It was accounted a remarkable achievement, and the line +was pronounced a great success. In one way it was; but the expense of +equipping it had been enormous, and the new line could not meet its +obligations. To save the credit of their senior partner, Russell, Majors +& Waddell were obliged to come to the rescue. They bought up all the +outstanding obligations, and also the rival stage line between St. +Joseph and Salt Lake City. They consolidated the two, and thereby hoped +to put the Overland stage route on a paying basis. St. Joseph now became +the starting-point of the united lines. From there the road went to Fort +Kearny, and followed the old Salt Lake trail, already described in +these pages. After leaving Salt Lake it passed through Camp Floyd, Ruby +Valley, Carson City, Placerville, and Folsom, and ended in Sacramento. +The distance from St. Joseph to Sacramento by this old stage route was +nearly nineteen hundred miles. The time required by mail contracts and +the government schedule was nineteen days. The trip was frequently made +in fifteen, but there were so many causes for detention that the limit +was more often reached. Each two hundred and fifty miles of road was +designated a "division," and was in charge of an agent, who had great +authority in his own jurisdiction. He was commonly a man of more than +ordinary intelligence, and all matters pertaining to his division were +entirely under his control. He hired and discharged employee, purchased +horses, mules, harness, and food, and attended to their distribution at +the different stations. He superintended the erection of all buildings, +had charge of the water supply, and he was the paymaster. There was also +a man known as the conductor, whose route was almost coincident with +that of the agent. He sat with the driver, and often rode the whole +two hundred and fifty miles of his division without any rest or sleep, +except what he could catch sitting on the top of the flying coach. The +coach itself was a roomy, swaying vehicle, swung on thorough-braces +instead of springs. It always had a six-horse or six-mule team to +draw it, and the speed was nerve-breaking. Passengers were allowed +twenty-five pounds of baggage, and that, with the mail, express, and +the passengers themselves, was in charge of the conductor. The Overland +stagecoaches were operated at a loss until 1862. In March of that year +Russell, Majors & Waddell transferred the whole outfit to Ben Holliday. +Here was a typical frontiersman, of great individuality and character. +At the time he took charge of the route the United States mail was given +to it. This put the line on a sound financial basis, as the government +spent $800,000 yearly in transporting the mail to San Francisco. Will +reported for duty the morning after his talk with Trotter, and when +he mounted the stage-box and gathered the reins over the six spirited +horses, the passengers were assured of an expert driver. His run was +from Fort Kearny to Plum Creek. The country was sharply familiar. It was +the scene of his first encounter with Indians. A long and lonely ride +it was, and a dismal one when the weather turned cold; but it meant a +hundred and fifty dollars a month; and each pay day brought him nearer +to St. Louis. + +Indian signs there had been right along, but they were only signs until +one bleak day in November. He pulled out of Plum Creek with a sharp +warning ringing in his ears. Indians were on the war-path, and trouble +was more likely than not ahead. Lieutenant Flowers, assistant division +agent, was on the box with him, and within the coach were six well-armed +passengers. + +Half the run had been covered, when Will's experienced eye detected +the promised red men. Before him lay a stream which must be forded. The +creek was densely fringed with underbrush, and along this the Indians +were skulking, expecting to cut the stage off at the only possible +crossing. + +Perhaps this is a good place to say a word concerning the seemingly +extraordinary fortune that has stood by Will in his adventures. Not +only have his own many escapes been of the hairbreadth sort, but he has +arrived on the scene of danger at just the right moment to rescue others +from extinction. Of course, an element of luck has entered into these +affairs, but for the most part they simply proved the old saying that an +ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. Will had studied +the plains as an astronomer studies the heavens. The slightest +disarrangement of the natural order of things caught his eye. With the +astronomer, it is a comet or an asteroid appearing upon a field whose +every object has long since been placed and studied; with Will, it was +a feathered headdress where there should have been but tree, or rock, or +grass; a moving figure where nature should have been inanimate. + +When seen, those things were calculated as the astronomer calculates the +motion of the objects that he studies. A planet will arrive at a given +place at a certain time; an Indian will reach a ford in a stream in +about so many minutes. If there be time to cross before him, it is a +matter of hard driving; if the odds are with the Indian, that is another +matter. + +A less experienced observer than Will would not have seen the skulking +redskins; a less skilled frontiersman would not have apprehended their +design; a less expert driver would not have taken the running chance for +life; a less accurate marksman would not have picked off an Indian with +a rifle while shooting from the top of a swinging, jerking stagecoach. + +Will did not hesitate. A warning shout to the passengers, and the whip +was laid on, and off went the horses full speed. Seeing that they had +been discovered, the Indians came out into the open, and ran their +ponies for the ford, but the stage was there full five hundred yards +before them. It was characteristic of their driver that the horses were +suffered to pause at the creek long enough to get a swallow of water; +then, refreshed, they were off at full speed again. + +The coach, creaking in every joint, rocked like a captive balloon, +the unhappy passengers were hurled from one side of the vehicle to +the other, flung into one another's laps, and occasionally, when some +uncommon obstacle sought to check the flying coach, their heads collided +with its roof. The Indians menaced them without, cracked skulls seemed +their fate within. + +Will plied the whip relentlessly, and so nobly did the powerful horses +respond that the Indians gained but slowly on them. There were some +fifty redskins in the band, but Will assumed that if he could reach the +relay station, the two stock-tenders there, with himself, Lieutenant +Flowers, and the passengers, would be more than a match for the +marauders. + +When the pursuers drew within fair rifle range, Will handed the reins to +the lieutenant, swung round in his seat, and fired at the chief. + +"There," shouted one of the passengers, "that fellow with the feathers +is shot!" and another fusillade from the coach interior drove holes in +the air. + +The relay station was now hard by, and attracted by the firing, the +stock-tenders came forth to take a hand in the engagement. Disheartened +by the fall of their chief, the Indians weakened at the sign of +reinforcements, and gave up the pursuit. + +Lieutenant Flowers and two of the passengers were wounded, but Will +could not repress a smile at the excited assurance of one of his fares +that they (the passengers) had "killed one Indian and driven the rest +back." The stock-tenders smiled also, but said nothing. It would have +been too bad to spoil such a good story. + +The gravest fears for the safety of the coach had been expressed when +it was known that the reds were on the war-path; it was not thought +possible that it could get through unharmed, and troops were sent out +to scour the country. These, while too late to render service in the +adventure just related, did good work during the remainder of the +winter. The Indians were thoroughly subdued, and Will saw no more of +them. + +There was no other adventure of special note until February. Just before +Will started on his run, Trotter took him to one side and advised +him that a small fortune was going by the coach that day, and extra +vigilance was urged, as the existence of the treasure might have become +known. + +"I'll do the best I can," said Will; and he had scarcely driven away +when he suspected the two ill-favored passengers he carried. The +sudden calling away of the conductor, whereby he was left alone, was a +suspicious circumstance. He properly decided that it would be wiser +for him to hold up his passengers than to let them hold up him, and he +proceeded to take time by the forelock. He stopped the coach, jumped +down, and examined the harness as if something was wrong; then he +stepped to the coach door and asked his passengers to hand him a rope +that was inside. As they complied, they looked into the barrels of two +cocked revolvers. + +"Hands up!" said Will. + +"What's the matter with you?" demanded one of the pair, as their arms +were raised. + +"Thought I'd come in first--that's all," was the answer. + +The other was not without appreciation of humor. + +"You're a cute one, youngster," said he, "but you'll find more'n your +match down the road, or I miss my guess." + +"I'll look after that when I get to it," said Will. "Will you oblige me +by tying your friend's hands? Thank you. Now throw out your guns. That +all? All right. Let me see your hands." + +When both outlaws had been securely trussed up and proven to be +disarmed, the journey was resumed. The remark dropped by one of the pair +was evidence that they were part of the gang. He must reach the relay +station before the attack. If he could do that, he had a plan for +farther on. + +The relay station was not far away, and was safely reached. The +prisoners were turned over to the stock-tenders, and then Will disposed +of the treasure against future molestation. He cut open one of the +cushions of the coach, taking out part of the filling, and in the +cavity thus made stored everything of value, including his own watch +and pocketbook; then the filling was replaced and the hole smoothed to a +natural appearance. + +If there were more in the gang, he looked for them at the ford where the +Indians had sought to cut him off, and he was not disappointed. As he +drew near the growth of willows that bordered the road, half a dozen men +with menacing rifles stepped out. + +"Halt, or you're a dead man!" was the conventional salutation, in this +case graciously received. + +"Well, what do you want?" asked Will. + +"The boodle you carry. Fork it over!" + +"Gentlemen," said Will, smiling, "this is a case where it takes a thief +to catch a thief." + +"What's that?" cried one of the outlaws, his feelings outraged by the +frank description. + +"Not that I'm the thief," continued Will, "but your pals were one too +many for you this time." + +"Did they rob you?" howled the gang in chorus, shocked by such depravity +on the part of their comrades. + +"If there's anything left in the coach worth having, don't hesitate to +take it," offered Will, pleasantly. + +"Where's your strong-box?" demanded the outlaws, loath to believe there +was no honor among thieves. + +Will drew it forth and exposed its melancholy emptiness. The profanity +that ensued was positively shocking. + +"Where did they hold you up?" demanded the leader of the gang. + +"Eight or nine miles back. You'll find some straw in the road. You can +have that, too." + +"Were there horses to meet them?" + +"On foot the last I saw them." + +"Then we can catch 'em, boys," shouted the leader, hope upspringing in +his breast. "Come, let's be off!" + +They started for the willows on the jump, and presently returned, +spurring their horses. + +"Give them my regards!" shouted Will. But only the thud! thud! of +horsehoofs answered him. Retribution was sweeping like a hawk upon its +prey. + +Will pushed along to the end of his run, and handed over his trust +undisturbed. Fearing that his ruse might have been discovered, he put +the "extra vigilance" urged by Trotter into the return trip, but the +trail was deserted. He picked up the prisoners at the relay station and +carried them to Fort Kearny. If their companions were to discover the +sorry trick played upon them, they would have demanded his life as a +sacrifice. + +At the end of this exciting trip he found a letter from Miss Frederici +awaiting him. She urged him to give up the wild life he was leading, +return East, and find another calling. This was precisely what Will +himself had in mind, and persuasion was not needed. In his reply he +asked that the wedding-day be set, and then he handed Trotter his +resignation from the lofty perch of a stage-driver. + +"I don't like to let you go," objected Trotter. + +"But," said Will, "I took the job only in order to save enough money to +get married on." + +"In that case," said Trotter, "I have nothing to do but wish you joy." + + + +CHAPTER XV. -- WILL AS A BENEDICT. + +WHEN Will reached home, he found another letter from Miss Frederici, +who, agreeably to his request, had fixed the wedding-day, March 6, 1866. + +The wedding ceremony was quietly performed at the home of the bride, and +the large number of friends that witnessed it united in declaring that +no handsomer couple ever bowed for Hymen's benediction. + +The bridal journey was a trip to Leavenworth on a Missouri steamer. At +that time there was much travel by these boats, and their equipment was +first-class. They were sumptuously fitted out, the table was excellent, +and except when sectional animosities disturbed the serenity of their +decks, a trip on one of them was a very pleasant excursion. + +The young benedict soon discovered, however, that in war times the +"trail of the serpent" is liable to be over all things; even a wedding +journey is not exempt from the baneful influence of sectional animosity. +A party of excursionists on board the steamer manifested so extreme +an interest in the bridal couple that Louise retired to a stateroom +to escape their rudeness. After her withdrawal, Will entered into +conversation with a gentleman from Indiana, who had been very polite +to him, and asked him if he knew the reason for the insolence of the +excursion party. The gentleman hesitated a moment, and then answered: + +"To tell the truth, Mr. Cody, these men are Missourians, and say they +recognize you as one of Jennison's Jayhawkers; that you were an enemy of +the South, and are, therefore, an enemy of theirs." + +Will answered, steadily: "I was a soldier during the war, and a scout +in the Union army, but I had some experience of Southern chivalry before +that time." And he related to the Indianian some of the incidents of the +early Kansas border warfare, in which he and his father had played so +prominent a part. + +The next day the insolent behavior was continued. Will was much inclined +to resent it, but his wife pleaded so earnestly with him to take no +notice of it that he ignored it. + +In the afternoon, when the boat landed at a lonely spot to wood up, the +Missourians seemed greatly excited, and all gathered on the guards and +anxiously scanned the riverbank. + +The roustabouts were just about to make the boat fast, when a party of +armed horsemen dashed out of the woods and galloped toward the landing. +The captain thought the boat was to be attacked, and hastily gave orders +to back out, calling the crew on board at the same time. These orders +the negroes lost no time in obeying, as they often suffered severely at +the hands of these reckless marauders. The leader of the horsemen rode +rapidly up, firing at random. As he neared the steamer he called out, +"Where is that Kansas Jayhawker? We have come for him." The other men +caught sight of Will, and one of them cried, "We know you, Bill Cody." +But they were too late. Already the steamer was backing away from the +shore, dragging her gang-plank through the water; the negro roustabouts +were too much terrified to pull it in. When the attacking party saw +their plans were frustrated, and that they were balked of their prey, +they gave vent to their disappointment in yells of rage. A random volley +was fired at the retreating steamer, but it soon got out of range, and +continued on its way up the river. + +Will had prepared himself for the worst; he stood, revolver in hand, at +the head of the steps, ready to dispute the way with his foes. + +There was also a party of old soldiers on board, six or eight in number; +they were dressed in civilians' garb, and Will knew nothing of them; but +when they heard of their comrade's predicament, they hastily prepared +to back up the young scout. Happily the danger was averted, and their +services were not called into requisition. The remainder of the trip was +made without unpleasant incident. + +It was afterward learned that as soon as the Missourians became aware of +the presence of the Union scout on board, they telegraphed ahead to the +James and Younger brothers that Will was aboard the boat, and asked to +have a party meet it at this secluded landing, and capture and carry +off the young soldier. Will feared that Louise might be somewhat +disheartened by such an occurrence on the bridal trip, but the welcome +accorded the young couple on their arrival at Leavenworth was flattering +enough to make amends for all unpleasant incidents. The young wife found +that her husband numbered his friends by the score in his own home; and +in the grand reception tendered them he was the lion of the hour. + +Entreated by Louise to abandon the plains and pursue a vocation along +more peaceful paths, Will conceived the idea of taking up the business +in which mother had won financial success--that of landlord. The house +she had built was purchased after her death by Dr. Crook, a surgeon in +the Seventh Kansas Regiment. It was now for rent, which fact no doubt +decided Will in his choice of an occupation. It was good to live again +under the roof that had sheltered his mother in her last days; it was +good to see the young wife amid the old scenes. So Will turned boniface, +and invited May and me to make our home with him. + +There was a baby in Julia's home, and it had so wound itself around +May's heartstrings that she could not be enticed away; but there was +never anybody who could supplant Will in my heart; so I gladly accepted +his invitation. + +Thoreau has somewhere drawn a sympathetic portrait of the Landlord, who +is supposed to radiate hospitality as the sun throws off heat--as its +own reward--and who feeds and lodges men purely from a love of the +creatures. Yet even such a landlord, if he is to continue long in +business, must have an eye to profit, and make up in one corner what +he parts with in another. Now, Will radiated hospitality, and his +reputation as a lover of his fellowman got so widely abroad that +travelers without money and without price would go miles out of +their way to put up at his tavern. Socially, he was an irreproachable +landlord; financially, his shortcomings were deplorable. + +And then the life of an innkeeper, while not without its joys and +opportunities to love one's fellowman, is somewhat prosaic, and our +guests oftentimes remarked an absent, far-away expression in the eyes of +Landlord Cody. He was thinking of the plains. Louise also remarked that +expression, and the sympathy she felt for his yearnings was accentuated +by an examination of the books of the hostelry at the close of the first +six months' business. Half smiling, half tearful, she consented to his +return to his Western life. + +Will disposed of the house and settled his affairs, and when all the +bills were paid, and Sister Lou and I cozily ensconced in a little home +at Leavenworth, we found that Will's generous thought for our comfort +through the winter had left him on the beach financially. He had planned +a freighting trip on his own account, but the acquiring of a team, +wagon, and the rest of the outfit presented a knotty problem when he +counted over the few dollars left on hand. + +For the first time I saw disappointment and discouragement written on +his face, and I was sorely distressed, for he had never denied me a +desire that he could gratify, and it was partly on my account that he +was not in better financial condition. I was not yet sixteen; it would +be two years more before I could have a say as to the disposition of my +own money, yet something must be done at once. + +I decided to lay the matter before Lawyer Douglass. Surely he +could suggest some plan whereby I might assist my brother. I had a +half-matured plan of my own, but I was assured that Will would not +listen to it. + +Mr. Douglass had been the legal adviser of the family since he won our +first lawsuit, years before. We considered the problem from every side, +and the lawyer suggested that Mr. Buckley, an old friend of the family, +had a team and wagon for sale; they were strong and serviceable, and +just the thing that Will would likely want. I was a minor, but if Mr. +Buckley was willing to accept me as security for the property, there +would be no difficulty in making the transfer. + +Mr. Buckley proved entirely agreeable to the proposition. Will could +have the outfit in return for his note with my indorsement. + +That disposed of, the question of freight to put into the wagon arose. I +thought of another old friend of the family, M. E. Albright, a wholesale +grocer in Leavenworth. Would he trust Will for a load of supplies? He +would. + +Thus everything was arranged satisfactorily, and I hastened home to not +the easiest task--to prevail upon Will to accept assistance at the hands +of the little sister who, not so long ago, had employed his aid in the +matter of a pair of shoes. + +But Will could really do nothing save accept, and proud and happy, he +sallied forth one day as an individual freighter, though not a very +formidable rival of Russell, Majors & Waddell. + +Alas for enterprises started on borrowed capital! How many of them end +in disaster, leaving their projectors not only penniless, but in debt. +Our young frontiersman, whose life had been spent in protecting the +property of others, was powerless to save his own. Wagon, horses, and +freight were all captured by Indians, and their owner barely escaped +with his life. From a safe covert he watched the redskins plunge him +into bankruptcy. It took him several years to recover, and he has +often remarked that the responsibility of his first business venture on +borrowed capital aged him prematurely. + +The nearest station to the scene of this disaster was Junction City, and +thither he tramped, in the hope of retrieving his fortunes. There he met +Colonel Hickok, and in the pleasure of the greeting forgot his business +ruin for a space. The story of his marriage and his stirring adventures +as a landlord and lover of his fellowman were first to be related, and +when these were commented upon, and his old friend had learned, too, of +the wreck of the freighting enterprise, there came the usual inquiry: + +"And now, do you know of a job with some money in it?" + +"There isn't exactly a fortune in it," said Wild Bill, "but I'm scouting +for Uncle Sam at Fort Ellsworth. The commandant needs more scouts, and I +can vouch for you as a good one." + +"All right," said Will, always quick in decision; "I'll go along with +you, and apply for a job at once." + +He was pleased to have Colonel Hickok's recommendation, but it turned +out that he did not need it, as his own reputation had preceded him. The +commandant of the fort was glad to add him to the force. The territory +he had to scout over lay between Forts Ellsworth and Fletcher, and he +alternated between those points throughout the winter. + +It was at Fort Fletcher, in the spring of 1867, that he fell in with the +dashing General Custer, and the friendship established between them was +ended only by the death of the general at the head of his gallant three +hundred. + +This spring was an exceedingly wet one, and the fort, which lay upon the +bank of Big Creek, was so damaged by floods that it was abandoned. A new +fort was erected, some distance to the westward, on the south fork of +the creek, and was named Fort Hayes. + +Returning one day from an extended scouting trip, Will discovered signs +indicating that Indians in considerable force were in the neighborhood. +He at once pushed forward at all speed to report the news, when a second +discovery took the wind out of his sails; the hostiles were between him +and the fort. + +At that moment a party of horsemen broke into view, and seeing they +were white men, Will waited their approach. The little band proved to +be General Custer and an escort of ten, en route from Fort Ellsworth to +Fort Hayes. + +Informed by Will that they were cut off by Indians, and that the only +hope of escape lay in a rapid flank movement, Custer's reply was a +terse: + +"Lead on, scout, and we'll follow." + +Will wheeled, clapped spurs to his horse, and dashed away, with the +others close behind. All hands were sufficiently versed in Indian +warfare to appreciate the seriousness of their position. They pursued +a roundabout trail, and reached the fort without seeing a hostile, but +learned from the reports of others that their escape had been a narrow +one. + +Custer was on his way to Larned, sixty miles distant, and he needed a +guide. He requested that Will be assigned to the position, so pleased +was he by the service already rendered. + +"The very man I proposed to send with you, General," said the +commandant, who knew well the keen desire of the Indians to get at +"Yellow Hair," as they called Custer. "Cody knows this part of the +country like a book; he is up to all the Indian games, and he is as full +of resources as a nut is of meat." + +At daybreak the start was made, and it was planned to cover the sixty +miles before nightfall. Will was mounted on a mouse-colored mule, +to which he was much attached, and in which he had every confidence. +Custer, however, was disposed to regard the lowly steed in some disdain. + +"Do you think, Cody, that mule can set the pace to reach Larned in a +day?" he asked. + +"When you get to Larned, General," smiled Will, "the mule and I will be +with you." + +Custer said no more for a while, but the pace he set was eloquent, and +the mouse-colored mule had to run under "forced draught" to keep up with +the procession. It was a killing pace, too, for the horses, which did +not possess the staying power of the mule. Will was half regretting +that he had ridden the animal, and was wondering how he could crowd on +another pound or two of steam, when, suddenly glancing at Custer, he +caught a gleam of mischief in the general's eye. Plainly the latter was +seeking to compel an acknowledgment of error, but Will only patted the +mouse-colored flanks. + +Fifteen miles were told off; Custer's thoroughbred horse was still in +fine fettle, but the mule had got the second of its three or four winds, +and was ready for a century run. + +"Can you push along a little faster, General?" asked Will, slyly. + +"If that mule of yours can stand it, go ahead," was the reply. + +To the general's surprise, the long-eared animal did go ahead, and when +the party got into the hills, and the traveling grew heavy, it set a +pace that seriously annoyed the general's thoroughbred. + +Fifteen miles more were pounded out, and a halt was called for luncheon. +The horses needed the rest, but the mouse-colored mule wore an impatient +expression. Having got its third wind, it wanted to use it. + +"Well, General," said Will, when they swung off on the trail again, +"what do you think of my mount?" + +Custer laughed. "It's not very handsome," said he, "but it seems to know +what it's about, and so does the rider. You're a fine guide, Cody. +Like the Indian, you seem to go by instinct, rather than by trails and +landmarks." + +The praise of Custer was sweeter to the young scout than that of any +other officer on the plains would have been. + +At just four o'clock the mouse-colored mule jogged into Fort Larned and +waved a triumphant pair of ears. A short distance behind rode Custer, on +a thoroughly tired thoroughbred, while the escort was strung along the +trail for a mile back. + +"Cody," laughed the general, "that remarkable quadruped of yours looks +equal to a return trip. Our horses are pretty well fagged out, but we +have made a quick trip and a good one. You brought us 'cross country +straight as the crow flies, and that's the sort of service I appreciate. +Any time you're in need of work, report to me. I'll see that you're kept +busy." + +It was Custer's intention to remain at Fort Larned for some time, and +Will, knowing that he was needed at Hayes, tarried only for supper and a +short rest before starting back. + +When night fell, he proceeded warily. On the way out he had directed +Custer's attention to signs denoting the near-by presence of a small +band of mounted Indians. + +Suddenly a distant light flashed into view, but before he could check +his mule it had vanished. He rode back a few paces, and the light +reappeared. Evidently it was visible through some narrow space, and the +matter called for investigation. Will dismounted, hitched his mule, and +went forward. + +After he had covered half a mile, he found himself between two +sandhills, the pass leading into a little hollow, within which were +a large number of Indians camped around the fire whose light he had +followed. The ponies were in the background. + +Will's position was somewhat ticklish, as, without a doubt, an Indian +sentinel was posted in the pass; yet it was his duty, as he understood +it, to obtain a measurably accurate estimate of the number of warriors +in the band. Himself a very Indian in stealth, he drew nearer the +camp-fire, when suddenly there rang out upon the night air--not a +rifle-shot, but the unearthly braying of his mule. + +Even in the daylight, amid scenes of peace and tranquillity, the voice +of a mule falls short of the not enchanting music of the bagpipe. +At night in the wilderness, when every nerve is keyed up to the +snapping-point, the sound is simply appalling. + +Will was startled, naturally, but the Indians were thrown into dire +confusion. They smothered the campfires and scattered for cover, while a +sentinel sprang up from behind a rock not twenty feet from Will, and was +off like a deer. + +The scout held his ground till he had made a good guess at the number of +Indians in the party; then he ran for his mule, whose voice, raised in +seeming protest, guided him unerringly. + +As he neared the animal he saw that two mounted Indians had laid hold of +it, and were trying to induce it to follow them; but the mule, true to +tradition and its master, stubbornly refused to budge a foot. + +It was a comical tableau, but Will realized that it was but a step from +farce to tragedy. A rifle-shot dropped one of the Indians, and the other +darted off into the darkness. + +Another bray from the mule, this time a paean of triumph, as Will +jumped into the saddle, with an arrow from the bow of the wounded Indian +through his coat-sleeve. He declined to return the fire of the wounded +wretch, and rode away into the timber, while all around the sound of +Indians in pursuit came to his ears. + +"Now, my mouse-colored friend," said Will, "if you win this race your +name is Custer." + +The mule seemed to understand; at all events, it settled down to work +that combined the speed of a racer with the endurance of a buffalo. The +Indians shortly abandoned the pursuit, as they could not see their game. + +Will reached Fort Hayes in the early morning, to report the safe arrival +of Custer at Larned and the discovery of the Indian band, which he +estimated at two hundred braves. The mule received "honorable mention" +in his report, and was brevetted a thoroughbred. + +The colonel prepared to dispatch troops against the Indians, and +requested Will to guide the expedition, if he were sufficiently rested, +adding, with a smile: + +"You may ride your mule if you like." + +"No, thank you," laughed Will. "It isn't safe, sir, to hunt Indians with +an animal that carries a brass-band attachment." + +Captain George A. Armes, of the Tenth Cavalry, was to command the +expedition, which comprised a troop of colored cavalry and a howitzer. +As the command lined up for the start, a courier on a foam-splashed +horse rode up with the news that the workmen on the Kansas Pacific +Railroad had been attacked by Indians, six of them killed, and over a +hundred horses and mules and a quantity of stores stolen. + +The troops rode away, the colored boys panting for a chance at the +redskins, and Captain Armes more than willing to gratify them. + +At nightfall the command made camp near the Saline River, at which point +it was expected to find the Indians. Before dawn they were in the saddle +again, riding straight across country, regardless of trails, until the +river was come up with. + +Will's judgment was again verified by the discovery of a large camp of +hostiles on the opposite bank of the stream. The warriors were as +quick of eye, and as they greatly outnumbered the soldiers, and were +emboldened by the success of their late exploit, they did not wait the +attack, but came charging across the river. + +They were nearly a mile distant, and Captain Armes had time to plant the +howitzer on a little rise of ground. Twenty men were left to handle it. +The rest of the command advanced to the combat. + +They were just at the point of attack when a fierce yelling was heard in +the rear, and the captain discovered that his retreat to the gun was cut +off by another band of reds, and that he was between two fires. His only +course was to repulse the enemy in front. If this were done, and the +colored gunners did not flee before the overwhelming numbers, he might +unite his forces by another charge. + +The warriors came on with their usual impetuosity, whooping and +screaming, but they met such a raking fire from the disciplined troops +that they fell back in disorder. Just then the men at the howitzer +opened fire. The effect of this field-piece on the children of the +plains was magical--almost ludicrous. A veritable stampede followed. + +"Follow me!" shouted Captain Armes, galloping in pursuit; but in their +eagerness to give chase the troops fell into such disorder that a +bugle-blast recalled them before any further damage was done the flying +foe. The Indians kept right along, however; they were pretty badly +frightened. + +Captain Armes was somewhat chagrined that he had no prisoners, but +there was consolation in taking back nearly all the horses that had been +stolen. These were found picketed at the camp across the river, where +likely they had been forgotten by the Indians in their flight. + +Shortly after this, Will tried his hand at land speculation. During +one of his scouting trips to Fort Harker, he visited Ellsworth, a new +settlement, three miles from the fort. There he met a man named Rose, +who had a grading contract for the Kansas Pacific Railroad, near Fort +Hayes. Rose had bought land at a point through which the railroad was to +run, and proposed staking it out as a town, but he needed a partner in +the enterprise. + +The site was a good one. Big Creek was hard by, and it was near enough +to the fort to afford settlers reasonable security against Indian raids. +Will regarded the enterprise favorably. Besides the money sent home +each month, he had put by a small sum, and this he invested in the +partnership with Rose. + +The town site was surveyed and staked off into lots; a cabin was +erected, and stocked with such goods as are needed on the frontier, and +the budding metropolis was weighted with the classic name of Rome. + +As an encouragement to settlers, a lot was offered to any one that would +agree to erect a building. The proprietors, of course, reserved the +choicest lots. + +Rome boomed. Two hundred cabins went up in less than sixty days. +Mr. Rose and Will shook hands and complimented each other on their +penetration and business sagacity. They were coming millionaires, they +said. Alas! they were but babes in the woods. + +One day Dr. W. E. Webb alighted in Rome. He was a gentleman of most +amiable exterior, and when he entered the store of Rose & Cody they +prepared to dispose of a large bill of goods. But Dr. Webb was not +buying groceries. He chatted a while about the weather and Rome, and +then suggested that the firm needed a third partner. But this was the +last thing the prospective millionaires had in mind, and the suggestion +of their visitor was mildly but firmly waived. + +Dr. Webb was not a gentleman to insist upon a suggestion. He was +locating towns for the Kansas Pacific Railroad, he said, and as Rome was +well started, he disliked to interfere with it; but, really, the company +must have a show. + +Neither Mr. Rose nor Will had had experience with the power of a big +corporation, and satisfied that they had the only good site for a town +in that vicinity, they declared that the railroad could not help itself. + +Dr. Webb smiled pleasantly, and not without compassion. "Look out for +yourselves," said he, as he took his leave. + +And within sight of Rome he located a new town. The citizens of Rome +were given to understand that the railroad shops would be built at the +new settlement, and that there was really nothing to prevent it becoming +the metropolis of Kansas. + +Rome became a wilderness. Its citizens stampeded to the new town, +and Mr. Rose and Will revised their estimate of their penetration and +business sagacity. + +Meantime, the home in Leavenworth had been gladdened by the birth of a +little daughter, whom her father named Arta. As it was impossible for +Will to return for some months, it was planned that the mother, the +baby, and I should make a visit to the St. Louis home. This was +accomplished safely; and while the grandparents were enraptured with the +baby, I was enjoying the delight of a first visit to a large city. + +While the new town of Rome was regarded as an assured success by Will, +he had journeyed to St. Louis after his wife and little one. They +proceeded with him to the cozy cabin home he had fitted up, while I went +back to Leavenworth. + +After the fall of Rome the little frontier home was no longer the +desirable residence that Will's dreams had pictured it, and as Rome +passed into oblivion the little family returned to St. Louis. + + + +CHAPTER XVI. -- HOW THE SOBRIQUET OF "BUFFALO BILL" WAS WON. + +IN frontier days a man had but to ask for work to get it. There was +enough and to spare for every one. The work that paid best was the kind +that suited Will, it mattered not how hard or dangerous it might be. + +At the time Rome fell, the work on the Kansas Pacific Railroad was +pushing forward at a rapid rate, and the junior member of the once +prosperous firm of Rose & Cody saw a new field of activity open for +him--that of buffalo-hunting. Twelve hundred men were employed on the +railroad construction, and Goddard Brothers, who had undertaken to board +the vast crew, were hard pressed to obtain fresh meat. To supply this +indispensable, buffalo-hunters were employed, and as Will was known to +be an expert buffalo-slayer, Goddard Brothers were glad to add him to +their "commissary staff." His contract with them called for en average +of twelve buffaloes daily, for which he was to receive five hundred +dollars a month. It was "good pay," the desired feature, but the work +was hard and hazardous. He must first scour the country for his game, +with a good prospect always of finding Indians instead of buffalo; then, +when the game was shot, he must oversee its cutting and dressing, and +look after the wagons that transported it to the camp where the workmen +messed. It was while working under this contract that he acquired the +sobriquet of "Buffalo Bill." It clung to him ever after, and he wore +it with more pride than he would have done the title of prince or grand +duke. Probably there are thousands of people to-day who know him by that +name only. + +At the outset he procured a trained buffalo-hunting horse, which went +by the unconventional name of "Brigham," and from the government he +obtained an improved breech-loading needle-gun, which, in testimony of +its murderous qualities, he named "Lucretia Borgia." + +Buffaloes were usually plentiful enough, but there were times when the +camp supply of meat ran short. During one of these dull spells, when the +company was pressed for horses, Brigham was hitched to a scraper. One +can imagine his indignation. A racer dragging a street-car would have +no more just cause for rebellion than a buffalo-hunter tied to a work +implement in the company of stupid horses that never had a thought above +a plow, a hay-rake, or a scraper. Brigham expostulated, and in such +plain language, that Will, laughing, was on the point of unhitching +him, when a cry went up--the equivalent of a whaler's "There she +blows!"--that a herd of buffaloes was coming over the hill. + +Brigham and the scraper parted company instantly, and Will mounted him +bareback, the saddle being at the camp, a mile away. Shouting an order +to the men to follow him with a wagon to take back the meat, he galloped +toward the game. + +There were other hunters that day. Five officers rode out from the +neighboring fort, and joined Will while waiting for the buffaloes to +come up. They were recent arrivals in that part of the country, and +their shoulder-straps indicated that one was a captain and the others +were lieutenants. They did not know "Buffalo Bill." They saw nothing but +a good-looking young fellow, in the dress of a working man, astride a +not handsome horse, which had a blind bridle and no saddle. It was not a +formidable-looking hunting outfit, and the captain was disposed to be a +trifle patronizing. + +"Hello!" he called out. "I see you're after the same game we are." + +"Yes, sir," returned Will. "Our camp's out of fresh meat." + +The officer ran a critical eye over Brigham. "Do you expect to run down +a buffalo with a horse like that?" said he. + +"Why," said Will, innocently, "are buffaloes pretty speedy?" + +"Speedy? It takes a fast horse to overhaul those animals on the open +prairie." + +"Does it?" said Will; and the officer did not see the twinkle in his +eye. Nothing amuses a man more than to be instructed on a matter that +he knows thoroughly, and concerning which his instructor knows nothing. +Probably every one of the officers had yet to shoot his first buffalo. + +"Come along with us," offered the captain, graciously. "We're going to +kill a few for sport, and all we care for are the tongues and a chunk of +the tenderloin; you can have the rest." + +"Thank you," said Will. "I'll follow along." + +There were eleven buffaloes in the herd, and the officers started after +them as if they had a sure thing on the entire number. Will noticed that +the game was pointed toward a creek, and understanding "the nature of +the beast," started for the water, to head them off. + +As the herd went past him, with the military quintet five hundred yards +in the rear, he gave Brigham's blind bridle a twitch, and in a few jumps +the trained hunter was at the side of the rear buffalo; Lucretia Borgia +spoke, and the buffalo fell dead. Without even a bridle signal, Brigham +was promptly at the side of the next buffalo, not ten feet away, and +this, too, fell at the first shot. The maneuver was repeated until the +last buffalo went down. Twelve shots had been fired; then Brigham, who +never wasted his strength, stopped. The officers had not had even a shot +at the game. Astonishment was written on their faces as they rode up. + +"Gentlemen," said Will, courteously, as he dismounted, "allow me to +present you with eleven tongues and as much of the tenderloin as you +wish." + +"By Jove!" exclaimed the captain, "I never saw anything like that +before. Who are you, anyway?" + +"Bill Cody's my name." + +"Well, Bill Cody, you know how to kill buffalo, and that horse of yours +has some good running points, after all." + +"One or two," smiled Will. + +Captain Graham--as his name proved to be--and his companions were +a trifle sore over missing even the opportunity of a shot, but they +professed to be more than repaid for their disappointment by witnessing +a feat they had not supposed possible in a white man--hunting buffalo +without a saddle, bridle, or reins. Will explained that Brigham knew +more about the business than most two-legged hunters. All the rider +was expected to do was to shoot the buffalo. If the first shot failed, +Brigham allowed another; if this, too, failed, Brigham lost patience, +and was as likely as not to drop the matter then and there. + +It was this episode that fastened the name of "Buffalo Bill" upon Will, +and learning of it, the friends of Billy Comstock, chief of scouts at +Fort Wallace, filed a protest. Comstock, they said, was Cody's superior +as a buffalo hunter. So a match was arranged to determine whether it +should be "Buffalo Bill" Cody or "Buffalo Bill" Comstock. + +The hunting-ground was fixed near Sheridan, Kansas, and quite a crowd of +spectators was attracted by the news of the contest. Officers, soldiers, +plainsmen, and railroadmen took a day off to see the sport, and one +excursion party, including many ladies, among them Louise, came up from +St. Louis. + +Referees were appointed to follow each man and keep a tally of the +buffaloes slain. Comstock was mounted on his favorite horse, and carried +a Henry rifle of large caliber. Brigham and Lucretia went with Will. The +two hunters rode side by side until the first herd was sighted and the +word given, when off they dashed to the attack, separating to the right +and left. In this first trial Will killed thirty-eight and Comstock +twenty-three. They had ridden miles, and the carcasses of the dead +buffaloes were strung all over the prairie. Luncheon was served at noon, +and scarcely was it over when another herd was sighted, composed mainly +of cows with their calves. The damage to this herd was eighteen and +fourteen, in favor of Cody. + +In those days the prairies were alive with buffaloes, and a third herd +put in an appearance before the rifle-barrels were cooled. In order to +give Brigham a share of the glory, Will pulled off saddle and bridle, +and advanced bareback to the slaughter. + +That closed the contest. Score, sixty-nine to forty-eight. Comstock's +friends surrendered, and Cody was dubbed "Champion Buffalo Hunter of the +Plains." + +The heads of the buffaloes that fell in this hunt were mounted by +the Kansas Pacific Company, and distributed about the country, as +advertisements of the region the new road was traversing. Meanwhile, +Will continued hunting for the Kansas Pacific contractors, and during +the year and a half that he supplied them with fresh meat he killed four +thousand two hundred and eighty buffaloes. But when the railroad reached +Sheridan it was decided to build no farther at that time, and Will was +obliged to look for other work. + +The Indians had again become so troublesome that a general war +threatened all along the border, and General P. H. Sheridan came West +to personally direct operations. He took up his quarters at Fort +Leavenworth, but the Indian depredations becoming more widespread, he +transferred his quarters to Fort Hayes, then the terminus of the Kansas +Pacific Railroad. Will was then in the employ of the quartermaster's +department at Fort Larned, but was sent with an important dispatch to +General Sheridan announcing that the Indians near Larned were preparing +to decamp. The distance between Larned and Hayes was sixty-five miles, +through a section infested with Indians, but Will tackled it, and +reached the commanding General without mishap. + +Shortly afterward it became necessary to send dispatches from Fort Hayes +to Fort Dodge. Ninety-five miles of country lay between, and every mile +of it was dangerous ground. Fort Dodge was surrounded by Indians, and +three scouts had lately been killed while trying to get dispatches +through, but Will's confidence in himself or his destiny was unshakable, +and he volunteered to take the dispatches, as far, at least, as the +Indians would let him. + +"It is a dangerous undertaking," said General Sheridan, "but it is most +important that the dispatches should go through; so, if you are willing +to risk it, take the best horse you can find, and the sooner you start +the better." + +Within an hour the scout was in the saddle. At the outset Will permitted +his horse to set his own pace, for in case of pursuit he should want +the animal fresh enough to at least hold his own. But no pursuit +materialized, and when the dawn came up he had covered seventy miles, +and reached a station on Coon Creek, manned by colored troops. Here +he delivered a letter to Major Cox, the officer in command, and after +eating breakfast, took a fresh horse, and resumed his journey before the +sun was above the plain. + +Fort Dodge was reached, the dispatches delivered by nine o'clock, and +Will turned in for a needed sleep. When he awoke, he was assured by John +Austin, chief of the scouts at Dodge, that his coming through unharmed +from Fort Hayes was little short of a miracle. He was also assured +that a journey to his own headquarters, Fort Larned, would be even more +ticklish than his late ride, as the hostiles were especially thick in +that direction. But the officer in command at Dodge desired to send +dispatches to Larned, and as none of the other scouts were willing to +take them, Will volunteered his services. + +"Larned's my headquarters," said he, "and I must go there anyway; so if +you'll give me a good horse, I'll take your dispatches." + +"We haven't a decent horse left," said the officer; "but you can take +your pick of some fine government mules." + +Will made a gesture of despair. Another race on mule-back with Indians +was not an inviting prospect. There were very few mules like unto his +quondam mouse-colored mount. But he succumbed to the inevitable, picked +out the most enterprising looking mule in the bunch, and set forth. And +neither he nor the mule guessed what was in store for each of them. + +At Coon Creek Will dismounted for a drink of water, and the mule +embraced the opportunity to pull away, and start alone on the +wagon-trail to Larned. Will did not suspect that he should have any +trouble in overtaking the capricious beast, but at the end of a mile +he was somewhat concerned. He had threatened and entreated, raged +and cajoled. 'Twas all wasted. The mule was as deaf to prayer as to +objurgation. It browsed contentedly along the even tenor of its way, so +near and yet so far from the young man, who, like "panting time, toil'd +after it in vain." And Larned much more than twenty miles away. + +What the poet calls "the golden exhalations of the dawn" began to warm +the gray of the plain. The sun was in the roots of the grass. Four miles +away the lights of Larned twinkled. The only blot on a fair landscape +was the mule--in the middle distance. But there was a wicked gleam in +the eye of the footsore young man in the foreground. + +Boom! The sunrise gun at the fort. The mule threw back its head, waved +its ears, and poured forth a song of triumph, a loud, exultant bray. + +Crack! Will's rifle. Down went the mule. It had made the fatal mistake +of gloating over its villainy. Never again would it jeopardize the life +of a rider. + +It had been a thirty-five-mile walk, and every bone in Will's body +ached. His shot alarmed the garrison, but he was soon on the ground with +the explanation; and after turning over his dispatches, he sought his +bed. + +During the day General Hazen returned, under escort, from Fort Harker, +with dispatches for Sheridan, and Will offered to be the bearer of them. +An army mule was suggested, but he declined to again put his life in the +keeping of such an animal. A good horse was selected, and the journey +made without incident. + +General Sheridan was roused at daylight to receive the scout's report +and praised Will warmly for having undertaken and safely accomplished +three such long and dangerous rides. + +"In all," says General Sheridan, in his Memoirs, "Cody rode three +hundred and fifty miles in less than sixty hours, and such an exhibition +of endurance and courage was more than enough to convince me that his +services would be extremely valuable in the campaign; so I retained him +at Fort Hayes until the battalion of Fifth Cavalry arrived, and then +made him chief of scouts for that regiment." + + + +CHAPTER XVII. -- SATANTA, CHIEF OF THE KIOWAS. + +WITHIN plain view of Fort Larned lay a large camp of Kiowas and +Comanches. They were not yet bedaubed with war paint, but they were as +restless as panthers in a cage, and it was only a matter of days when +they would whoop and howl with the loudest. + +The principal chief of the Kiowas was Satanta, a powerful and +resourceful warrior, who, because of remarkable talents for +speech-making, was called "The Orator of the Plains." Satanta was short +and bullet-headed. Hatred for the whites swelled every square inch +of his breast, but he had the deep cunning of his people, with some +especially fine points of treachery learned from dealings with dishonest +agents and traders. There probably never was an Indian so depraved that +he could not be corrupted further by association with a rascally white +man. + +When the Kiowas were friendly with the government, Satanta received a +guest with all the magnificence the tribe afforded. A carpet was spread +for the white man to sit upon, and a folding board was set up for a +table. The question of expense never intruded. + +Individually, too, Satanta put on a great deal of style. Had the +opportunity come to him, he would have worn a silk hat with a sack-coat, +or a dress suit in the afternoon. As it was, he produced some startling +effects with blankets and feathers. + +It was part of General Hazen's mission to Fort Larned to patch up a +treaty with the outraged Kiowas and Comanches, if it could be brought +about. On one warm August morning, the general set out for Fort Zarah, +on a tour of inspection. Zarah was on the Arkansas, in what is now +Barton County, Kansas. An early start was made, as it was desired to +cover the thirty miles by noon. The general rode in a four-mule army +ambulance, with an escort of ten foot soldiers, in a four-mule escort +wagon. + +After dinner at Zarah the general went on to Fort Harker, leaving orders +for the scout and soldiers to return to Larned on the following day. But +as there was nothing to do at Fort Zarah, Will determined to return at +once; so he trimmed the sails of his mule-ship, and squared away for +Larned. + +The first half of the journey was without incident, but when Pawnee Rock +was reached, events began to crowd one another. Some forty Indians rode +out from behind the rock and surrounded the scout. + +"How? How?" they cried, as they drew near, and offered their hands for +the white man's salutation. + +The braves were in war paint, and intended mischief; but there was +nothing to be lost by returning their greeting, so Will extended his +hand. + +One warrior seized it and gave it a violent jerk; another caught the +mule's bridle; a third pulled the revolvers from the holsters; a fourth +snatched the rifle from across the saddle; while a fifth, for a climax, +dealt Will a blow on the head with a tomahawk that nearly stunned him. + +Then the band started for the Arkansas River, lashing the mule, singing, +yelling, and whooping. For one supposed to be stolid and taciturn, the +Indian makes a good deal of noise at times. + +Across the river was a vast throng of warriors, who had finally decided +to go on the war-path. Will and his captors forded the shallow stream, +and the prisoner was conducted before the chiefs of the tribe, with some +of whom he was acquainted. + +His head throbbed from the tomahawking, but his wits were still in +working order, and when asked by Satanta where he had been, he replied +that he had been out searching for "whoa-haws." + +He knew that the Indians had been promised a herd of "whoa-haws," as +they termed cattle, and he knew, too, that the herd had not arrived, and +that the Indians had been out of meat for several weeks; hence he hoped +to enlist Satanta's sympathetic interest. + +He succeeded. Satanta was vastly interested. Where were the cattle? Oh, +a few miles back. Will had been sent forward to notify the Indians that +an army of sirloin steaks was advancing upon them. + +Satanta was much pleased, and the other chiefs were likewise interested. +Did General Hazen say the cattle were for them? Was there a chance that +the scout was mistaken? + +Not a chance; and with becoming dignity Will demanded a reason for the +rough treatment he had received. + +Oh, that was all a joke, Satanta explained. The Indians who had captured +the white chief were young and frisky. They wished to see whether he was +brave. They were simply testing him. It was sport--just a joke. + +Will did not offer to argue the matter. No doubt an excellent test of a +man's courage is to hit him over the head with a tomahawk. If he lives +through it, he is brave as Agamemnon. But Will insisted mildly that it +was a rough way to treat friends; whereupon Satanta read the riot act to +his high-spirited young men, and bade them return the captured weapons +to the scout. + +The next question was, were there soldiers with the cattle? Certainly, +replied Will; a large party of soldiers were escorting the succulent +sirloins. This intelligence necessitated another consultation. Evidently +hostilities must be postponed until after the cattle had arrived. Would +Will drive the cattle to them? He would be delighted to. Did he desire +that the chief's young men should accompany him? No, indeed. The +soldiers, also, were high-spirited, and they might test the bravery of +the chief's young men by shooting large holes in them. It would be much +better if the scout returned alone. + +Satanta agreed with him, and Will recrossed the river without +molestation; but, glancing over his shoulder, he noted a party of ten +or fifteen young braves slowly following him. Satanta was an extremely +cautious chieftain. + +Will rode leisurely up the gentle slope of the river's bank, but when +he had put the ridge between him and the Indian camp he pointed his mule +westward, toward Fort Larned, and set it going at its best pace. When +the Indians reached the top of the ridge, from where they could scan the +valley, in which the advancing cattle were supposed to be, there was not +a horn to be seen, and the scout was flying in an opposite direction. + +They gave chase, but the mule had a good start, and when it got its +second wind--always necessary in a mule--the Indian ponies gained but +slowly. When Ash Creek, six miles from Larned, was reached, the race +was about even, but two miles farther on, the Indians were uncomfortably +close behind. The sunset gun at the fort boomed a cynical welcome to the +man four miles away, flying toward it for his life. + +At Pawnee Fork, two miles from the fort, the Indians had crept up to +within five hundred yards. But here, on the farther bank of the stream, +Will came upon a government wagon containing half a dozen soldiers and +Denver Jim, a well-known scout. + +The team was driven among the trees, and the men hid themselves in the +bushes, and when the Indians came along they were warmly received. Two +of the reds were killed; the others wheeled and rode back in safety. + +In 1868 General Sheridan had taken command of all the troops in the +field. He arranged what is known as the winter expeditions against the +Kiowas, Comanches, Southern Cheyennes, and Arapahoes. He personally +commanded the expedition which left Fort Dodge, with General Custer as +chief of cavalry. General Penrose started for Fort Lyon, Colorado, and +General Eugene A. Carr was ordered from the Republican River country, +with the Fifth Cavalry, to Fort Wallace, Kansas. Will at this time had +a company of forty scouts with General Carr's command. He was ordered by +General Sheridan, when leaving Fort Lyon, to follow the trail of General +Penrose's command until it was overtaken. General Carr was to proceed to +Fort Lyon, and follow on the trail of General Penrose, who had started +from there three weeks before, when, as Carr ranked Penrose, he would +then take command of both expeditions. It was the 21st of November when +Carr's expedition left Fort Lyon. The second day out they encountered a +terrible snow-storm and blizzard in a place they christened "Freeze +Out Canon," by which name it is still known. As Penrose had only a +pack-train and no heavy wagons, and the ground was covered with snow, it +was a very difficult matter to follow his trail. But taking his general +course, they finally came up with him on the south fork of the Canadian +River, where they found him and his soldiers in a sorry plight, +subsisting wholly on buffalo-meat. Their animals had all frozen to +death. + +General Carr made what is known as a supply camp, leaving Penrose's +command and some of his own disabled stock therein. Taking with him +the Fifth Cavalry and the best horses and pack-mules, he started south +toward the main fork of the Canadian River, looking for the Indians. He +was gone from the supply camp thirty days, but could not locate the +main band of Indians, as they were farther to the east, where General +Sheridan had located them, and had sent General Custer in to fight them, +which he did, in what is known as the great battle of Wichita. + +They had a very severe winter, and returned in March to Fort Lyon, +Colorado. + +In the spring of 1869, the Fifth Cavalry, ordered to the Department of +the Platte, took up the line of march for Fort McPherson, Nebraska. + +It was a large command, including seventy-six wagons for stores, +ambulance wagons, and pack-mules. Those chief in authority were Colonel +Royal (afterward superseded by General Carr), Major Brown, and Captain +Sweetman. + +The average distance covered daily was only ten miles, and when the +troops reached the Solomon River there was no fresh meat in camp. +Colonel Royal asked Will to look up some game. + +"All right, sir," said Will. "Will you send a couple of wagons along to +fetch in the meat?" + +"We'll send for the game, Cody, when there's some game to send for," +curtly replied the colonel. + +That settled the matter, surely, and Will rode away, a trifle ruffled in +temper. + +He was not long in rounding up a herd of seven buffaloes, and he headed +them straight for camp. As he drew near the lines, he rode alongside +his game, and brought down one after another, until only an old bull +remained. This he killed in almost the center of the camp. + +The charge of the buffaloes had nearly stampeded the picketed horses, +and Colonel Royal, who, with the other officers, had watched the hunt, +demanded, somewhat angrily: + +"What does this mean, Cody?" + +"Why," said Will, "I thought, sir, I'd save you the trouble of sending +after the game." + +The colonel smiled, though perhaps the other officers enjoyed the joke +more than he. + +At the north fork of the Beaver, Will discovered a large and fresh +Indian trail. The tracks were scattered all over the valley, showing +that a large village had recently passed that way. Will estimated that +at least four hundred lodges were represented; that would mean from +twenty-five hundred to three thousand warriors, squaws, and children. + +When General Carr (who had taken the command) got the news, he followed +down a ravine to Beaver Creek, and here the regiment went into camp. +Lieutenant Ward and a dozen men were detailed to accompany Will on a +reconnoissance. They followed Beaver Creek for twelve miles, and +then the lieutenant and the scout climbed a knoll for a survey of the +country. One glance took in a large Indian village some three miles +distant. Thousands of ponies were picketed out, and small bands of +warriors were seen returning from the hunt, laden with buffalo-meat. + +"I think, Lieutenant," said Will, "that we have important business at +camp." + +"I agree with you," said Ward. "The quicker we get out of here, the +better." + +When they rejoined the men at the foot of the hill, Ward dispatched a +courier to General Carr, the purpose of the lieutenant being to follow +slowly and meet the troops which he knew would be sent forward. + +The courier rode away at a gallop, but in a few moments came riding +back, with three Indians at his horse's heels. The little company +charged the warriors, who turned and fled for the village. + +"Lieutenant," said Will, "give me that note." And as it was passed over, +he clapped spurs to his horse and started for the camp. + +He had proceeded but a short distance when he came upon another party of +Indians, returning to the village with buffalo-meat. Without stopping, +he fired a long-range shot at them, and while they hesitated, puzzled by +the action, he galloped past. The warriors were not long in recovering +from their surprise, and cutting loose their meat, followed; but their +ponies were tired from a long hunt, and Will's fresh horse ran away from +them. + +When General Carr received the lieutenant's dispatch, he ordered the +bugler to sound the inspiring "Boots and Saddles," and, while two +companies remained to guard the wagons, the rest of the troops hastened +against the Indians. + +Three miles out they were joined by Lieutenant Ward's company, and five +miles more brought them within sight of a huge mass of mounted Indians +advancing up the creek. These warriors were covering the retreat of +their squaws, who were packing up and getting ready for hasty flight. + +General Carr ordered a charge on the red line. If it were broken, the +cavalry was to continue, and surround the village. The movement was +successfully executed, but one officer misunderstood the order, and, +charging on the left wing of the hostiles, was speedily hemmed in by +some three hundred redskins. Reinforcements were dispatched to his +relief, but the plan of battle was spoiled, and the remainder of the +afternoon was spent in contesting the ground with the Indians, who +fought for their lodges, squaws, and children with desperate and dogged +courage. When night came on, the wagon-trains, which had been ordered to +follow, had not put in an appearance, and, though the regiment went back +to look for them, it was nine o'clock before they were reached. + +Camp was broken at daybreak, and the pursuit began, but not an Indian +was in sight. All the day the trail was followed. There was evidence +that the Indians had abandoned everything that might hinder their +flight. That night the regiment camped on the banks of the Republican, +and the next morning caught a distant glimpse of the foe. + +About eleven o'clock a charge was made by three hundred mounted +warriors, but they were repulsed with considerable loss, and when they +discovered that defeat was certain, they evaded further pursuit by +breaking up into companies and scattering to all points of the compass. +A large number of ponies were collected as trophies of this expedition. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. -- WILL MADE CHIEF OF SCOUTS. + +IN due time the Fifth Cavalry reached Fort McPherson, which became its +headquarters while they were fitting out a new expedition to go into +the Republican River country. At this time General Carr recommended to +General Augur, who was in command of the Department, that Will be made +chief of scouts in the Department of the Platte. + +Will's fancy had been so taken by the scenery along the line of march +that he proceeded to explore the country around McPherson, the result +being a determination to make his future home in the Platte Valley. + +Shortly after reaching the fort, the scouts' division of the Fifth +Cavalry was reinforced by Major Frank North and three companies of the +celebrated Pawnee scouts. These became the most interesting and amusing +objects in camp, partly on account of their race, but mainly because +of the bizarre dress fashions they affected. My brother, in his +autobiography, describes the appearance presented by these scouts during +a review of the command by Brigadier-General Duncan. + +The regiment made a fine showing, the men being well drilled and +thoroughly versed in tactics. The Pawnees also showed up well on drill, +but their full dress uniforms were calculated to excite even the army +horses to laughter. Regular cavalry suits had been furnished them, but +no two of the Pawnees seemed to agree as to the correct manner in which +the various articles should be worn. As they lined up for dress parade, +some of them wore heavy overcoats, others discarded even pantaloons, +content with a breech-clout. Some wore large black hats, with brass +accouterments, others were bareheaded. Many wore the pantaloons, but +declined the shirts, while a few of the more original cut the seats from +the pantaloons, leaving only leggings. Half of them were without boots +or moccasins, but wore the clinking spurs with manifest pride. + +They were a quaint and curious lot, but drilled remarkably well for +Indians, and obeyed orders. They were devoted to their white chief, +Major North, who spoke Pawnee like a native, and they were very proud +of their position in the United States army. Good soldiers they made, +too--hard riders, crack shots, and desperate fighters. + +At the close of the parade and review referred to, the officers and the +ladies attended an Indian dance, given by the Pawnees, which climaxed a +rather exciting day. + +The following morning an expedition moved back to the Republican River, +to curb the high spirits of a band of Sioux, who had grown boldly +troublesome. This was the sort of service the Pawnees welcomed, as they +and the Sioux were hereditary enemies. + +At the journey's end, camp was made at the mouth of the Beaver, and the +Sioux were heard from within the hour. A party of them raided the mules +that had been taken to the river, and the alarm was given by a herder, +who dashed into camp with an arrow sticking in his shoulder. + +Will did not wait to saddle his horse, but the Pawnees were as quick as +he, and both of them rather surprised the Sioux, who did not expect +such a swift response. Especially were they surprised to find themselves +confronted by their tribal foe, the Pawnee, and they fell back hastily, +closely pressed by Will and his red allies. A running fight was kept up +for fifteen miles, and when many of the Sioux had been stretched upon +the plain and the others scattered, the pursuing party returned to camp. + +Will himself, on a fine horse, had been somewhat chagrined at being +passed in the chase by a Pawnee on an inferior-looking steed. Upon +inquiring of Major North, he found that the swifter horse was, like his +own, government property. The Pawnee was much attached to his mount, +but he was also fond of tobacco, and a few pieces of that commodity, +supplemented by some other articles, induced him to exchange horses. +Will named his new charge "Buckskin Joe," and rode him for four years. +Joe proved a worthy successor to Brigham for speed, endurance, and +intelligence. + +This was the first adventure that Will and the Pawnees had pursued +together, and they emerged with an increased esteem for each other. Not +long afterward, Will's skill as a buffalo-hunter raised the admiration +of the Indians to enthusiasm. + +Twenty Pawnees that circled around one herd of buffaloes killed only +twenty-two, and when the next herd came in view Will asked Major North +to keep the Indians in the background while he showed them a thing +or two. Buckskin Joe was a capital buffalo-hunter, and so well did he +perform his part that Will brought down thirty-six, about one at every +shot. + +The Pawnees were delighted. They held it considerable of an achievement +to kill two or three of the monarchs of the plains at a single run, and +Will's feat dazzled them. He was at once pronounced a great chief, and +ever after occupied a high place in their regard. + +Moving up the Republican River, the troops went into camp on Black Tail +Deer Fork. Scarcely were the tents pitched when a band of Indians were +seen sweeping toward them at full speed, singing, yelling, and waving +lances. The camp was alive in an instant, but the Pawnees, instead +of preparing for defense, began to sing and yell in unison with the +advancing braves. "Those are some of our own Indians," said Major North; +"they've had a fight, and are bringing in the scalps." + +And so it proved. The Pawnees reported a skirmish with the Sioux, in +which a few of the latter had been killed. + +The next day the regiment set forth upon the trail of the Sioux. They +traveled rapidly, and plainly gained ground. + +At every camp the print of a woman's shoe was noted among the tracks +of moccasined feet. The band evidently had a white captive in tow, and +General Carr, selecting the best horses, ordered a forced march, the +wagon-trains to follow as rapidly as possible. Will, with six Pawnees, +was to go ahead and locate the hostiles, and send back word, so that a +plan of attack might be arranged before the Indian village was reached. + +This village the scouts discovered among the sand-hills at Summit +Springs, a few miles from the South Platte River; and while the Pawnees +remained to watch, Will returned to General Carr with the news. + +There was suppressed excitement all along the line, as officers and men +prepared for what promised to be a lively scrimmage. The troops moved +forward by a circuitous route, and reached a hill overlooking the +hostile camp without their presence being dreamed of by the red men. + +The bugler was ordered to sound the charge, but he was trembling with +excitement, and unable to blow a note. + +"Sound the charge, man!" ordered General Carr a second time; but +the unhappy wight could scarcely hold his horn, much less blow it. +Quartermaster Hays snatched the instrument from the flustered man's +hands, and as the call rang out loud and clear the troops rushed to the +attack. + +Taken wholly by surprise, the Indian village went to pieces in a +twinkling. A few of the Sioux mounted and rode forward to repel the +assault, but they turned back in half a minute, while those that were +not mounted scattered for the foothills hard by. The cavalry swept +through the village like a prairie fire, and pursued the flying Indians +until darkness put an end to the chase. + +By the next morning the bugler had grown calm enough to sound "Boots +and Saddles!" and General Carr split his force into companies, as it was +discovered that the Indians had divided. Each company was to follow a +separate trail. + +Will made one of a band of two hundred, and for two days they dogged +the red man's footsteps. At sunrise of the third day the trail ran into +another, showing that the Sioux had reunited their forces. This was +serious for the little company of regulars, but they went ahead, eager +for a meeting with the savages. + +They had not long to wait. The sun was scarcely an hour high when some +six hundred Sioux were espied riding in close ranks along the bank of +the Platte. The Indians discovered the troops at the same moment, and +at once gave battle. The Indian is not a coward, though he frequently +declines combat if the odds are not largely in his favor. + +In this engagement the Sioux outnumbered the soldiers three to one, +and the latter fell back slowly until they reached a ravine. Here they +tethered their horses and waited the course of Indian events, which, +as usual, came in circular form. The Sioux surrounded the regulars, and +finding them comparatively few in number, made a gallant charge. + +But bows and arrows are futile against powder and ball, and the warriors +reeled back from a scathing fire, leaving a score of their number dead. + +Another charge, another repulse; and then a council of war. This lasted +an hour, and evidently evolved a brilliant stratagem, for the Sioux +divided into two bands, and while one made a show of withdrawing, the +other circled around and around the position where the soldiers lay. + +At a point in this revolving belt of redskins rode a well-mounted, +handsome warrior, plainly a chief. It had been Will's experience that +to lay low a chief was half the battle when fighting Indians, but this +particular mogul kept just out of rifle-shot. There are, however, as +many ways of killing an Indian as of killing a cat; so Will crawled on +hands and knees along the ravine to a point which he thought would be +within range of the chief when next he swung around the circle. + +The calculation was close enough, and when the warrior came loping +along, slacking his pace to cross the ravine, Will rose and fired. + +It was a good four hundred yards, but the warrior pitched from his seat, +and his pony ran down the ravine into the ranks of the soldiers, who +were so elated over the success of the shot that they voted the animal +to Will as a trophy. + +The fallen warrior was Tall Bull, one of the ablest chiefs the Sioux +ever had. His death so disheartened his braves that they at once +retreated. + +A union of General Carr's scattered forces followed, and a few days +later an engagement took place in which three hundred warriors and a +large number of ponies were captured. Some white captives were released, +and several hundred squaws made prisoners. + +Among these latter was the amiable widow of Tall Bull, who, far from +cherishing animosity against Will as the slayer of her spouse, took +pride in the fact that he had fallen under the fire of so great a +warrior as "Pahaska," Long-haired Chief, by which name our scout was +known among the Indians. + + + +CHAPTER XIX. -- ARMY LIFE AT FORT M'PHERSON. + +IN the spring of 1870 Will proceeded to put into effect the +determination of the previous year--to establish a home in the lovely +country of the westerly Platte. After preparing quarters wherein his +family might be comfortable, he obtained a leave of absence and departed +for St. Louis to fetch his wife and daughter Arta, now a beautiful child +of three. + +The fame of "Buffalo Bill" had extended far beyond the plains, and +during his month's sojourn in St. Louis he was the object of a great +deal of attention. When the family prepared to depart for the frontier +home, my sister-in-law wrote to me to ask if I did not wish to accompany +them. I should have been delighted to accept the invitation, but at that +especial time there were strong attractions for me in my childhood's +home; besides, I felt that sister May, who had not enjoyed the pleasure +of the St. Louis trip, was entitled to the Western jaunt. + +So May made a visit to McPherson, and a delightful time she had, though +she was at first inclined to quarrel with the severe discipline of +army life. Will ranked with the officers, and as a result May's social +companions were limited to the two daughters of General Augur, who were +also on a visit to the fort. To compensate for the shortage of feminine +society, however, there were a number of young unmarried officers. + +Every day had its curious or enlivening incident, and May's letters +to me were filled with accounts of the gayety of life at an army post. +After several months I was invited to join her. She was enthusiastic +over a proposed buffalo-hunt, as she desired to take part in one before +her return to Leavenworth, and wished me to enjoy the sport with her. + +In accepting the invitation I fixed a certain day for my arrival at +McPherson, but I was delayed in my journey, and did not reach the fort +until three days after the date set. May was much disturbed. She had +allowed me three days for recuperation from the journey, and I had +arrived on the eve of the buffalo-hunt. Naturally, I was too fatigued +to rave over buffaloes, and I objected to joining the hunt; and I was +encouraged in my objecting by the discovery that my brother was away on +a scouting trip. + +"You don't think of going buffalo-hunting without Will, do you?" I asked +May. + +"Why," said she, "we can never tell when he will be in camp and when +away; he's off scouting nearly all the time. And we can't get up a +buffalo-hunt on five minutes' notice; we must plan ahead. Our party is +all ready to start, and there's a reporter here from an Omaha paper to +write it up. We can't put it off, and you must go." + +After that, of course, there was nothing more to be said, and when the +hunting-party set forth I made one of it. + +A gay party it was. For men, there were a number of officers, and the +newspaper man, Dr. Frank Powell, now of La Crosser for women, the wives +of two of the officers, the daughters of General Augur, May, and myself. +There was sunshine, laughter, and incessant chatter, and when one is +young and fond of horseback-riding, and a handsome young officer rides +by one's side, physical fatigue is apt to vanish for a time. + +The fort was soon nothing but a break in the sky-line, and with a +sense almost of awe I looked for the first time upon the great American +Desert. To our left, as we rode eastward, ran the swift and shallow +Platte, dotted with green-garbed islands. This river Washington Irving +called "the most magnificent and the most useless of streams" "The +islands," he wrote, "have the appearance of a labyrinth of groves +floating on the waters. Their extraordinary position gives an air +of youth and loveliness to the whole scene. If to this be added the +undulations of the river, the waving of the verdure, the alternations +of light and shade, and the purity of the atmosphere, some idea may +be formed of the pleasing sensations which the traveler experiences on +beholding a scene that seems to have started fresh from the hands of the +Creator." + +In sharp contrast was the sandy plain over which we rode. On this grew +the short, stubby buffalo-grass, the dust-colored sage-brush, and cactus +in rank profusion. Over to the right, perhaps a mile away, a long range +of foothills ran down to the horizon, with here and there the great +canons, through which entrance was effected to the upland country, each +canon bearing a historical or legendary name. + +To my eyes the picture was as beautiful as it was novel. As far as +one could see there was no sign of human habitation. It was one vast, +untenanted waste, with the touch of infinity the ocean wears. + +As we began to get into the foothills, one of our equestriennes narrowly +escaped a fall. Her horse dropped a foot into a prairie-dog's hole, and +came to an abrupt stop. The foot was extricated, and I was instructed in +the dangers that beset the prairie voyager in these blind traps of the +plain. + +The trail had been ascending at a gentle grade, and we had a slight +change of scene--desert hill instead of desert plain. The sand-hills +rose in tiers before us, and I was informed that they were formed ages +ago by the action of water. What was hard, dry ground to our horses' +hoofs was once the bottom of the sea. + +I was much interested in the geology of my environments; much more so +than I should have been had I been told that those strange, weird hills +were the haunt of the red man, who was on the war-path, and looking +constantly for scalps. But these unpleasant facts were not touched upon +by the officers, and in blissful ignorance we pursued the tenor of our +way. + +We were obliged to ride a great distance before we sighted any game, +and after twenty miles had been gone over, my temporarily forgotten +weariness began to reassert itself. Dr. Powell proposed that the ladies +should do the shooting, but my interest in the hunt had waned. It had +been several years since I had ridden a horse, and after the first few +miles I was not in a suitable frame of mind or body to enjoy the most +exciting hunt. + +A herd of buffaloes finally came into view, and the party was instantly +alive. One old bull was a little apart from the others of the herd, and +was singled out for the first attack. As we drew within range, a rifle +was given to May, with explicit directions as to its handling. The +buffalo has but one vulnerable spot, and it is next to impossible for +a novice to make a fatal shot. May fired, and perhaps her shot might be +called a good one, for the animal was struck: but it was only wounded +and infuriated, and dropping its shaggy head, it rushed toward us. The +officers fusilladed the mountain of flesh, succeeding only in rousing it +to added fury. Another rifle was handed to May, and Dr. Powell directed +its aim; but terrified by the near presence of the charging bull, May +discharged it at random. + +Although this is strictly a narrative of facts, exercising the privilege +of the novelist, we leave our present heroine in her perilous position, +and return, for a space, to the fort. + +Will returned from his scouting trip shortly after the departure of the +hunting party, and his first query was: + +"Is Nellie here?" + +"Come and gone," replied his wife; and she informed him of the manner +in which I had been carried off on the long-talked-of buffalo-hunt. +Whereupon Will gave way to one of his rare fits of passion. The scouting +trip had been long and arduous, he was tired and hungry, but also keenly +anxious for our safety. He knew what we were ignorant of--that should +we come clear of the not insignificant dangers attendant upon a +buffalo-hunt, there remained the possibility of capture by Indians. + +"I must go after them at once," said he; and off he went, without +thought of rest or food. He did take time, however, to visit the +officers' quarters and pour a vial of wrath upon the bewildered head of +the inferior who occupied the place of the absent commandant. + +"Didn't you know," cried Will, "that my continued absence meant danger +in the air? Fine idea, to let a party of ladies go beyond the fort on +such a foolhardy expedition before I had assured you it was safe to +do so! Understand, if any harm comes to my sisters, I'll hold the +government responsible!" + +With which tremendous threat he mounted the swiftest horse in camp and +rode away before the astonished officer had recovered from his surprise. + +He was able to track us over the sand-hills, and reached us, in accepted +hero fashion, in the very nick of time. The maddened bull buffalo was +charging on May, unchecked by a peppering fire from the guns of the +officers. All hands were so absorbed by the intense excitement of the +moment that the sound of approaching hoof-beats was unnoted. But I +heard, from behind us, the crack of a rifle, and saw the buffalo fall +dead almost at our feet. + +The ill-humor of our rescuer dampened the ardor of the welcome we gave +him. The long ride on an empty stomach had not smoothed a ripple of his +ruffled temper, and we were all properly lectured. We were ordered back +to the fort at once, and the command was of such a nature that no one +thought of disputing it. The only question was, whether we could make +the fort before being cut off by Indians. There was no time to be +wasted, even in cutting meat from the tongue of the fallen buffalo. Will +showed us the shortest cut for home, and himself zigzagged ahead of us, +on the watch for a danger signal. + +For my part, I was so worn out that I would as soon be captured by +Indians, if they would agree to provide me with a wigwam wherein I might +lie down and rest; but no Indians appeared. Five miles from the fort was +the ranch of a wealthy bachelor, and at May's request a halt was here +called. It was thought that the owner of the ranch might take pity upon +my deplorable condition, and provide some sort of vehicle to convey the +ladies the remainder of the journey. + +We were heartily welcomed, and our bachelor host made us extremely +comfortable in his cozy apartments, while he ordered supper for the +party. Will considered that we were within the safety zone, so he +continued on to the fort to obtain his postponed rest; and after supper +the ladies rode to the fort in a carriage. + +The next day's Omaha paper contained an account of the hunt from Dr. +Powell's graphic pen, and in it May Cody received all the glory of +the shot that laid the buffalo low. Newspaper men are usually ready to +sacrifice exact facts to an innate sense of the picturesque. + +At this time the fort was somewhat concerned over numerous petty crimes +among the civilians, and General Emory, now chief in authority at the +post, requested the county commissioners to appoint Will a justice of +the peace. This was done, much to the dismay of the new Justice, who, as +he phrased it, "knew no more of law than a mule knows of singing." But +he was compelled to bear the blushing honors thrust upon him, and his +sign was posted In a conspicuous place: + + -------------------------- | WILLIAM F. CODY, | + | JUSTICE OF THE PEACE. | + --------------------------*/ + + Almost the first thing he was called upon to do in his new + capacity was to perform a wedding ceremony. Cold sweat stood upon + his brow as he implored our aid in this desperate emergency. + The big law book with which he had been equipped at his + installation was ransacked in vain for the needed information. + The Bible was examined more diligently, perhaps, than it had + ever been by him before, but the Good Book was as unresponsive + as the legal tome. "Remember your own wedding ceremony," + was our advice "Follow that as nearly as possible." + But he shook his head despondently The cool-headed scout + and Indian fighter was dismayed, and the dignity of the law + trembled in the balance. + + To put an edge on the crisis, nearly the entire fort attended + the wedding. All is well, said we, as we watched the justice take + his place before the bridal pair with not a sign of trepidation. + At the outset his conducting of the ceremony was irreproachable, + and we were secretly congratulating ourselves upon his success, + when our ears were startled by the announcement: + + "Whom God and Buffalo Bill hath joined together, let no man + put asunder." + + So far as I am informed, no man has attempted it. + + Before May returned home, Will became the very proud father of + a son. + He had now three children, a second daughter, Orra, having + been born two + years before. The first boy of the family was the object of + the undivided + interest of the post for a time, and names by the dozen were + suggested. + Major North offered Kit Carson as an appropriate name for the + son of a great + scout and buffalo-hunter, and this was finally settled on. + + My first touch of real anxiety came with an order to Will + to report at headquarters for assignment to duty. + The country was alive with Indians, the officer in command + informed him, and this intelligence filled me with dread. + My sister-in-law had grown accustomed to her husband's excursions + into danger-land, and accepted such sallies as incidents of + his position. Later, I, too, learned this stoical philosophy, + but at first my anxiety was so keen that Will laughed at me. + + "Don't worry," said he; "the Indians won't visit the fort to-night. + There's no danger of them scalping you." + + "But," said I, "it is for you, not for myself, that I am afraid. + It is horrible to think of you going out alone among those + foothills, + which swarm with Indians." + + The fort was on the prairie, but the distant foothills + stretched away + interminably, and these furnished favorite lurking-places for + the redskins. + Will drew me to a window, and pointed out the third tier of hills, + some twelve or fifteen miles away. + + "I would advise you," said he, "to go to bed and sleep, + but if you insist on keeping awake and worrying, I will kindle + a blaze on top of that hill at midnight. Watch closely. + I can send up only one flash, for there will be Indian eyes + unclosed as well as yours." + + One may imagine with what a beating heart I stared into the + darkness + when the hour of twelve drew on. The night was a veil that hid + a thousand terrors, but a gauzy veil, to my excited fancy, + behind which passed a host of shadowy horsemen with uptossing + lances. + How could a man ride alone into such a gloomy, terror-haunted + domain? + The knights of old, who sallied forth in search of dismal ogres + and noxious dragons, were not of stouter heart, and they breasted + only fancied perils. + + Twelve o'clock! The night had a thousand eyes, but they did + not pierce + the darkness of the foothills. + + Ah! A thin ribbon of light curled upward for an instant, then + vanished. + Will was safe thus far. But there were many hours--and the + darkest--before the dawn, and I carried to my bed the + larger share of my forebodings. + + Next day the scout came home to report the exact location + of the hostile-Sioux. The troops, ready for instant action, + were hurled against them, and the Indians were thoroughly thrashed. + A large number of chiefs were captured, among them "Red Shirt," + an interesting redskin, who afterward traveled with the "Wild + West." + + Captive chiefs were always esteemed of great interest by the ladies + of the fort. To me the braves taken in the last raid were + remarkable + mainly for economy of apparel and sulkiness of demeanor. + + This same fall the fort was visited by a gentleman introduced as + Colonel Judson, though the public knows him better as "Ned + Buntline," + the story-writer. He desired to accompany the scouts on a certain + proposed trip, and Major Brown informed Will that the ulterior + motive + of the author was to project Buffalo Bill into a novel as hero. + + "Now, I'd look pretty in a novel, wouldn't I?" said Will, + sarcastically and blushingly. + + "Yes, I think you would," returned the major, eying the other's + splendid proportions critically. + + Whereupon the scout blushed again, and doffed his sombrero in + acknowledgment + of the compliment, for-- + + "'Tis pleasant, sure, to see one's name in print; + A book's a book, although there's nothing in't." + +A retired naval officer, Ned Buntline wore a black undress military +suit. His face was bronzed and rugged, determined yet kindly; he walked +with a slight limp, and carried a cane. He shook Will's hand cordially +when they were introduced, and expressed great pleasure in the meeting. +This was the genesis of a friendship destined to work great changes in +Buffalo Bill's career. + +During the scouting expedition that followed, the party chanced upon an +enormous bone, which the surgeon pronounced the femur of a human body. +Will understood the Indian tongues well enough to be in part possession +of their traditions, and he related the Sioux legend of the flood. + +It was taught by the wise men of this tribe that the earth was +originally peopled by giants, who were fully three times the size +of modern men. They were so swift and powerful that they could run +alongside a buffalo, take the animal under one arm, and tear off a leg, +and eat it as they ran. So vainglorious were they because of their own +size and strength that they denied the existence of a Creator. When it +lightened, they proclaimed their superiority to the lightning; when it +thundered, they laughed. + +This displeased the Great Spirit, and to rebuke their arrogance he sent +a great rain upon the earth. The valleys filled with water, and the +giants retreated to the hills. The water crept up the hills, and the +giants sought safety on the highest mountains. Still the rain continued, +the waters rose, and the giants, having no other refuge, were drowned. + +The Great Spirit profited by his former mistake. When the waters +subsided, he made a new race of men, but he made them smaller and less +strong. + +This tradition has been handed down from Sioux father to Sioux son since +earliest ages. It shows, at least, as the legends of all races do, that +the story of the Deluge is history common to all the world. + +Another interesting Indian tradition bears evidence of a later origin. +The Great Spirit, they say, once formed a man of clay, and he was placed +in the furnace to bake, but he was subjected to the heat too long a +time, and came out burnt. Of him came the negro race. At another trial +the Great Spirit feared the second clay man might also burn, and he was +not left in the furnace long enough. Of him came the paleface man. The +Great Spirit was now in a position to do perfect work, and the third +clay man was left in the furnace neither too long nor too short a time; +he emerged a masterpiece, the _ne plus ultra_ of creation--the noble red +man. + + + +CHAPTER XX. -- PA-HAS-KA, THE LONG-HAIRED CHIEF. + +ALTHOUGH the glory of killing the buffalo on our hunt was accredited to +sister May, to me the episode proved of much more moment. In the spring +of 1871 I was married to Mr. Jester, the bachelor ranchman at whose +place we had tarried on our hurried return to the fort. His house had a +rough exterior, but was substantial and commodious, and before I entered +it, a bride, it was refitted in a style almost luxurious. I returned to +Leavenworth to prepare for the wedding, which took place at the home of +an old friend, Thomas Plowman, his daughter Emma having been my chum in +girlhood. + +In our home near McPherson we were five miles "in the country." Nature +in primitive wildness encompassed us, but life's song never ran into a +monotone. The prairie is never dull when one watches it from day to day +for signs of Indians. Yet we were not especially concerned, as we were +near enough to the fort to reach it on short notice, and besides our +home there was another house where the ranchmen lived. With these I had +little to do. My especial factotum was a negro boy, whose chief duty was +to saddle my horse and bring it to the door, attend me upon my rides, +and minister to my comfort generally. Poor little chap! He was one of +the first of the Indians' victims. + +Early one morning John, as he was called, was sent out alone to look +after the cattle. During breakfast the clatter of hoofs was heard, and +Will rode up to inform us that the Indians were on the war-path and +massed in force just beyond our ranch. Back of Will were the troops, +and we were advised to ride at once to the fort. Hastily packing a few +valuables, we took refuge at McPherson, and remained there until the +troops returned with the news that all danger was over. + +Upon our return to the ranch we found that the cattle had been driven +away, and poor little John was picked up dead on the skirts of the +foothills. The redskins had apparently started to scalp him, but had +desisted. Perhaps they thought his wool would not make a desirable +trophy, perhaps they were frightened away. At all events, the poor +child's scalp was left to him, though the mark of the knife was plain. + +Shortly after this episode, some capitalists from the East visited +my husband. One of them, Mr. Bent, owned a large share in the +cattle-ranches. He desired to visit this ranch, and the whole party +planned a hunt at the same time. As there were no banking facilities on +the frontier, drafts or bills of exchange would have been of no use; +so the money designed for Western investment had been brought along in +cash. To carry this on the proposed trip was too great a risk, and I was +asked banteringly to act as banker. I consented readily, but imagine +my perturbation when twenty-five thousand dollars in bank-notes were +counted out and left in my care. I had never had the responsibility +of so large a sum of money before, and compared to me the man with +the elephant on his hands had a tranquil time of it. After considering +various methods for secreting the money, I decided for the hair mattress +on my bed. This I ripped open, inserted the envelope containing the +bank-notes, and sewed up the slit. No one was aware of my trust, and I +regarded it safe. + +A few mornings later I ordered my pony and rode away to visit my nearest +neighbor, a Mrs. Erickson, purposing later to ride to the fort and +spend the day with Lou, my sister-in-law. When I reached Mrs. Erickson's +house, that good woman came out in great excitement to greet me. + +"You must come right in, Mrs. Jester!" said she. "The foothills are +filled with Indians on the warpath." + +She handed me her field-glasses, and directed my gaze to the trail below +our ranch, over which buffaloes, cattle, and Indians passed down to the +Platte. I could plainly see the warriors tramping along Indian-file, +their head-feathers waving in the breeze and their blankets flapping +about them as they walked. Instantly the thought of the twenty-five +thousand dollars intrusted to my care flashed across my mind. + +"Oh, Mrs. Erickson," I exclaimed, "I must return to the ranch +immediately!" + +"You must not do so, Mrs. Jester; it's as much as your life is worth to +attempt it," said she. + +But I thought only of the money, and notwithstanding warning and +entreaty, mounted my horse and flew back on the homeward path, not even +daring to look once toward the foothills. When I reached the house, I +called to the overseer: + +"The Indians are on the war-path, and the foothills are full of them! +Have two or three men ready to escort me to the fort by the time I have +my valise packed." + +"Why, Mrs. Jester," was the reply, "there are no Indians in sight." + +"But there are," said I. "I saw them as plainly as I see you, and the +Ericksons saw them, too." + +"You have been the victim of a mirage," said the overseer. "Look! there +are no Indians now in view." + +I scanned the foothills closely, but there was no sign of a warrior. +With my field-glasses I searched the entire rim of the horizon; it was +tranquillity itself. I experienced a great relief, nevertheless. My +nerves were so shaken that I could not remain at home; so I packed a +valise, taking along the package of bank-notes, and visited another +neighbor, a Mrs. McDonald, a dear friend of many years' standing, who +lived nearer the fort. + +This excellent woman was an old resident of the frontier. After she had +heard my story, she related some of her own Indian experiences. When she +first settled in her present home, there was no fort to which she could +flee from Indian molestation, and she was often compelled to rely upon +her wits to extricate her from dangerous situations. The story that +especially impressed me was the following: + +"One evening when I was alone," said Mrs. McDonald, "I became conscious +that eyes were peering at me from the darkness outside my window. Flight +was impossible, and my husband would not likely reach home for an +hour or more. What should I do? A happy thought came to me. You know, +perhaps, that Indians, for some reason, have a strange fear of a drunken +woman, and will not molest one. I took from a closet a bottle filled +with a dark-colored liquid, poured out a glassful and drank it. In a few +minutes I repeated the dose, and then seemingly it began to take effect. +I would try to walk across the room, staggering and nearly falling. I +became uproariously 'happy.' I flung my arms above my head, lurched from +side to side, sang a maudlin song, and laughed loudly and foolishly. +The stratagem succeeded. One by one the shadowy faces at the window +disappeared, and by the time my husband and the men returned there was +not an Indian in the neighborhood. I became sober immediately. Molasses +and water is not a very intoxicating beverage." + +I plucked up courage to return to the ranch that evening, and shortly +afterward the hunting-party rode up. When I related the story of my +fright, Mr. Bent complimented me upon what he was pleased to call my +courage. + +"You are your brother's own sister," said he. "We'll make you banker +again." + +"Thank you, but I do not believe you will," said I. "I have had all the +experience I wish for in the banking business in this Indian country." + +Upon another occasion Indians were approaching the fort from the farther +side, but as we were not regarded as in danger, no warning was sent to +us. The troops sallied out after the redskins, and the cunning warriors +described a circle. To hide their trail they set fire to the prairie, +and the hills about us were soon ablaze. The flames spread swiftly, +and the smoke rolled upon us in suffocating volume. We retreated to the +river, and managed to exist by dashing water upon our faces. Here we +were found by soldiers sent from the fort to warn settlers of their +peril, and at their suggestion we returned to the ranch, saddled horses, +and rode through the dense smoke five miles to the fort. It was the most +unpleasant ride of my life. + +In the preceding chapter mention was made of the finding of a remarkable +bone. It became famous, and in the summer of 1871 Professor Marsh, of +Yale College, brought out a party of students to search for fossils. +They found a number, but were not rewarded by anything the most +credulous could torture into a human relic. + +This summer also witnessed an Indian campaign somewhat out of the common +in several of its details. More than one volume would be required +to record all the adventures Scout Cody had with the Children of the +Plains, most of which had so many points in common that it is necessary +to touch upon only those containing incidents out of the ordinary. + +An expedition, under command of General Duncan, was fitted out for the +Republican River country. Duncan was a jolly officer and a born fighter. +His brother officers had a story that once on a time he had been shot +in the head by a cannon-ball, and that while he was not hurt a particle, +the ball glanced off and killed one of the toughest mules in the army. + +Perhaps it was because the Pawnees spoke so little English, and spoke +that little so badly, that General Duncan insisted upon their repeating +the English call, which would be something like this: "Post Number One. +Nine o'clock. All's well." The Pawnee effort to obey was so ludicrous, +and provocative of such profanity (which they could express passing +well), that the order was countermanded. + +One afternoon Major North and Will rode ahead of the command to select +a site for the night's camp. They ran into a band of some fifty Indians, +and were obliged to take the back track as fast as their horses could +travel. Will's whip was shot from his hand and a hole put through his +hat. As they sighted the advance-guard of the command, Major North rode +around in a circle--a signal to the Pawnees that hostiles were near. +Instantly the Pawnees broke ranks and dashed pell-mell to the relief of +their white chief. The hostiles now took a turn at retreating, and kept +it up for several miles. + +The troops took up the trail on the following day, and a stern chase set +in. In passing through a deserted camp the troops found an aged squaw, +who had been left to die. The soldiers built a lodge for her, and she +was provided with sufficient rations to last her until she reached the +Indian heaven, the happy hunting-grounds. She was in no haste, however, +to get to her destination, and on their return the troops took her to +the fort with them. Later she was sent to the Spotted Tail agency. + +In September of 1871 General Sheridan and a party of friends arrived +at the post for a grand hunt. Between him and Will existed a warm +friendship, which continued to the close of the general's life. Great +preparations were made for the hunt. General Emory, now commander of the +fort, sent a troop of cavalry to meet the distinguished visitors at the +station and escort them to the fort. Besides General Sheridan, there +were in the party Leonard and Lawrence Jerome, Carroll Livingstone, +James Gordon Bennett, J. G. Heckscher, General Fitzhugh, Schuyler +Crosby, Dr. Asch, Mr. McCarthy, and other well-known men. When they +reached the post they found the regiment drawn up on dress parade; +the band struck up a martial air, the cavalry were reviewed by General +Sheridan, and the formalities of the occasion were regarded as over. + +It was Sheridan's request that Will should act as guide and scout for +the hunting-party. One hundred troopers under Major Brown were detailed +as escort, and the commissary department fairly bulged. Several +ambulances were also taken along, for the comfort of those who might +weary of the saddle. + +Game was abundant, and rare sport was had. Buffalo, elk, and deer were +everywhere, and to those of the party who were new to Western life the +prairie-dog villages were objects of much interest. These villages are +often of great extent. They are made up of countless burrows, and so +honeycombed is the country infested by the little animals that travel +after nightfall is perilous for horses. The dirt is heaped around the +entrance to the burrows a foot high, and here the prairie-dogs, who are +sociability itself, sit on their hind legs and gossip with one another. +Owls and rattlesnakes share the underground homes with the rightful +owners, and all get along together famously. + +When the hunting-party returned to McPherson its members voted Will a +veritable Nimrod--a mighty hunter, and he was abundantly thanked for his +masterly guidance of the expedition. + +That winter a still more distinguished party visited the post--the Grand +Duke Alexis and his friends. As many of my readers will recall, the +nobleman's visit aroused much enthusiasm in this country. The East had +wined and dined him to satiety, but wining and dining are common to all +nations, and the Grand Duke desired to see the wild life of America--the +Indian in his tepee and the prairie monarch in his domain, as well as +the hardy frontiersman, who feared neither savage warrior nor savage +beast. + +The Grand Duke had hunted big game in Eastern lands, and he was a +capital shot. General Sheridan engineered this expedition also, and, as +on the previous occasion, he relied upon Will to make it a success. The +latter received word to select a good camp on Red Willow Creek, where +game was plentiful, and to make all needed arrangements for the comfort +and entertainment of the noble party. A special feature suggested by +Sheridan for the amusement and instruction of the continental guests +was an Indian war-dance and Indian buffalo-hunt. To procure this +entertainment it was necessary to visit Spotted Tail, chief of the +Sioux, and persuade him to bring over a hundred warriors. At this time +there was peace between the Sioux and the government, and the dance idea +was feasible; nevertheless, a visit to the Sioux camp was not without +its dangers. Spotted Tail himself was seemingly sincere in a desire to +observe the terms of the ostensible peace between his people and the +authorities, but many of the other Indians would rather have had the +scalp of the Long-haired Chief than a century of peace. + +Will so timed his trip as to reach the Indian camp at dusk, and hitching +his horse in the timber, he wrapped his blanket closely about him, so +that in the gathering darkness he might easily pass for a warrior. Thus +invested, he entered the village, and proceeded to the lodge of Spotted +Tail. + +The conference with the distinguished redskin was made smooth sailing +by Agent Todd Randall, who happened to be on hand, and who acted as +interpreter. The old chief felt honored by the invitation extended to +him, and readily promised that in "ten sleeps" from that night he, with +a hundred warriors, would be present at the white man's camp, which was +to be pitched at the point where the government trail crossed Red Willow +Creek. + +As Spotted Tail did not repose a great amount of confidence in his +high-spirited young men, he kept Will in his own lodge through the +night. In the morning the chief assembled the camp, and presenting his +guest, asked if his warriors knew him. + +"It is Pa-has-ka, the Long-haired Chief!" they answered. + +Whereupon Spotted Tail informed them that he had eaten bread with the +Long-haired Chief, thus establishing a bond of friendship, against +violating which the warriors were properly warned. + +After that Will was entirely at his ease, although there were many +sullen faces about him. They had long yearned for his scalp, and it was +slightly irritating to find it so near and yet so far. + + + +CHAPTER XXI. -- THE HUNT OF THE GRAND DUKE ALEXIS. + +A SPECIAL train brought the Grand Duke Alexis and party to North Platte +on January 12, 1872. Will was presented to the illustrious visitor by +General Sheridan, and was much interested in him. He was also pleased to +note that General Custer made one of the party. + +Will had made all the arrangements, and had everything complete when the +train pulled in. As soon as the Grand Duke and party had breakfasted, +they filed out to get their horses or to find seats in the ambulances. +All who were mounted were arranged according to rank. Will had sent one +of his guides ahead, while he was to remain behind to see that nothing +was left undone. Just as they were to start, the conductor of the Grand +Duke's train came up to Will and said that Mr. Thompson had not received +a horse. "What Thompson?" asked Will. "Why, Mr. Frank Thompson, who has +charge of the Grand Duke's train." Will looked over the list of names +sent him by General Sheridan of those who would require saddle-horses, +but failed to find that of Mr. Thompson. However, he did not wish to +have Mr. Thompson or any one else left out. He had following him, as he +always did, his celebrated war-horse, "Buckskin Joe." This horse was not +a very prepossessing "insect." He was buckskin in color, and rather +a sorry-looking animal, but he was known all over the frontier as the +greatest long-distance and best buffalo-horse living. Will had never +allowed any one but himself to ride this horse, but as he had no +other there at the time, he got a saddle and bridle, had it put on old +Buckskin Joe, and told Mr. Thompson he could ride him until he got +where he could get him another. This horse looked so different from +the beautiful animals the rest of the party were supplied with that Mr. +Thompson thought it rather discourteous to mount him in such fashion. +However, he got on, and Will told him to follow up, as he wanted to go +ahead to where the general was. As Mr. Thompson rode past the wagons and +ambulances he noticed the teamsters pointing at him, and thinking the +men were guying him, rode up to one of them, and said, "Am I not riding +this horse all right?" Mr. Thompson felt some personal pride in his +horsemanship, as he was a Pennsylvania fox-hunter. + +The driver replied, "Yes, sir; you ride all right." + +"Well, then," said Thompson, "it must be this horse you are guying." + +The teamster replied: + +"Guying that horse? Not in a thousand years!" + +"Well, then, why am I such a conspicuous object?" + +"Why, sir, are you not the king?" + +"The king? Why did you take me for the king?" + +"Because you are riding that horse. I guess you don't know what horse +you are riding, do you? Nobody gets to ride that horse but Buffalo Bill. +So when we all saw you riding him we supposed that of course you were +the king, for that horse, sir, is Buckskin Joe." + +Thompson had heard General Sheridan telling about Buckskin Joe on the +way out, and how Buffalo Bill had once run him eighty miles when the +Indians were after him. Thompson told Will afterward that he grew about +four feet when he found out that he was riding that most celebrated +horse of the plains. He at once galloped ahead to overtake Will and +thank him most heartily for allowing him the honor of such a mount. Will +told him that he was going to let the Grand Duke kill his first buffalo +on Buckskin Joe. "Well," replied Thompson, "I want to ask one favor +of you. Let me also kill a buffalo on this horse." Will replied that +nothing would afford him greater pleasure. Buckskin Joe was covered with +glory on this memorable hunt, as both the Grand Duke of Russia and Mr. +Frank Thompson, later president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, killed +their first buffalo mounted on his back, and my brother ascribes to old +Joe the acquisition of Mr. Frank Thompson's name to his list of life +friendships. This hunt was an unqualified success, nothing occurring to +mar one day of it. + +Spotted Tail was true to his promise. He and his hundred braves were +on hand, shining in the full glory of war paint and feathers, and the +war-dance they performed was of extraordinary interest to the Grand Duke +and his friends. The outlandish contortions and grimaces of the Indians, +their leaps and crouchings, their fiendish yells and whoops, made up a +barbaric jangle of picture and sound not soon to be forgotten. To the +European visitors the scene was picturesque rather than ghastly, but +it was not a pleasing spectacle to the old Indian fighters looking on. +There were too many suggestions of bloodshed and massacre in the past, +and of bloodshed and massacre yet to come. + +The Indian buffalo-hunt followed the Terpsichorean revelry, and all +could enjoy the skill and strength displayed by the red huntsmen. One +warrior, Two-Lance by name, performed a feat that no other living Indian +could do; he sent an arrow entirely through the body of a bull running +at full speed. + +General Sheridan desired that the Grand Duke should carry away with +him a knowledge of every phase of life on the frontier, and when the +visitors were ready to drive to the railroad station, Will was requested +to illustrate, for their edification, the manner in which a stagecoach +and six were driven over the Rocky Mountains. + +Will was delighted at the idea; so was Alexis at the outset, as he had +little idea of what was in store for him. The Grand Duke and the general +were seated in a closed carriage drawn by six horses, and were cautioned +to fasten their hats securely on their heads, and to hang onto the +carriage; then Will climbed to the driver's seat. + +"Just imagine," said he to his passengers, "that fifty Indians are +after us." And off went the horses, with a jump that nearly spilled the +occupants of the coach into the road. + +The three miles to the station were covered in just ten minutes, and the +Grand Duke had the ride of his life. The carriage tossed like a ship in +a gale, and no crew ever clung to a life-line with more desperate grip +than did Will's passengers to their seats. Had the fifty Indians of the +driver's fancy been whooping behind, he would not have plied the whip +more industriously, or been deafer to the groans and ejaculations of +his fares. When the carriage finally drew up with another teeth-shaking +jerk, and Will, sombrero in hand, opened the coach door to inquire of +his Highness how he had enjoyed the ride, the Grand Duke replied, with +suspicious enthusiasm: + +"I would not have missed it for a large sum of money; but rather than +repeat it, I would return to Russia via Alaska, swim Bering Strait, and +finish my journey on one of your government mules." + +This ride completed a trip which the noble party pronounced satisfactory +in every detail. The Grand Duke invited Will into his private car, where +he received the thanks of the company for his zeal and skill as pilot +of a hunting-party. He was also invited by Alexis to visit him at his +palace should he ever make a journey to Russia, and was, moreover, the +recipient of a number of valuable souvenirs. + +At that time Will had very little thought of crossing the seas, but he +did decide to visit the East, whither he had more than once journeyed in +fancy. The Indians were comparatively quiet, and he readily obtained a +leave of absence. + +The first stopping-place was Chicago, where he was entertained by +General Sheridan; thence he went to New York, to be kindly received by +James Gordon Bennett, Leonard and Lawrence Jerome, J. G. Heckscher, and +others, who, it will be recalled, were members of the hunting-party +of the preceding year. Ned Buntline also rendered his sojourn in +the metropolis pleasant in many ways. The author had carried out his +intention of writing a story of Western life with Scout Cody for the +hero, and the result, having been dramatized, was doing a flourishing +business at one of the great city's theaters. Will made one of a party +that attended a performance of the play one evening, and it was shortly +whispered about the house that "Buffalo Bill" himself was in the +audience. It is customary to call for the author of a play, and no doubt +the author of this play had been summoned before the footlights in due +course, but on this night the audience demanded the hero. To respond to +the call was an ordeal for which Will was unprepared; but there was no +getting out of it, and he faced a storm of applause. The manager of the +performance, enterprising like all of his profession, offered Will +five hundred dollars a week to remain in New York and play the part of +"Buffalo Bill," but the offer was declined with thanks. + +During his stay in the city Will was made the guest of honor at sundry +luncheons and dinners given by his wealthy entertainers. He found +considerable trouble in keeping his appointments at first, but soon +caught on to the to him unreasonable hours at which New Yorkers dined, +supped, and breakfasted. The sense of his social obligations lay so +heavily on his mind that he resolved to balance accounts with a dinner +at which he should be the host. An inventory of cash on hand discovered +the sum of fifty dollars that might be devoted to playing Lucullus. +Surely that would more than pay for all that ten or a dozen men could +eat at one meal. "However," he said to himself, "I don't care if it +takes the whole fifty. It's all in a lifetime, anyway." + +In all confidence he hied him to Delmonico's, at which famous restaurant +he had incurred a large share of his social obligations. He ordered the +finest dinner that could be prepared for a party of twelve, and set as +date the night preceding his departure for the West. The guests were +invited with genuine Western hospitality. His friends had been kind to +him, and he desired to show them that a man of the West could not only +appreciate such things, but return them. + +The dinner was a thorough success. Not an invited guest was absent. +The conversation sparkled. Quip and repartee shot across the "festive +board," and all went merry as a dinner-bell. The host was satisfied, and +proud withal. The next morning he approached Delmonico's cashier with an +air of reckless prodigality. + +"My bill, please," said he, and when he got it, he looked hard at it for +several minutes. It dawned on him gradually that his fifty dollars would +about pay for one plate. As he confided to us afterward, that little +slip of paper frightened him more than could the prospect of a combat +single-handed with a whole tribe of Sioux Indians. + +Unsophisticated Will! There was, as he discovered, a wonderful +difference between a dinner at Delmonico's and a dinner on the plains. +For the one, the four corners of the earth are drawn upon to provide +the bill of fare; for the other, all one needs is an ounce of lead and a +charge of powder, a bundle of fagots and a match. + +But it would never do to permit the restaurant cashier to suspect that +the royal entertainer of the night before was astonished at his bill; so +he requested that the account be forwarded to his hotel, and sought the +open air, where he might breathe more freely. + +There was but one man in New York to whom he felt he could turn in +his dilemma, and that was Ned Buntline. One who could invent plots for +stories, and extricate his characters from all sorts of embarrassing +situations, should be able to invent a method of escape from so +comparatively simple a perplexity as a tavern bill. Will's confidence +in the wits of his friend was not unfounded. His first great financial +panic was safely weathered, but how it was done I do not know to this +day. + +One of Will's main reasons for visiting the East was to look up our only +living relatives on mother's side--Colonel Henry R. Guss and family, +of Westchester, Pennsylvania. Mother's sister, who had married this +gentleman, was not living, and we had never met him or any of his +family. Ned Buntline accompanied Will on his trip to Westchester. + +To those who have passed through the experience of waiting in a strange +drawing-room for the coming of relatives one has never seen, and of +whose personality one has but the vaguest idea, there is the uncertainty +of the reception. Will it be frank and hearty, or reserved and doubtful? +During the few minutes succeeding the giving of his and Buntline's cards +to the servant, Will rather wished that the elegant reception-room might +be metamorphosed into the Western prairie. But presently the entrance to +the parlor was brightened by the loveliest girl he had ever looked upon, +and following her walked a courtly, elegant gentleman. These were +Cousin Lizzie and Uncle Henry. There was no doubt of the quality of the +welcome; it was most cordial, and Will enjoyed a delightful visit with +his relatives. For his cousin he conceived an instant affection. +The love he had held for his mother--the purest and strongest of his +affections--became the heritage of this beautiful girl. + + + +CHAPTER XXII. -- THEATRICAL EXPERIENCES. + +THE Fifth Cavalry at Fort McPherson had been ordered to Arizona, and was +replaced by the Third Cavalry under command of General Reynolds. Upon +Will's return to McPherson he was at once obliged to take the field +to look for Indians that had raided the station during his absence +and carried off a considerable number of horses. Captain Meinhold and +Lieutenant Lawson commanded the company dispatched to recover the stolen +property. Will acted as guide, and had as an assistant T. B. Omohundro, +better known by his frontier name of "Texas Jack." + +Will was not long in finding Indian tracks, and accompanied by six men, +he went forward to locate the redskin camp. They had proceeded but a +short distance when they sighted a small party of Indians, with horses +grazing. There were just thirteen Indians--an unlucky number--and Will +feared that they might discover the scouting party should it attempt +to return to the main command. He had but to question his companions +to find them ready to follow wheresoever he might lead, and they moved +cautiously toward the Indian camp. + +At the proper moment the seven rushed upon the unsuspecting warriors, +who sprang for their horses and gave battle. But the rattle of the +rifles brought Captain Meinhold to the scene, and when the Indians saw +the reinforcements coming up they turned and fled. Six of their number +were dead on the plain, and nearly all of the stolen horses were +recovered. One soldier was killed, and this was one of the few occasions +when Will received a wound. + +And now once more was the versatile plainsman called upon to enact a new +role. Returning from a long scout in the fall of 1872, he found that his +friends had made him a candidate for the Nebraska legislature from the +twenty-sixth district. He had never thought seriously of politics, +and had a well-defined doubt of his fitness as a law-maker. He made +no campaign, but was elected by a flattering majority. He was now +privileged to prefix the title "Honorable" to his name, and later this +was supplanted by "Colonel"--a title won in the Nebraska National Guard, +and which he claims is much better suited to his attainments. + +Will, unlike his father, had no taste for politics or for political +honors. I recall one answer--so characteristic of the man--to some +friends who were urging him to enter the political arena. "No," said he, +"politics are by far too deep for me. I think I can hold my own in any +fair and no foul fight; but politics seem to me all foul and no fair. +I thank you, my friends, but I must decline to set out on this trail, +which I know has more cactus burs to the square inch than any I ever +followed on the plains." + +Meantime Ned Buntline had been nurturing an ambitious project. He had +been much impressed by the fine appearance made by Will in the New York +theater, and was confident that a fortune awaited the scout if he would +consent to enter the theatrical profession. He conceived the idea of +writing a drama entitled "The Scout of the Plains," in which Will was +to assume the title role and shine as a star of the first magnitude. The +bait he dangled was that the play should be made up entirely of frontier +scenes, which would not only entertain the public, but instruct it. + +The bait was nibbled at, and finally swallowed, but there was a proviso +that Wild Bill and Texas Jack must first be won over to act as "pards" +in the enterprise. He telegraphed his two friends that he needed their +aid in an important business matter, and went to Chicago to meet them. +He was well assured that if he had given them an inkling of the nature +of the "business matter," neither would put in an appearance; but he +relied on Ned Buntline's persuasive powers, which were well developed. + +There had never been a time when Wild Bill and Texas Jack declined +to follow Will's lead, and on a certain morning the trio presented +themselves at the Palmer House in Chicago for an interview with Colonel +Judson. + +The author could scarcely restrain his delight. All three of the scouts +were men of fine physique and dashing appearance. It was very possible +that they had one or two things to learn about acting, but their +inexperience would be more than balanced by their reputation and +personal appearance, and the knowledge that they were enacting on the +stage mock scenes of what to them had oft been stern reality. + +"Don't shoot, pards!" began Will, when the conference opened. "I +guess, Judson," he continued, after vainly trying to find a diplomatic +explanation, "you'd better tell them what we want." + +Buntline opened with enthusiasm, but he did not kindle Wild Bill +and Texas Jack, who looked as if they might at any moment grab their +sombreros and stampede for the frontier. Will turned the scale. + +"We're bound to make a fortune at it," said he. "Try it for a while, +anyway." + +The upshot of a long discussion was that the scouts gave a reluctant +consent to a much-dreaded venture. Will made one stipulation. + +"If the Indians get on the rampage," said he, "we must be allowed leave +of absence to go back and settle them." + +"All right, boys," said Buntline; "that shall be put in the contract. +And if you're called back into the army to fight redskins, I'll go with +you." + +This reply established the author firmly in the esteem of the scouts. +The play was written in four hours (most playwrights allow themselves +at least a week), and the actor-scouts received their "parts." Buntline +engaged a company to support the stellar trio, and the play was widely +advertised. + +When the critical "first night" arrived, none of the scouts knew a line +of his part, but each had acquired all the varieties of stage fright +known to the profession. Buntline had hinted to them the possibility of +something of the sort, but they had not realized to what a condition +of abject dismay a man may be reduced by the sight of a few hundred +inoffensive people in front of a theater curtain. It would have done +them no good to have told them (as is the truth) that many experienced +actors have touches of stage fright, as well as the unfortunate novice. +All three declared that they would rather face a band of war-painted +Indians, or undertake to check a herd of stampeding buffaloes, than +face the peaceful-looking audience that was waiting to criticise their +Thespian efforts. + +Like almost all amateurs, they insisted on peering through the +peep-holes in the curtain, which augmented their nervousness, and if the +persuasive Colonel Judson had not been at their elbows, reminding them +that he, also, was to take part in the play, it is more than likely +they would have slipped quietly out at the stage door and bought railway +passage to the West. + +Presently the curtain rolled up, and the audience applauded +encouragingly as three quaking six-footers, clad in buckskin, made their +first bow before the footlights. + +I have said that Will did not know a line of his part, nor did he when +the time to make his opening speech arrived. It had been faithfully +memorized, but oozed from his mind like the courage from Bob Acres's +finger-tips. "Evidently," thought Buntline, who was on the stage with +him, "he needs time to recover." So he asked carelessly: + +"What have you been about lately, Bill?" + +This gave "The Scout of the Plains" an inspiration. In glancing over +the audience, he had recognized in one of the boxes a wealthy gentleman +named Milligan, whom he had once guided on a big hunt near McPherson. +The expedition had been written up by the Chicago papers, and the +incidents of it were well known. + +"I've been out on a hunt with Milligan," replied Will, and the house +came down. Milligan was quite popular, but had been the butt of +innumerable jokes because of his alleged scare over the Indians. The +applause and laughter that greeted the sally stocked the scout with +confidence, but confidence is of no use if one has forgotten his part. +It became manifest to the playwright-actor that he would have to prepare +another play in place of the one he had expected to perform, and that he +must prepare it on the spot. + +"Tell us about it, Bill," said he, and the prompter groaned. + +One of the pleasures of frontier life consists in telling stories around +the camp-fire. A man who ranks as a good frontiersman is pretty sure +to be a good raconteur. Will was at ease immediately, and proceeded +to relate the story of Milligan's hunt in his own words. That it was +amusing was attested by the frequent rounds of applause. The prompter, +with a commendable desire to get things running smoothly, tried again +and again to give Will his cue, but even cues had been forgotten. + +The dialogue of that performance must have been delightfully absurd. +Neither Texas Jack nor Wild Bill was able to utter a line of his part +during the entire evening. In the Indian scenes, however, they scored +a great success; here was work that did not need to be painfully +memorized, and the mock red men were slain at an astonishing rate. + +Financially the play proved all that its projectors could ask for. +Artistically--well, the critics had a great deal of fun with the hapless +dramatist. The professionals in the company had played their parts +acceptably, and, oddly enough, the scouts were let down gently in the +criticisms; but the critics had no means of knowing that the stars of +the piece had provided their own dialogue, and poor Ned Buntline was +plastered with ridicule. It had got out that the play was written +in four hours, and in mentioning this fact, one paper wondered, with +delicate sarcasm, what the dramatist had been doing all that time. +Buntline had played the part of "Gale Durg," who met death in the second +act, and a second paper, commenting on this, suggested that it would +have been a happy consummation had the death occurred before the play +was written. A third critic pronounced it a drama that might be begun +in the middle and played both ways, or played backward, quite as well as +the way in which it had been written. + +However, nothing succeeds like success. A number of managers offered +to take hold of the company, and others asked for entrance to the +enterprise as partners. Ned Buntline took his medicine from the critics +with a smiling face, for "let him laugh who wins." + +The scouts soon got over their stage fright, in the course of time were +able to remember their parts, and did fully their share toward making +the play as much of a success artistically as it was financially. From +Chicago the company went to St. Louis, thence to Cincinnati and other +large cities, and everywhere drew large and appreciative houses. + +When the season closed, in Boston, and Will had made his preparations +to return to Nebraska, an English gentleman named Medley, presented +himself, with a request that the scout act as guide on a big hunt and +camping trip through Western territory. The pay offered was liberal--a +thousand dollars a month and expenses--and Will accepted the offer. +He spent that summer in his old occupation, and the ensuing winter +continued his tour as a star of the drama. Wild Bill and Texas Jack +consented again to "support" him, but the second season proved too much +for the patience of the former, and he attempted to break through the +contract he had signed for the season. The manager, of course, refused +to release him, but Wild Bill conceived the notion that under certain +circumstances the company would be glad to get rid of him. + +That night he put his plan into execution by discharging his blank +cartridges so near the legs of the dead Indians on the stage that +the startled "supers" came to life with more realistic yells than had +accompanied their deaths. This was a bit of "business" not called for +in the play-book, and while the audience was vastly entertained, the +management withheld its approval. + +Will was delegated to expostulate with the reckless Indian-slayer; but +Wild Bill remarked calmly that he "hadn't hurt the fellows any," and he +continued to indulge in his innocent pastime. + +Severe measures were next resorted to. He was informed that he must stop +shooting the Indians after they were dead, or leave the company. This +was what Wild Bill had hoped for, and when the curtain went up on the +next performance he was to be seen in the audience, enjoying the play +for the first time since he had been mixed up with it. + +Will sympathized with his former "support," but he had a duty to +perform, and faithfully endeavored to persuade the recreant actor to +return to the company. Persuasion went for nothing, so the contract was +annulled, and Wild Bill returned to his beloved plains. + +The next season Will removed his family to Rochester, and organized a +theatrical company of his own. There was too much artificiality about +stage life to suit one that had been accustomed to stern reality, and he +sought to do away with this as much as possible by introducing into +his own company a band of real Indians. The season of 1875-76 opened +brilliantly; the company played to crowded houses, and Will made a large +financial success. + +One night in April, when the season was nearing its close, a telegram +was handed to him, just as he was about to step upon the stage. It was +from his wife, and summoned him to Rochester, to the bedside of his only +son, Kit Carson Cody. He consulted with his manager, and it was arranged +that after the first act he should be excused, that he might catch the +train. + +That first act was a miserable experience, though the audience did not +suspect that the actor's heart was almost stopped by fear and anxiety. +He caught his train, and the manager, John Burke, an actor of much +experience, played out the part. + +It was, too, a miserable ride to Rochester, filled up with the gloomiest +of forebodings, heightened by memories of every incident in the precious +little life now in danger. + +Kit was a handsome child, with striking features and curly hair. His +mother always dressed him in the finest clothes, and tempted by these +combined attractions, gypsies had carried him away the previous summer. +But Kit was the son of a scout, and his young eyes were sharp. He marked +the trail followed by his captors, and at the first opportunity gave +them the slip and got safely home, exclaiming as he toddled into the +sobbing family circle, "I tumed back adain, mama; don't cry." Despite +his anxiety, Will smiled at the recollection of the season when his +little son had been a regular visitor at the theater. The little fellow +knew that the most important feature of a dramatic performance, from a +management's point of view, is a large audience. He watched the seats +fill in keen anxiety, and the moment the curtain rose and his father +appeared on the stage, he would make a trumpet of his little hands, and +shout from his box, "Good house, papa!" The audience learned to +expect and enjoy this bit of by-play between father and son. His duty +performed, Kit settled himself in his seat, and gave himself up to +undisturbed enjoyment of the play. + +When Will reached Rochester he found his son still alive, though beyond +the reach of medical aid. He was burning up with fever, but still +conscious, and the little arms were joyfully lifted to clasp around his +father's neck. He lingered during the next day and into the night, but +the end came, and Will faced a great sorrow of his life. He had built +fond hopes for his son, and in a breath they had been swept away. His +boyhood musings over the prophecy of the fortune-teller had taken a turn +when his own boy was born. It might be Kit's destiny to become President +of the United States; it was not his own. Now, hope and fear had +vanished together, the fabric of the dream had dissolved, and left "not +a rack behind." + +Little Kit was laid to rest in Mount Hope Cemetery, April 24, 1876. He +is not dead, but sleeping; not lost, but gone before. He has joined the +innumerable company of the white-souled throng in the regions of the +blest. He has gone to aid my mother in her mission unfulfilled--that of +turning heavenward the eyes of those that loved them so dearly here on +earth. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. -- THE GOVERNMENT'S INDIAN POLICY. + +VERY glad was the sad-hearted father that the theatrical season was so +nearly over. The mummeries of stage life were more distasteful to him +than ever when he returned to his company with his crushing grief fresh +upon him. He played nightly to crowded houses, but it was plain that his +heart was not in his work. A letter from Colonel Mills, informing him +that his services were needed in the army, came as a welcome relief. +He canceled his few remaining dates, and disbanded his company with a +substantial remuneration. + +This was the spring of the Centennial year. It has also been called the +"Custer year," for during that summer the gallant general and his heroic +Three Hundred fell in their unequal contest with Sitting Bull and his +warriors. + +Sitting Bull was one of the ablest chiefs and fighters the Sioux nation +ever produced. He got his name from the fact that once when he had shot +a buffalo he sprang astride of it to skin it, and the wounded bull rose +on its haunches with the Indian on its back. He combined native Indian +cunning with the strategy and finesse needed to make a great general, +and his ability as a leader was conceded alike by red and white man. A +dangerous man at best, the wrongs his people had suffered roused all his +Indian cruelty, vindictiveness, hatred, and thirst for revenge. + +The Sioux war of 1876 had its origin, like most of its predecessors +and successors, in an act of injustice on the part of the United States +government and a violation of treaty rights. + +In 1868 a treaty had been made with the Sioux, by which the Black Hills +country was reserved for their exclusive use, no settling by white men +to be allowed. In 1874 gold was discovered, and the usual gold fever +was followed by a rush of whites into the Indian country. The Sioux +naturally resented the intrusion, and instead of attempting to placate +them, to the end that the treaty might be revised, the government sent +General Custer into the Black Hills with instructions to intimidate +the Indians into submission. But Custer was too wise, too familiar with +Indian nature, to adhere to his instructions to the letter. Under cover +of a flag of truce a council was arranged. At this gathering coffee, +sugar, and bacon were distributed among the Indians, and along with +those commodities Custer handed around some advice. This was to the +effect that it would be to the advantage of the Sioux if they permitted +the miners to occupy the gold country. The coffee, sugar, and bacon were +accepted thankfully by Lo, but no nation, tribe, or individual since +the world began has ever welcomed advice. It was thrown away on Lo. +He received it with such an air of indifference and in such a stoical +silence that General Custer had no hope his mission had succeeded. + +In 1875 General Crook was sent into the Hills to make a farcical +demonstration of the government's desire to maintain good faith, but no +one was deceived, the Indians least of all. In August Custer City was +laid out, and in two weeks its population numbered six hundred. General +Crook drove out the inhabitants, and as he marched triumphantly out of +one end of the village the people marched in again at the other. + +The result of this continued bad faith was inevitable; everywhere the +Sioux rose in arms. Strange as it might seem to one who has not followed +the government's remarkable Indian policy, it had dispensed firearms +to the Indians with a generous hand. The government's Indian policy, +condensed, was to stock the red man with rifles and cartridges, and then +provide him with a first-class reason for using them against the whites. +During May, June, and July of that year the Sioux had received 1,120 +Remington and Winchester rifles and 13,000 rounds of patent ammunition. +During that year they received several thousand stands of arms and more +than a million rounds of ammunition, and for three years before that +they had been regularly supplied with weapons. The Sioux uprising of +1876 was expensive for the government. One does not have to go far to +find the explanation. + +Will expected to join General Crook, but on reaching Chicago he found +that General Carr was still in command of the Fifth Cavalry, and +had sent a request that Will return to his old regiment. Carr was at +Cheyenne; thither Will hastened at once. He was met at the station +by Captain Charles King, the well-known author, and later serving as +brigadier-general at Manila, then adjutant of the regiment. As the pair +rode into camp the cry went up, "Here comes Buffalo Bill!" Three ringing +cheers expressed the delight of the troopers over his return to his old +command, and Will was equally delighted to meet his quondam companions. +He was appointed guide and chief of scouts, and the regiment proceeded +to Laramie. From there they were ordered into the Black Hills country, +and Colonel Merritt replaced General Carr. + +The incidents of Custer's fight and fall are so well known that it is +not necessary to repeat them here. It was a better fight than the famous +charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava, for not one of the three +hundred came forth from the "jaws of death." As at Balaklava, "some +one had blundered," not once, but many times, and Custer's command +discharged the entire debt with their lifeblood. + +When the news of the tragedy reached the main army, preparations +were made to move against the Indians in force. The Fifth Cavalry was +instructed to cut off, if possible, eight hundred Cheyenne warriors +on their way to join the Sioux, and Colonel Wesley Merritt, with five +hundred men, hastened to Hat, or War-Bonnet, Creek, purposing to reach +the trail before the Indians could do so. The creek was reached on the +17th of July, and at daylight the following morning Will rode forth to +ascertain whether the Cheyennes had crossed the trail. They had not, but +that very day the scout discerned the warriors coming up from the south. + +Colonel Merritt ordered his men to mount their horses, but to remain out +of sight, while he, with his adjutant, Charles King, accompanied Will +on a tour of observation. The Cheyennes came directly toward the troops, +and presently fifteen or twenty of them dashed off to the west along the +trail the army had followed the night before. Through his glass Colonel +Merritt remarked two soldiers on the trail, doubtless couriers with +dispatches, and these the Indians manifestly designed to cut off. Will +suggested that it would be well to wait until the warriors were on the +point of charging the couriers, when, if the colonel were willing, he +would take a party of picked men and cut off the hostile delegation from +the main body, which was just coming over the divide. + +The colonel acquiesced, and Will, galloping back to camp, returned with +fifteen men. The couriers were some four hundred yards away, and their +Indian pursuers two hundred behind them. Colonel Merritt gave the word +to charge, and Will and his men skurried toward the redskins. + +In the skirmish that ensued three Indians were killed. The rest started +for the main band of warriors, who had halted to watch the fight, but +they were so hotly pursued by the soldiers that they turned at a point +half a mile distant from Colonel Merritt, and another skirmish took +place. + +Here something a little out of the usual occurred--a challenge to a +duel. A warrior, whose decorations and war-bonnet proclaimed him a +chief, rode out in front of his men, and called out in his own tongue, +which Will could understand: + +"I know you, Pa-has-ka! Come and fight me, if you want to fight!" + +Will rode forward fifty yards, and the warrior advanced a like distance. +The two rifles spoke, and the Indian's horse fell; but at the same +moment Will's horse stumbled into a gopher-hole and threw its rider. +Both duelists were instantly on their feet, confronting each other +across a space of not more than twenty paces. They fired again +simultaneously, and though Will was unhurt, the Indian fell dead. + +The duel over, some two hundred warriors dashed up to recover the +chieftain's body and to avenge his death. It was now Colonel Merritt's +turn to move. He dispatched a company of soldiers to Will's aid, and +then ordered the whole regiment to the charge. As the soldiers advanced, +Will swung the Indian's topknot and war-bonnet which he had secured, and +shouted, "The first scalp for Custer!" + +The Indians made a stubborn resistance, but as they found this useless, +began a retreat toward Red Cloud agency, whence they had come. The +retreat continued for thirty-five miles, the troops following into the +agency. The fighting blood of the Fifth was at fever heat, and they were +ready to encounter the thousands of warriors at the agency should they +exhibit a desire for battle. But they manifested no such desire. + +Will learned that the name of the chief he had killed that morning was +"Yellow Hand." He was the son of "Cut Nose," a leading spirit among the +Cheyennes. This old chieftain offered Will four mules if he would return +the war-bonnet and accouterments worn by the young warrior and captured +in the fight, but Will did not grant the request, much as he pitied Cut +Nose in his grief. + +The Fifth Cavalry on the following morning started on its march to join +General Crook's command in the Big Horn Mountains. The two commands +united forces on the 3d of August, and marched to the confluence of +the Powder River with the Yellowstone. Here General Miles met them, to +report that no Indians had crossed the stream. + +No other fight occurred; but Will made himself useful in his capacity of +scout. There were many long, hard rides, carrying dispatches that no one +else would volunteer to bear. When he was assured that the fighting was +all over, he took passage, in September, on the steamer "Far West," and +sailed down the Missouri. + +People in the Eastern States were wonderfully interested in the stirring +events on the frontier, and Will conceived the idea of putting the +incidents of the Sioux war upon the stage. Upon his return to Rochester +he had a play written for his purpose, organized a company, and opened +his season. Previously he had paid a flying visit to Red Cloud agency, +and induced a number of Sioux Indians to take part in his drama. + +The red men had no such painful experience as Wild Bill and Texas Jack. +All they were expected to do in the way of acting was what came natural +to them. Their part was to introduce a bit of "local color," to give +a war-dance, take part in a skirmish, or exhibit themselves in some +typical Indian fashion. + +At the close of this season Will bought a large tract of land near North +Platte, and started a cattle-ranch. He already owned one some distance +to the northward, in partnership with Major North, the leader of the +Pawnee scouts. Their friendship had strengthened since their first +meeting, ten years before. + +In this new ranch Will takes great pride. He has added to its area until +it now covers seven thousand acres, and he has developed its resources +to the utmost. Twenty-five hundred acres are devoted to alfalfa and +twenty-five hundred sown to corn. One of the features of interest +to visitors is a wooded park, containing a number of deer and young +buffaloes. Near the park is a beautiful lake. In the center of the broad +tract of land stands the picturesque building known as "Scout's Rest +Ranch," which, seen from the foothills, has the appearance of an old +castle. + +The ranch is one of the most beautiful spots that one can imagine, and +is, besides, an object-lesson in the value of scientific investigation +and experiment joined with persistence and perseverance. When Will +bought the property he was an enthusiastic believer in the possibilities +of Nebraska development. His brother-in-law, Mr. Goodman, was put in +charge of the place. + +The whole Platte Valley formed part of the district once miscalled the +Great American Desert. It was an idea commonly accepted, but, as the +sequel proved, erroneous, that lack of moisture was the cause of lack of +vegetation. An irrigating ditch was constructed on the ranch, trees were +planted, and it was hoped that with such an abundance of moisture +they would spring up like weeds. Vain hope! There was "water, water +everywhere," but not a tree would grow. + +Will visited his old Kansas home, and the sight of tall and stately +trees filled him with a desire to transport some of this beauty to his +Nebraska ranch. + +"I'd give five hundred dollars," said he, "for every tree I had like +that in Nebraska!" + +Impressed by the proprietor's enthusiasm for arboreal development, Mr. +Goodman began investigation and experiment. It took him but a short time +to acquire a knowledge of the deficiencies of the soil, and this done, +the bigger half of the problem was solved. + +Indian legend tells us that this part of our country was once an inland +sea. There is authority for the statement that to-day it is a vast +subterranean reservoir, and the conditions warrant the assertion. The +soil in all the region has a depth only of from one to three feet, while +underlying the shallow arable deposit is one immense bedrock, varying +in thickness, the average being from three to six feet. Everywhere water +may be tapped by digging through the thin soil and boring through the +rock formation. The country gained its reputation as a desert, not +from lack of moisture, but from lack of soil. In the pockets of the +foothills, where a greater depth of soil had accumulated from the +washings of the slopes above, beautiful little groves of trees might +be found, and the islands of the Platte River were heavily wooded. +Everywhere else was a treeless waste. + +The philosophy of the transformation from sea to plain is not fully +understood. The most tenable theory yet advanced is that the bedrock +is an alkaline deposit, left by the waters in a gradually widening and +deepening margin. On this the prairie wind sifted its accumulation of +dust, and the rain washed down its quota from the bank above. In the +slow process of countless years the rock formation extended over the +whole sea; the alluvial deposit deepened; seeds lodged in it, and the +buffalo-grass and sage-brush began to grow, their yearly decay adding to +the ever-thickening layer of soil. + +Having learned the secret of the earth, Mr. Goodman devoted himself to +the study of the trees. He investigated those varieties having lateral +roots, to determine which would flourish best in a shallow soil. He +experimented, he failed, and he tried again. All things come round to +him who will but work. Many experiments succeeded the first, and many +failures followed in their train. But at last, like Archimedes, he could +cry "Eureka! I have found it!" In a very short time he had the ranch +charmingly laid out with rows of cottonwoods, box-elder, and other +members of the tree family. The ranch looked like an oasis in the +desert, and neighbors inquired into the secret of the magic that had +worked so marvelous a transformation. The streets of North Platte are +now beautiful with trees, and adjoining farms grow many more. It +is "Scout's Rest Ranch," however, that is pointed out with pride to +travelers on the Union Pacific Railroad. + +Mindful of his resolve to one day have a residence in North Platte, Will +purchased the site on which his first residence was erected. His family +had sojourned in Rochester for several years, and when they returned to +the West the new home was built according to the wishes and under the +supervision of the wife and mother. To the dwelling was given the name +"Welcome Wigwam." + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. -- LITERARY WORK. + +IT was during this period of his life that my brother's first literary +venture was made. As the reader has seen, his school-days were few in +number, and as he told Mr. Majors, in signing his first contract with +him, he could use a rifle better than a pen. A life of constant +action on the frontier does not leave a man much time for acquiring an +education; so it is no great wonder that the first sketch Will wrote for +publication was destitute of punctuation and short of capitals in many +places. His attention was directed to these shortcomings, but Western +life had cultivated a disdain for petty things. + +"Life is too short," said he, "to make big letters when small ones will +do; and as for punctuation, if my readers don't know enough to take +their breath without those little marks, they'll have to lose it, that's +all." + +But in spite of his jesting, it was characteristic of him that when +he undertook anything he wished to do it well. He now had leisure for +study, and he used it to such good advantage that he was soon able +to send to the publishers a clean manuscript, grammatical, and well +spelled, capitalized, and punctuated. The publishers appreciated the +improvement, though they had sought after his work in its crude state, +and paid good prices for it. + +Our author would never consent to write anything except actual scenes +from border life. As a sop to the Cerberus of sensationalism, he did +occasionally condescend to heighten his effects by exaggeration. In +sending one story to the publisher he wrote: + +"I am sorry to have to lie so outrageously in this yarn. My hero has +killed more Indians on one war-trail than I have killed in all my life. +But I understand this is what is expected in border tales. If you think +the revolver and bowie-knife are used too freely, you may cut out a +fatal shot or stab wherever you deem it wise." + +Even this story, which one accustomed to border life confessed to be +exaggerated, fell far short of the sensational and blood-curdling tales +usually written, and was published exactly as the author wrote it. + +During the summer of 1877 I paid a visit to our relatives in +Westchester, Pennsylvania. My husband had lost all his wealth before his +death, and I was obliged to rely upon my brother for support. To meet +a widespread demand, Will this summer wrote his autobiography. It was +published at Hartford, Connecticut, and I, anxious to do something +for myself, took the general agency of the book for the state of Ohio, +spending a part of the summer there in pushing its sale. But I soon +tired of a business life, and turning over the agency to other hands, +went from Cleveland to visit Will at his new home in North Platte, where +there were a number of other guests at the time. + +Besides his cattle-ranch in the vicinity of North Platte, Will had +another ranch on the Dismal River, sixty-five miles north, touching the +Dakota line. One day he remarked to us: + +"I'm sorry to leave you to your own resources for a few days, but I must +take a run up to my ranch on Dismal River." + +Not since our early Kansas trip had I had an experience in camping out, +and in those days I was almost too young to appreciate it; but it had +left me with a keen desire to try it again. + +"Let us all go with you, Will," I exclaimed. "We can camp out on the +road." + +Our friends added their approval, and Will fell in with the suggestion +at once. + +"There's no reason why you can't go if you wish to," said he. Will owned +numerous conveyances, and was able to provide ways and means to carry us +all comfortably. Lou and the two little girls, Arta and Orra, rode in +an open phaeton. There were covered carriages, surreys, and a variety of +turn-outs to transport the invited guests. Several prominent citizens of +North Platte were invited to join the party, and when our arrangements +were completed we numbered twenty-five. + +Will took a caterer along, and made ample provisions for the inner man +and woman. We knew, from long experience, that a camping trip without an +abundance of food is rather a dreary affair. + +All of us except Will were out for pleasure solely, and we found time to +enjoy ourselves even during the first day's ride of twenty-five miles. +As we looked around at the new and wild scenes while the tents were +pitched for the night, Will led the ladies of the party to a tree, +saying: + +"You are the first white women whose feet have trod this region. Carve +your names here, and celebrate the event." + +After a good night's rest and a bounteous breakfast, we set out in high +spirits, and were soon far out in the foothills. + +One who has never seen these peculiar formations can have but little +idea of them. On every side, as far as the eye can see, undulations +of earth stretch away like the waves of the ocean, and on them no +vegetation flourishes save buffalo-grass, sage-brush, and the cactus, +blooming but thorny. + +The second day I rode horseback, in company with Will and one or two +others of the party, over a constant succession of hill and vale; +we mounted an elevation and descended its farther side, only to be +confronted by another hill. The horseback party was somewhat in advance +of those in carriages. + +From the top of one hill Will scanned the country with his field-glass, +and remarked that some deer were headed our way, and that we should have +fresh venison for dinner. He directed us to ride down into the valley +and tarry there, so that we might not startle the timid animals, while +he continued part way up the hill and halted in position to get a good +shot at the first one that came over the knoll. A fawn presently bounded +into view, and Will brought his rifle to his shoulder; but much to our +surprise, instead of firing, dropped the weapon to his side. Another +fawn passed him before he fired, and as the little creature fell we rode +up to Will and began chaffing him unmercifully, one gentleman remarking: + +"It is difficult to believe we are in the presence of the crack shot of +America, when we see him allow two deer to pass by before he brings one +down." + +But to the laughing and chaffing Will answered not a word, and recalling +the childish story I had heard of his buck fever, I wondered if, at this +late date, it were possible for him to have another attack of that kind. +The deer was handed over to the commissary department, and we rode on. + +"Will, what was the matter with you just now?" I asked him, privately. +"Why didn't you shoot that first deer; did you have another attack like +you had when you were a little boy?" + +He rode along in silence for a few moments, and then turned to me with +the query: + +"Did you ever look into a deer's eyes?" And as I replied that I had not, +he continued: + +"Every one has his little weakness; mine is a deer's eye. I don't want +you to say anything about it to your friends, for they would laugh more +than ever, but the fact is I have never yet been able to shoot a deer if +it looked me in the eye. With a buffalo, or a bear, or an Indian, it is +different. But a deer has the eye of a trusting child, soft, gentle, and +confiding. No one but a brute could shoot a deer if he caught that look. +The first that came over the knoll looked straight at me; I let it go +by, and did not look at the second until I was sure it had passed me." + +He seemed somewhat ashamed of his soft-heartedness; yet to me it was +but one of many little incidents that revealed a side of his nature the +rough life of the frontier had not corrupted. + +Will expected to reach the Dismal River on the third day, and at noon +of it he remarked that he had better ride ahead and give notice of our +coming, for the man who looked after the ranch had his wife with him, +and she would likely be dismayed at the thought of preparing supper for +so large a crowd on a minute's notice. + +Sister Julia's son, Will Goodman, a lad of fifteen, was of our party, +and he offered to be the courier. + +"Are you sure you know the way?" asked his uncle. + +"Oh, yes," was the confident response; "you know I have been over the +road with you before, and I know just how to go." + +"Well, tell me how you would go." + +Young Will described the trail so accurately that his uncle concluded +it would be safe for him to undertake the trip, and the lad rode ahead, +happy and important. + +It was late in the afternoon when we reached the ranch; and the greeting +of the overseer was: + +"Well, well; what's all this?" + +"Didn't you know we were coming?" asked Will, quickly. "Hasn't Will +Goodman been here?" The ranchman shook his head. + +"Haven't seen him, sir," he replied, "since he was here with you +before." + +"Well, he'll be along," said Will, quietly; but I detected a ring +of anxiety in his voice. "Go into the house and make yourselves +comfortable," he added. "It will be some time before a meal can be +prepared for such a supper party." We entered the house, but he remained +outside, and mounting the stile that served as a gate, examined the +nearer hills with his glass. There was no sign of Will, Jr.; so the +ranchman was directed to dispatch five or six men in as many directions +to search for the boy, and as they hastened away on their mission Will +remained on the stile, running his fingers every few minutes through the +hair over his forehead--a characteristic action with him when worried. +Thinking I might reassure him, I came out and chided him gently for what +I was pleased to regard as his needless anxiety. It was impossible for +Willie to lose his way very long, I explained, without knowing anything +about my subject. "See how far you can look over these hills. It is not +as if he were in the woods," said I. + +Will looked at me steadily and pityingly for a moment. "Go back in the +house, Nell," said he, with a touch of impatience; "you don't know what +you are talking about." + +That was true enough, but when I returned obediently to the house I +repeated my opinion that worry over the absent boy was needless, for it +would be difficult, I declared, for one to lose himself where the +range of vision was so extensive as it was from the top of one of these +foothills. + +"But suppose," said one of the party, "that you were in the valley +behind one of the foothills--what then?" + +This led to an animated discussion as to the danger of getting lost in +this long-range locality, and in the midst of it Will walked in, his +equanimity quite restored. + +"It's all right," said he; "I can see the youngster coming along." + +We flocked to the stile, and discovered a moving speck in the distance. +Looked at through the field-glasses, it proved to be the belated +courier. Then we appealed to Will to settle the question that had been +under discussion. + +"Ladies and gentlemen," he answered, impressively, "if one of you were +lost among these foothills, and a whole regiment started out in search +of you, the chances are ten to one that you would starve to death, to +say the least, before you could be found." + +To find the way with ease and locate the trail unerringly over an +endless and monotonous succession of hills identical in appearance is an +ability the Indian possesses, but few are the white men that can imitate +the aborigine. I learned afterward that it was accounted one of Will's +great accomplishments as a scout that he was perfectly at home among the +frozen waves of the prairie ocean. + +When the laggard arrived, and was pressed for particulars, he declared +he had traveled eight or ten miles when he found that he was off the +trail. "I thought I was lost," said he; "but after considering the +matter I decided that I had one chance--that was to go back over my own +tracks. The marks of my horse's hoofs led me out on the main trail, and +your tracks were so fresh that I had no further trouble." + +"Pretty good," said Will, patting the boy's shoulder. "Pretty good. You +have some of the Cody blood in you, that's plain." + +The next day was passed in looking over the ranch, and the day following +we visited, at Will's solicitation, a spot that he had named "The Garden +of the Gods." Our thoughtful host had sent ranchmen ahead to prepare the +place for our reception, and we were as surprised and delighted as he +could desire. A patch on the river's brink was filled with tall and +stately trees and luxuriant shrubs, laden with fruits and flowers, while +birds of every hue nested and sang about us. It was a miniature +paradise in the midst of a desert of sage-brush and buffalo-grass. The +interspaces of the grove were covered with rich green grass, and in one +of these nature-carpeted nooks the workmen, under Will's direction, +had put up an arbor, with rustic seats and table. Herein we ate our +luncheon, and every sense was pleasured. + +As it was not likely that the women of the party would ever see the +place again, so remote was it from civilization, belonging to the as yet +uninhabited part of the Western plains, we decided to explore it, in +the hope of finding something that would serve as a souvenir. We had +not gone far when we found ourselves out of Eden and in the desert that +surrounded it, but it was the desert that held our great discovery. On +an isolated elevation stood a lone, tall tree, in the topmost branches +of which reposed what seemed to be a large package. As soon as our +imaginations got fairly to work the package became the hidden treasure +of some prairie bandit, and while two of the party returned for our +masculine forces the rest of us kept guard over the cachet in the +treetop. Will came up with the others, and when we pointed out to +him the supposed chest of gold he smiled, saying that he was sorry to +dissipate the hopes which the ladies had built in the tree, but that +they were not gazing upon anything of intrinsic value, but on the +open sepulcher of some departed brave. "It is a wonder," he remarked, +laughingly, "you women didn't catch on to the skeleton in that closet." + +As we retraced our steps, somewhat crestfallen, we listened to the tale +of another of the red man's superstitions. + +When some great chief, who particularly distinguishes himself on the +war-path, loses his life on the battle-field without losing his scalp, +he is regarded as especially favored by the Great Spirit. A more exalted +sepulcher than mother earth is deemed fitting for such a warrior. +Accordingly he is wrapped in his blanket-shroud, and, in his war paint +and feathers and with his weapons by his side, he is placed in the top +of the highest tree in the neighborhood, the spot thenceforth being +sacred against intrusion for a certain number of moons. At the end of +that period messengers are dispatched to ascertain if the remains have +been disturbed. If they have not, the departed is esteemed a spirit +chief, who, in the happy hunting-grounds, intercedes for and leads on to +sure victory the warriors who trusted to his leadership in the material +world. + +We bade a reluctant adieu to the idyllic retreat, and threw it many +a backward glance as we took our way over the desert that stretched +between us and the ranch. Here another night was passed, and then we +set out for home. The brief sojourn "near to Nature's heart" had been a +delightful experience, holding for many of us the charm of novelty, and +for all recreation and pleasant comradeship. + +With the opening of the theatrical season Will returned to the stage, +and his histrionic career continued for five years longer. As an actor +he achieved a certain kind of success. He played in every large city of +the United States, always to crowded houses, and was everywhere received +with enthusiasm. There was no doubt of his financial success, whatever +criticisms might be passed on the artistic side of his performance. It +was his personality and reputation that interested his audiences. They +did not expect the art of Sir Henry Irving, and you may be sure that +they did not receive it. + +Will never enjoyed this part of his career; he endured it simply because +it was the means to an end. He had not forgotten his boyish dream--his +resolve that he would one day present to the world an exhibition that +would give a realistic picture of life in the Far West, depicting its +dangers and privations, as well as its picturesque phases. His first +theatrical season had shown him how favorably such an exhibition would +be received, and his long-cherished ambition began to take shape. He +knew that an enormous amount of money would be needed, and to acquire +such a sum he lived for many years behind the footlights. + +I was present in a Leavenworth theater during one of his last +performances--one in which he played the part of a loving swain to a +would-be charming lassie. When the curtain fell on the last act I went +behind the scenes, in company with a party of friends, and congratulated +the star upon his excellent acting. + +"Oh, Nellie," he groaned, "don't say anything about it. If heaven will +forgive me this foolishness, I promise to quit it forever when this +season is over." + +That was the way he felt about the stage, so far as his part in it was +concerned. He was a fish out of water The feeble pretensions to a stern +reality, and the mock dangers exploited, could not but fail to seem +trivial to one who had lived the very scenes depicted. + + + +CHAPTER XXV. -- FIRST VISIT TO THE VALLEY OF THE BIG HORN. + +MY brother was again bereaved in 1880 by the death of his little +daughter Orra. At her own request, Orra's body was interred in +Rochester, in beautiful Mount Hope Cemetery, by the side of little Kit +Carson. + +But joy follows upon sadness, and the summer before Will spent his last +season on the stage was a memorable one for him. It marked the birth +of another daughter, who was christened Irma. This daughter is the very +apple of her father's eye; to her he gives the affection that is her +due, and round her clings the halo of the tender memories of the other +two that have departed this life. + +This year, 1882, was also the one in which Will paid his first visit to +the valley of the Big Horn. He had often traversed the outskirts of +that region, and heard incredible tales from Indians and trappers of its +wonders and beauties, but he had yet to explore it himself. In his early +experience as Pony Express rider, California Joe had related to him the +first story he had heard of the enchanted basin, and in 1875, when +he was in charge of a large body of Arapahoe Indians that had been +permitted to leave their reservation for a big hunt, he obtained more +details. + +The agent warned Will that some of the Indians were dissatisfied, and +might attempt to escape, but to all appearances, though he watched them +sharply, they were entirely content. Game was plentiful, the weather +fine, and nothing seemed omitted from the red man's happiness. + +One night about twelve o'clock Will was aroused by an Indian guide, who +informed him that a party of some two hundred Arapahoes had started away +some two hours before, and were on a journey northward. The red man does +not wear his heart upon his sleeve for government daws to peck at. +One knows what he proposes to do after he has done it. The red man is +conspicuously among the things that are not always what they seem. + +Pursuit was immediately set on foot, and the entire body of truant +warriors were brought back without bloodshed. One of them, a young +warrior, came to Will's tent to beg for tobacco. The Indian--as all know +who have made his acquaintance--has no difficulty in reconciling +begging with his native dignity. To work may be beneath him, to beg is a +different matter, and there is frequently a delightful hauteur about his +mendicancy. In this respect he is not unlike some of his white brothers. +Will gave the young chief the desired tobacco, and then questioned him +closely concerning the attempted escape. + +"Surely," said he, "you cannot find a more beautiful spot than this. The +streams are full of fish, the grazing is good, the game is plentiful, +and the weather is fine. What more could you desire?" + +The Indian drew himself up. His face grew eager, and his eyes were full +of longing as he answered, by the interpreter: + +"The land to the north and west is the land of plenty. There the buffalo +grows larger; and his coat is darker. There the bu-yu (antelope) comes +in droves, while here there are but few. There the whole region is +covered with the short, curly grass our ponies like. There grow the wild +plums that are good for my people in summer and winter. There are the +springs of the Great Medicine Man, Tel-ya-ki-y. To bathe in them gives +new life; to drink them cures every bodily ill. + +"In the mountains beyond the river of the blue water there is gold and +silver, the metals that the white man loves. There lives the eagle, +whose feathers the Indian must have to make his war-bonnet. There, too, +the sun shines always. + +"It is the Ijis (heaven) of the red man. My heart cries for it. The +hearts of my people are not happy when away from the Eithity Tugala." + +The Indian folded his arms across his breast, and his eyes looked +yearningly toward the country whose delights he had so vividly pictured; +then he turned and walked sorrowfully away. The white man's government +shut him out from the possession of his earthly paradise. Will learned +upon further inquiry that Eithity Tugala was the Indian name of the Big +Horn Basin. + +In the summer of 1882 Will's party of exploration left the cars at +Cheyenne, and struck out from this point with horses and pack-mules. +Will's eyes becoming inflamed, he was obliged to bandage them, and turn +the guidance of the party over to a man known as "Ready." For days he +traveled in a blinded state, and though his eyes slowly bettered, he did +not remove the bandage until the Big Horn Basin was reached. They had +paused for the midday siesta, and Reddy inquired whether it would not be +safe to uncover the afflicted eyes, adding that he thought Will "would +enjoy looking around a bit." + +Off came the bandage, and I shall quote Will's own words to describe the +scene that met his delighted gaze: + +"To my right stretched a towering range of snow-capped mountains, broken +here and there into minarets, obelisks, and spires. Between me and this +range of lofty peaks a long irregular line of stately cottonwoods told +me a stream wound its way beneath. The rainbow-tinted carpet under me +was formed of innumerable brilliant-hued wild flowers; it spread about +me in every direction, and sloped gracefully to the stream. Game of +every kind played on the turf, and bright-hued birds flitted over it. +It was a scene no mortal can satisfactorily describe. At such a moment a +man, no matter what his creed, sees the hand of the mighty Maker of +the universe majestically displayed in the beauty of nature; he becomes +sensibly conscious, too, of his own littleness. I uttered no word for +very awe; I looked upon one of nature's masterpieces. + +"Instantly my heart went out to my sorrowful Arapahoe friend of 1875. He +had not exaggerated; he had scarcely done the scene justice. He spoke of +it as the Ijis, the heaven of the red man. I regarded it then, and still +regard it, as the Mecca of all appreciative humanity." + +To the west of the Big Horn Basin, Hart Mountain rises abruptly from +the Shoshone River. It is covered with grassy slopes and deep ravines; +perpendicular rocks of every hue rise in various places and are fringed +with evergreens. Beyond this mountain, in the distance, towers the hoary +head of Table Mountain. Five miles to the southwest the mountains recede +some distance from the river, and from its bank Castle Rock rises in +solitary grandeur. As its name indicates, it has the appearance of a +castle, with towers, turrets, bastions, and balconies. + +Grand as is the western view, the chief beauty lies in the south. Here +the Carter Mountain lies along the entire distance, and the grassy +spaces on its side furnish pasturage for the deer, antelope, and +mountain sheep that abound in this favored region. Fine timber, too, +grows on its rugged slopes; jagged, picturesque rock-forms are seen in +all directions, and numerous cold springs send up their welcome nectar. + +It is among the foothills nestling at the base of this mountain that +Will has chosen the site of his future permanent residence. Here there +are many little lakes, two of which are named Irma and Arta, in honor +of his daughters. Here he owns a ranch of forty thousand acres, but the +home proper will comprise a tract of four hundred and eighty acres. The +two lakes referred to are in this tract, and near them Will proposes to +erect a palatial residence. To him, as he has said, it is the Mecca +of earth, and thither he hastens the moment he is free from duty and +obligation. In that enchanted region he forgets for a little season the +cares and responsibilities of life. + +A curious legend is told of one of the lakes that lie on the border of +this valley. It is small--half a mile long and a quarter wide--but its +depth is fathomless. It is bordered and shadowed by tall and stately +pines, quaking-asp and birch trees, and its waters are pure and ice-cold +the year round. They are medicinal, too, and as yet almost unknown to +white men. Will heard the legend of the lake from the lips of an old +Cheyenne warrior. + +"It was the custom of my tribe," said the Indian, "to assemble around +this lake once every month, at the hour of midnight, when the moon is +at its full. Soon after midnight a canoe filled with the specters of +departed Cheyenne warriors shot out from the eastern side of the +lake and crossed rapidly to the western border; there it suddenly +disappeared. + +"Never a word or sound escaped from the specters in the canoe. They sat +rigid and silent, and swiftly plied their oars. All attempts to get a +word from them were in vain. + +"So plainly were the canoe and its occupants seen that the features of +the warriors were readily distinguished, and relatives and friends were +recognized." + +For years, according to the legend, the regular monthly trip was made, +and always from the eastern to the western border of the lake. In 1876 +it suddenly ceased, and the Indians were much alarmed. A party of them +camped on the bank of the lake, and watchers were appointed for every +night. It was fancied that the ghostly boatmen had changed the date +of their excursion. But in three months there was no sign of canoe or +canoeists, and this was regarded as an omen of evil. + +At a council of the medicine men, chiefs, and wiseacres of the tribe +it was decided that the canoeing trip had been a signal from the Great +Spirit--the canoe had proceeded from east to west, the course always +followed by the red man. The specters had been sent from the Happy +Hunting-Grounds to indicate that the tribe should move farther west, and +the sudden disappearance of the monthly signal was augured to mean the +extinction of the race. + +Once when Will was standing on the border of this lake a Sioux warrior +came up to him. This man was unusually intelligent, and desired that +his children should be educated. He sent his two sons to Carlisle, and +himself took great pains to learn the white man's religious beliefs, +though he still clung to his old savage customs and superstitions. A +short time before he talked with Will large companies of Indians +had made pilgrimages to join one large conclave, for the purpose +of celebrating the Messiah, or "Ghost Dance." Like all religious +celebrations among savage people, it was accompanied by the grossest +excesses and most revolting immoralities. As it was not known what +serious happening these large gatherings might portend, the President, +at the request of many people, sent troops to disperse the Indians. The +Indians resisted, and blood was spilled, among the slain being the sons +of the Indian who stood by the side of the haunted lake. + +"It is written in the Great Book of the white man," said the old chief +to Will, "that the Great Spirit--the Nan-tan-in-chor--is to come to +him again on earth. The white men in the big villages go to their +council-lodges (churches) and talk about the time of his coming. Some +say one time, some say another, but they all know the time will come, +for it is written in the Great Book. It is the great and good among the +white men that go to these council-lodges, and those that do not go say, +'It is well; we believe as they believe; He will come.' It is written in +the Great Book of the white man that all the human beings on earth are +the children of the one Great Spirit. He provides and cares for them. +All he asks in return is that his children obey him, that they be good +to one another, that they judge not one another, and that they do not +kill or steal. Have I spoken truly the words of the white man's Book?" + +Will bowed his head, somewhat surprised at the tone of the old chief's +conversation. The other continued: + +"The red man, too, has a Great Book. You have never seen it; no white +man has ever seen it; it is hidden here." He pressed his hand against +his heart. "The teachings of the two books are the same. What the Great +Spirit says to the white man, the Nan-tan-in-chor says to the red man. +We, too, go to our council-lodges to talk of the second coming. We +have our ceremony, as the white man has his. The white man is solemn, +sorrowful; the red man is happy and glad. We dance and are joyful, and +the white man sends soldiers to shoot us down. Does their Great Spirit +tell them to do this? + +"In the big city (Washington) where I have been, there is another big +book (the Federal Constitution), which says the white man shall not +interfere with the religious liberty of another. And yet they come out +to our country and kill us when we show our joy to Nan-tan-in-chor. + +"We rejoice over his second coming; the white man mourns, but he sends +his soldiers to kill us in our rejoicing. Bah! The white man is false. I +return to my people, and to the customs and habits of my forefathers. I +am an Indian!" + +The old chief strode away with the dignity of a red Caesar, and Will, +alone by the lake, reflected that every question has two sides to it. +The one the red man has held in the case of the commonwealth versus the +Indian has ever been the tragic side. + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. -- TOUR OF GREAT BRITAIN. + +IT was not until the spring of 1883 that Will was able to put into +execution his long-cherished plan--to present to the public an +exhibition which should delineate in throbbing and realistic color, not +only the wild life of America, but the actual history of the West, as it +was lived for, fought for, died for, by Indians, pioneers, and soldiers. + +The wigwam village; the Indian war-dance; the chant to the Great Spirit +as it was sung over the plains; the rise and fall of the famous tribes; +the "Forward, march!" of soldiers, and the building of frontier posts; +the life of scouts and trappers; the hunt of the buffalo; the coming +of the first settlers; their slow, perilous progress in the prairie +schooners over the vast and desolate plains; the period of the Deadwood +stage and the Pony Express; the making of homes in the face of fire and +Indian massacre; United States cavalry on the firing-line, "Death to +the Sioux!"--these are the great historic pictures of the Wild West, +stirring, genuine, heroic. + +It was a magnificent plan on a magnificent scale, and it achieved +instant success. The adventurous phases of Western life never fail to +quicken the pulse of the East. + +An exhibition which embodied so much of the historic and picturesque, +which resurrected a whole half-century of dead and dying events, events +the most thrilling and dramatic in American history, naturally stirred +up the interest of the entire country. The actors, too, were historic +characters--no weakling imitators, but men of sand and grit, who had +lived every inch of the life they pictured. + +The first presentation was given in May, 1883, at Omaha, Nebraska, the +state Will had chosen for his home. Since then it has visited nearly +every large city on the civilized globe, and has been viewed by +countless thousands--men, women, and children of every nationality. It +will long hold a place in history. + +The "grand entrance" alone has never failed to chain the interest of the +onlooker. The furious galloping of the Indian braves--Sioux, Arapahoe, +Brule, and Cheyenne, all in war paint and feathers; the free dash of the +Mexicans and cowboys, as they follow the Indians into line at break-neck +speed; the black-bearded Cossacks of the Czar's light cavalry; the +Riffian Arabs on their desert thoroughbreds; a cohort from the "Queen's +Own" Lancers; troopers from the German Emperor's bodyguard; chasseurs +and cuirassiers from the crack cavalry regiments of European standing +armies; detachments from the United States cavalry and artillery; +South American gauchos; Cuban veterans; Porto Ricans; Hawaiians; again +frontiersmen, rough riders, Texas rangers--all plunging with dash and +spirit into the open, each company followed by its chieftain and its +flag; forming into a solid square, tremulous with color; then a quicker +note to the music; the galloping hoofs of another horse, the finest of +them all, and "Buffalo Bill," riding with the wonderful ease and stately +grace which only he who is "born to the saddle" can ever attain, enters +under the flash of the lime-light, and sweeping off his sombrero, holds +his head high, and with a ring of pride in his voice, advances before +his great audience and exclaims: + +"Ladies and gentlemen, permit me to introduce to you a congress of the +rough riders of the world." + +As a child I wept over his disregard of the larger sphere predicted +by the soothsayer; as a woman, I rejoice that he was true to his own +ideals, for he sits his horse with a natural grace much better suited to +the saddle than to the Presidential chair. + +From the very beginning the "Wild West" was an immense success. +Three years were spent in traveling over the United States; then Will +conceived the idea of visiting England, and exhibiting to the mother +race the wild side of the child's life. This plan entailed enormous +expense, but it was carried out successfully. + +Still true to the state of his adoption, Will chartered the steamer +"State of Nebraska," and on March 31, 1886 a living freight from the +picturesque New World began its voyage to the Old. + +At Gravesend, England, the first sight to meet the eyes of the watchers +on the steamer was a tug flying American colors. Three ringing cheers +saluted the beautiful emblem, and the band on the tug responded with +"The Star-Spangled Banner." Not to be outdone, the cowboy band on +the "State of Nebraska" struck up "Yankee Doodle." The tug had been +chartered by a company of Englishmen for the purpose of welcoming the +novel American combination to British soil. + +When the landing was made, the members of the Wild West company entered +special coaches and were whirled toward London. Then even the stolidity +of the Indians was not proof against sights so little resembling those +to which they had been accustomed, and they showed their pleasure and +appreciation by frequent repetition of the red man's characteristic +grunt. + +Major John M. Burke had made the needed arrangements for housing the big +show, and preparations on a gigantic scale were rapidly pushed to please +an impatient London public. More effort was made to produce spectacular +effects in the London amphitheater than is possible where a merely +temporary staging is erected for one day's exhibition. The arena was a +third of a mile in circumference, and provided accommodation for +forty thousand spectators. Here, as at Manchester, where another great +amphitheater was erected in the fall, to serve as winter quarters, the +artist's brush was called on to furnish illusions. + +The English exhibited an eager interest in every feature of the +exhibition--the Indian war-dances, the bucking broncho, speedily +subjected by the valorous cowboy, and the stagecoach attacked by Indians +and rescued by United States troops. The Indian village on the plains +was also an object of dramatic interest to the English public. The +artist had counterfeited the plains successfully. + +It is the hour of dawn. Scattered about the plains are various wild +animals. Within their tents the Indians are sleeping. Sunrise, and a +friendly Indian tribe comes to visit the wakening warriors. A friendly +dance is executed, at the close of which a courier rushes in to announce +the approach of a hostile tribe. These follow almost at the courier's +heels, and a sham battle occurs, which affords a good idea of the +barbarity of Indian warfare. The victors celebrate their triumph with a +wild war-dance. + +A Puritan scene follows. The landing of the Pilgrims is shown, and +the rescue of John Smith by Pocahontas. This affords opportunity for +delineating many interesting Indian customs on festive celebrations, +such as weddings and feast-days. + +Again the prairie. A buffalo-lick is shown. The shaggy monsters come +down to drink, and in pursuit of them is "Buffalo Bill," mounted on his +good horse "Charlie." He has been acting as guide for an emigrant party, +which soon appears. Camp-fires are lighted, supper is eaten, and the +camp sinks into slumber with the dwindling of the fires. Then comes a +fine bit of stage illusion. A red glow is seen in the distance, faint +at first, but slowly deepening and broadening. It creeps along the whole +horizon, and the camp is awakened by the alarming intelligence that the +prairie is on fire. The emigrants rush out, and heroically seek to fight +back the rushing, roaring flames. Wild animals, driven by the flames, +dash through the camp, and a stampede follows. This scene was extremely +realistic. + +A cyclone was also simulated, and a whole village blown out of +existence. + +The "Wild West" was received with enthusiasm, not only by the general +public, but by royalty. Gladstone made a call upon Will, in company with +the Marquis of Lorne, and in return a lunch was tendered to the "Grand +Old Man" by the American visitors. In an after-dinner speech, the +English statesman spoke in the warmest terms of America. He thanked Will +for the good he was doing in presenting to the English public a picture +of the wild life of the Western continent, which served to illustrate +the difficulties encountered by a sister nation in its onward march of +civilization. + +The initial performance was before a royal party comprising the Prince +and Princess of Wales and suite. At the close of the exhibition the +royal guests, at their own request, were presented to the members of the +company. Unprepared for this contingency, Will had forgotten to coach +the performers in the correct method of saluting royalty, and when the +girl shots of the company were presented to the Princess of Wales, they +stepped forward in true democratic fashion and cordially offered their +hands to the lovely woman who had honored them. + +According to English usage, the Princess extends the hand, palm down, to +favored guests, and these reverently touch the finger-tips and lift +the hand to their lips. Perhaps the spontaneity of the American girls' +welcome was esteemed a pleasing variety to the established custom. At +all events, her Highness, true to her breeding, appeared not to notice +any breach of etiquette, but took the proffered hands and shook them +cordially. + +The Indian camp was also visited, and Red Shirt, the great chief, was, +like every one else, delighted with the Princess. Through an interpreter +the Prince expressed his pleasure over the performance of the braves, +headed by their great chief, and the Princess bade him welcome to +England. Red Shirt had the Indian gift of oratory, and he replied, in +the unimpassioned speech for which the race is noted, that it made his +heart glad to hear such kind words from the Great White Chief and his +beautiful squaw. + +During the round the Prince stopped in at Will's private quarters, and +took much interest in his souvenirs, being especially pleased with a +magnificent gold-hilted sword, presented to Will by officers of the +United States army in recognition of his services as scout. + +This was not the only time the exhibition was honored by the visit +of royalty. That the Prince of Wales was sincere in his expression of +enjoyment of the exhibition was evidenced by the report that he carried +to his mother, and shortly afterward a command came from Queen Victoria +that the big show appear before her. It was plainly impossible to take +the "Wild West" to court; the next best thing was to construct a special +box for the use of her Majesty. This box was placed upon a dais covered +with crimson velvet trimmings, and was superbly decorated. When the +Queen arrived and was driven around to the royal box, Will stepped +forward as she dismounted, and doffing his sombrero, made a low courtesy +to the sovereign lady of Great Britain. "Welcome, your Majesty," said +he, "to the Wild West of America!" + +One of the first acts in the performance is to carry the flag to the +front. This is done by a soldier, and is introduced to the spectators +as an emblem of a nation desirous of peace and friendship with all the +world. On this occasion it was borne directly before the Queen's box, +and dipped three times in honor of her Majesty. The action of the Queen +surprised the company and the vast throng of spectators. Rising, +she saluted the American flag with a bow, and her suite followed her +example, the gentlemen removing their hats. Will acknowledged the +courtesy by waving his sombrero about his head, and his delighted +company with one accord gave three ringing cheers that made the arena +echo, assuring the spectators of the healthy condition of the lungs of +the American visitors. + +The Queen's complaisance put the entire company on their mettle, and the +performance was given magnificently. At the close Queen Victoria asked +to have Will presented to her, and paid him so many compliments as +almost to bring a blush to his bronzed cheek. Red Shirt was also +presented, and informed her Majesty that he had come across the Great +Water solely to see her, and his heart was glad. This polite speech +discovered a streak in Indian nature that, properly cultivated, would +fit the red man to shine as a courtier or politician. Red Shirt walked +away with the insouciance of a king dismissing an audience, and some +of the squaws came to display papooses to the Great White Lady. These +children of nature were not the least awed by the honor done them. They +blinked at her Majesty as if the presence of queens was an incident of +their everyday existence. + +A second command from the Queen resulted in another exhibition before +a number of her royal guests. The kings of Saxony, Denmark, and Greece, +the Queen of the Belgians, and the Crown Prince of Austria, with others +of lesser rank, illumined this occasion. + +The Deadwood coach was peculiarly honored. This is a coach with a +history. It was built in Concord, New Hampshire, and sent to the Pacific +Coast to run over a trail infested by road agents. A number of times +was it held up and the passengers robbed, and finally both driver and +passengers were killed and the coach abandoned on the trail, as no one +could be found who would undertake to drive it. It remained derelict +for a long time, but was at last brought into San Francisco by an old +stage-driver and placed on the Overland trail. It gradually worked its +way eastward to the Deadwood route, and on this line figured in a number +of encounters with Indians. Again were driver and passengers massacred, +and again was the coach abandoned. Will ran across it on one of his +scouting expeditions, and recognizing its value as an adjunct to his +exhibition, purchased it. Thereafter the tragedies it figured in were of +the mock variety. + +One of the incidents of the Wild West, as all remember, is an Indian +attack on the Deadwood coach. The royal visitors wished to put +themselves in the place of the traveling public in the Western regions +of America; so the four potentates of Denmark, Saxony, Greece, and +Austria became the passengers, and the Prince of Wales sat on the box +with Will. The Indians had been secretly instructed to "whoop 'em up" on +this interesting occasion, and they followed energetically the letter of +their instructions. The coach was surrounded by a demoniac band, and the +blank cartridges were discharged in such close proximity to the coach +windows that the passengers could easily imagine themselves to be actual +Western travelers. Rumor hath it that they sought refuge under the +seats, and probably no one would blame them if they did; but it is only +rumor, and not history. + +When the wild ride was over, the Prince of Wales, who admires the +American national game of poker, turned to the driver with the remark: + +"Colonel, did you ever hold four kings like that before?" + +"I have held four kings more than once," was the prompt reply; "but, +your Highness, I never held four kings and the royal joker before." + +The Prince laughed heartily; but Will's sympathy went out to him when +he found that he was obliged to explain his joke in four different +languages to the passengers. + +In recognition of this performance, the Prince of Wales sent Will a +handsome souvenir. It consisted of his feathered crest, outlined +in diamonds, and bearing the motto "_Ich dien_," worked in jewels +underneath. An accompanying note expressed the pleasure of the royal +visitors over the novel exhibition. + +Upon another occasion the Princess of Wales visited the show incognito, +first advising Will of her intention; and at the close of the +performance assured him that she had spent a delightful evening. + +The set performances of the "Wild West" were punctuated by social +entertainments. James G. Blaine, Chauncey M. Depew, Murat Halstead, and +other prominent Americans were in London at the time, and in their honor +Will issued invitations to a rib-roast breakfast prepared in Indian +style. Fully one hundred guests gathered in the "Wild West's" +dining-tent at nine o'clock of June 10, 1887. Besides the novel +decorations of the tent, it was interesting to watch the Indian cooks +putting the finishing touches to their roasts. A hole had been dug in +the ground, a large tripod erected over it, and upon this the ribs +of beef were suspended. The fire was of logs, burned down to a bed of +glowing coals, and over these the meat was turned around and around +until it was cooked to a nicety. This method of open-air cooking over +wood imparts to the meat a flavor that can be given to it in no other +way. + +The breakfast was unconventional. Part of the bill of fare was hominy, +"Wild West" pudding, popcorn, and peanuts. The Indians squatted on the +straw at the end of the dining-tables, and ate from their fingers or +speared the meat with long white sticks. The striking contrast of +table manners was an interesting object-lesson in the progress of +civilization. + +The breakfast was a novelty to the Americans who partook of it, and they +enjoyed it thoroughly. + +Will was made a social lion during his stay in London, being dined and +feted upon various occasions. Only a man of the most rugged health could +have endured the strain of his daily performances united with his social +obligations. + +The London season was triumphantly closed with a meeting for the +establishing of a court of arbitration to settle disputes between +America and England. + +After leaving the English metropolis the exhibition visited Birmingham, +and thence proceeded to its winter headquarters in Manchester. +Arta, Will's elder daughter, accompanied him to England, and made a +Continental tour during the winter. + +The sojourn in Manchester was another ovation. The prominent men of the +city proposed to present to Will a fine rifle, and when the news of +the plan was carried to London, a company of noblemen, statesmen, and +journalists ran down to Manchester by special car. In acknowledgment of +the honor done him, Will issued invitations for another of his unique +American entertainments. Boston pork and beans, Maryland fried chicken, +hominy, and popcorn were served, and there were other distinctly +American dishes. An Indian rib-roast was served on tin plates, and the +distinguished guests enjoyed--or said they did--the novelty of eating +it from their fingers, in true aboriginal fashion. This remarkable +meal evoked the heartiest of toasts to the American flag, and a poem, a +parody on "Hiawatha," added luster to the occasion. + +The Prince of Wales was Grand Master of the Free Masons of England, +which order presented a gold watch to Will during his stay in +Manchester. The last performance in this city was given on May 1, 1887, +and as a good by to Will the spectators united in a rousing chorus of +"For he's a jolly good fellow!" The closing exhibition of the English +season occurred at Hull, and immediately afterward the company sailed +for home on the "Persian Monarch." An immense crowd gathered on the +quay, and shouted a cordial "bon voyage." + +One sad event occurred on the homeward voyage, the death of "Old +Charlie," Will's gallant and faithful horse. + +He was a half-blood Kentucky horse, and had been Will's constant and +unfailing companion for many years on the plains and in the "Wild West." + +He was an animal of almost human intelligence, extraordinary speed, +endurance, and fidelity. When he was quite young Will rode him on a hunt +for wild horses, which he ran down after a chase of fifteen miles. At +another time, on a wager of five hundred dollars that he could ride him +over the prairie one hundred miles in ten hours, he went the distance in +nine hours and forty-five minutes. + +When the "Wild West" was opened at Omaha, Charlie was the star horse, +and held that position at all the exhibitions in this country and in +Europe. In London the horse attracted a full share of attention, and +many scions of royalty solicited the favor of riding him. Grand Duke +Michael of Russia rode Charlie several times in chase of the herd of +buffaloes in the "Wild West," and became quite attached to him. + +On the morning of the 14th Will made his usual visit to Charlie, between +decks. Shortly after the groom reported him sick. He grew rapidly worse, +in spite of all the care he received, and at two o'clock on the morning +of the 17th he died. His death cast an air of sadness over the whole +ship, and no human being could have had more sincere mourners than the +faithful and sagacious old horse. He was brought on deck wrapped in +canvas and covered with the American flag. When the hour for the ocean +burial arrived, the members of the company and others assembled on deck. +Standing alone with uncovered head beside the dead was the one whose +life the noble animal had shared so long. At length, with choking +utterance, Will spoke, and Charlie for the first time failed to hear the +familiar voice he had always been so prompt to obey: + +"Old fellow, your journeys are over. Here in the ocean you must rest. +Would that I could take you back and lay you down beneath the billows of +that prairie you and I have loved so well and roamed so freely; but it +cannot be. How often at break of day, the glorious sun rising on the +horizon has found us far from human habitation! Yet, obedient to my +call, gladly you bore your burden on, little heeding what the day might +bring, so that you and I but shared its sorrows and pleasures alike. You +have never failed me. Ah, Charlie, old fellow, I have had many friends, +but few of whom I could say that. Rest entombed in the deep bosom of the +ocean! I'll never forget you. I loved you as you loved me, my dear old +Charlie. Men tell me you have no soul; but if there be a heaven, and +scouts can enter there, I'll wait at the gate for you, old friend." + +On this homeward trip Will made the acquaintance of a clergyman +returning from a vacation spent in Europe. When they neared the American +coast this gentleman prepared a telegram to send to his congregation. +It read simply: "2 John i. 12." Chancing to see it, Will's interest was +aroused, and he asked the clergyman to explain the significance of the +reference, and when this was done he said: "I have a religious sister at +home who knows the Bible so well that I will wire her that message and +she will not need to look up the meaning." + +He duplicated to me, as his return greeting, the minister's telegram to +his congregation, but I did not justify his high opinion of my Biblical +knowledge. I was obliged to search the Scriptures to unravel the enigma. +As there may be others like me, but who have not the incentive I had to +look up the reference, I quote from God's word the message I received: +"Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and +ink; but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy +may be full." + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. -- RETURN OF THE "WILD WEST" TO AMERICA. + +WHEN the "Wild West" returned to America from its first venture across +seas, the sail up the harbor was described by the New York _World_ in +the following words: + + "The harbor probably has never witnessed a more picturesque + scene than that of yesterday, when the 'Persian Monarch' + steamed up from quarantine. Buffalo Bill stood on the + captain's bridge, his tall and striking figure clearly + outlined, and his long hair waving in the wind; the gayly + painted and blanketed Indians leaned over the ship's rail; + the flags of all nations fluttered from the masts and + connecting cables. The cowboy band played 'Yankee Doodle' + with a vim and enthusiasm which faintly indicated the joy + felt by everybody connected with the 'Wild West' over the + sight of home." + +Will had been cordially welcomed by our English cousins, and had been +the recipient of many social favors, but no amount of foreign flattery +could change him one hair from an "American of the Americans," and he +experienced a thrill of delight as he again stepped foot upon his native +land. Shortly afterward he was much pleased by a letter from William T. +Sherman--so greatly prized that it was framed, and now hangs on the wall +of his Nebraska home. Following is a copy: + +"FIFTH AVENUE HOTEL, NEW YORK. + +"COLONEL WM. F. CODY: + +"_Dear Sir_: In common with all your countrymen, I want to let you know +that I am not only gratified but proud of your management and success. +So far as I can make out, you have been modest, graceful, and dignified +in all you have done to illustrate the history of civilization on this +continent during the past century. I am especially pleased with the +compliment paid you by the Prince of Wales, who rode with you in the +Deadwood coach while it was attacked by Indians and rescued by cowboys. +Such things did occur in our days, but they never will again. + +"As nearly as I can estimate, there were in 1865 about nine and one-half +million of buffaloes on the plains between the Missouri River and the +Rocky Mountains; all are now gone, killed for their meat, their skins, +and their bones. This seems like desecration, cruelty, and murder, yet +they have been replaced by twice as many cattle. At that date there were +about 165,000 Pawnees, Sioux, Cheyennes, and Arapahoes, who depended +upon these buffaloes for their yearly food. They, too, have gone, but +they have been replaced by twice or thrice as many white men and women, +who have made the earth to blossom as the rose, and who can be counted, +taxed, and governed by the laws of nature and civilization. This change +has been salutary, and will go on to the end. You have caught one epoch +of this country's history, and have illustrated it in the very heart of +the modern world--London, and I want you to feel that on this side of +the water we appreciate it. + +"This drama must end; days, years, and centuries follow fast; even the +drama of civilization must have an end. All I aim to accomplish on this +sheet of paper is to assure you that I fully recognize your work. The +presence of the Queen, the beautiful Princess of Wales, the Prince, +and the British public are marks of favor which reflect back on America +sparks of light which illuminate many a house and cabin in the land +where once you guided me honestly and faithfully, in 1865-66, from Fort +Riley to Kearny, in Kansas and Nebraska. + +"Sincerely your friend, + +"W. T. SHERMAN." + + +Having demonstrated to his satisfaction that the largest measure of +success lay in a stationary exhibition of his show, where the population +was large enough to warrant it, Will purchased a tract of land on Staten +Island, and here he landed on his return from England. Teamsters for +miles around had been engaged to transport the outfit across the island +to Erastina, the site chosen for the exhibition. And you may be certain +that Cut Meat, American Bear, Flat Iron, and the other Indians furnished +unlimited joy to the ubiquitous small boy, who was present by the +hundreds to watch the unloading scenes. + +The summer season at this point was a great success. One incident +connected with it may be worth the relating. + +Teachers everywhere have recognized the value of the "Wild West" +exhibition as an educator, and in a number of instances public schools +have been dismissed to afford the children an opportunity of attending +the entertainment. It has not, however, been generally recognized as +a spur to religious progress, yet, while at Staten Island, Will was +invited to exhibit a band of his Indians at a missionary meeting given +under the auspices of a large mission Sunday-school. He appeared with +his warriors, who were expected to give one of their religious dances as +an object-lesson in devotional ceremonials. + +The meeting was largely attended, and every one, children especially, +waited for the exercises in excited curiosity and interest. Will sat on +the platform with the superintendent, pastor, and others in authority, +and close by sat the band of stolid-faced Indians. + +The service began with a hymn and the reading of the Scriptures; then, +to Will's horror, the superintendent requested him to lead the meeting +in prayer. Perhaps the good man fancied that Will for a score of years +had fought Indians with a rifle in one hand and a prayer-book in the +other, and was as prepared to pray as to shoot. At least he surely did +not make his request with the thought of embarrassing Will, though +that was the natural result. However, Will held holy things in deepest +reverence; he had the spirit of Gospel if not the letter; so, rising, he +quietly and simply, with bowed head, repeated the Lord's Prayer. + +A winter exhibition under roof was given in New York, after which the +show made a tour of the principal cities of the United States. Thus +passed several years, and then arrangements were made for a grand +Continental trip. A plan had been maturing in Will's mind ever since the +British season, and in the spring of 1889 it was carried into effect. + +The steamer "Persian Monarch" was again chartered, and this time its +prow was turned toward the shores of France. Paris was the destination, +and seven months were passed in the gay capital. The Parisians received +the show with as much enthusiasm as did the Londoners, and in Paris +as well as in the English metropolis everything American became a fad +during the stay of the "Wild West." Even American books were read--a +crucial test of faddism; and American curios were displayed in all +the shops. Relics from American plain and mountain--buffalo-robes, +bearskins, buckskin suits embroidered with porcupine quills, Indian +blankets, woven mats, bows and arrows, bead-mats, Mexican bridles and +saddles--sold like the proverbial hot cakes. + +In Paris, also, Will became a social favorite, and had he accepted a +tenth of the invitations to receptions, dinners, and balls showered upon +him, he would have been obliged to close his show. + +While in this city Will accepted an invitation from Rosa Bonheur to +visit her at her superb chateau, and in return for the honor he extended +to her the freedom of his stables, which contained magnificent horses +used for transportation purposes, and which never appeared in the public +performance--Percherons, of the breed depicted by the famous artist in +her well-known painting of "The Horse Fair." Day upon day she visited +the camp and made studies, and as a token of her appreciation of the +courtesy, painted a picture of Will mounted on his favorite horse, both +horse and rider bedecked with frontier paraphernalia. This souvenir, +which holds the place of honor in his collection, he immediately shipped +home. + +The wife of a London embassy attache relates the following story: + +"During the time that Colonel Cody was making his triumphant tour of +Europe, I was one night seated at a banquet next to the Belgian Consul. +Early in the course of the conversation he asked: + +"'Madame, you haf undoubted been to see ze gr-rand Bouf-falo Beel?' + +"Puzzled by the apparently unfamiliar name, I asked: + +"'Pardon me, but whom did you say?' + +"'Vy, Bouf-falo Beel, ze famous Bouf-falo Beel, zat gr-reat countryman +of yours. You must know him.' + +"After a moment's thought, I recognized the well-known showman's name in +its disguise. I comprehended that the good Belgian thought his to be one +of America's most eminent names, to be mentioned in the same breath with +Washington and Lincoln." + +After leaving Paris, a short tour of Southern France was made, and at +Marseilles a vessel was chartered to transport the company to Spain. The +Spanish grandees eschewed their favorite amusement--the bull-fight--long +enough to give a hearty welcome to the "Wild West." Next followed a +tour of Italy; and the visit to Rome was the most interesting of the +experiences in this country. + +The Americans reached the Eternal City at the time of Pope Leo's +anniversary celebration, and, on the Pope's invitation, Will visited +the Vatican. Its historic walls have rarely, if ever, looked upon a more +curious sight than was presented when Will walked in, followed by the +cowboys in their buckskins and sombreros and the Indians in war paint +and feathers. Around them crowded a motley throng of Italians, clad in +the brilliant colors so loved by these children of the South, and nearly +every nationality was represented in the assemblage. + +Some of the cowboys and Indians had been reared in the Catholic faith, +and when the Pope appeared they knelt for his blessing. He seemed +touched by this action on the part of those whom he might be disposed +to regard as savages, and bending forward, extended his hands and +pronounced a benediction; then he passed on, and it was with the +greatest difficulty that the Indians were restrained from expressing +their emotions in a wild whoop. This, no doubt, would have relieved +them, but it would, in all probability, have stampeded the crowd. + +When the Pope reached Will he looked admiringly upon the frontiersman. +The world-known scout bent his head before the aged "Medicine Man," as +the Indians call his reverence, the Papal blessing was again bestowed, +and the procession passed on. The Thanksgiving Mass, with its fine +choral accompaniment, was given, and the vast concourse of people poured +out of the building. + +This visit attracted much attention. + + "I'll take my stalwart Indian braves + Down to the Coliseum + And the old Romans from their graves + Will all arise to see 'em. + Praetors and censors will return + And hasten through the Forum + The ghostly Senate will adjourn + Because it lacks a quorum. + + "And up the ancient Appian Way + Will flock the ghostly legions + From Gaul unto Calabria, + And from remoter regions; + From British bay and wild lagoon, + And Libyan desert sandy, + They'll all come marching to the tune + Of 'Yankee Doodle Dandy.' + + "Prepare triumphal cars for me, + And purple thrones to sit on, + For I've done more than Julius C.-- + He could not down the Briton! + Caesar and Cicero shall bow + And ancient warriors famous, + Before the myrtle-wreathed brow + Of Buffalo Williamus. + + "We march, unwhipped, through history-- + No bulwark can detain us-- + And link the age of Grover C. + And Scipio Africanus. + I'll take my stalwart Indian braves + Down to the Coliseum, + And the old Romans from their graves + Will all arise to see 'em." + +It may be mentioned in passing that Will had visited the Coliseum with +an eye to securing it as an amphitheater for the "Wild West" exhibition, +but the historic ruin was too dilapidated to be a safe arena for such a +purpose, and the idea was abandoned. + +The sojourn in Rome was enlivened by an incident that created much +interest among the natives. The Italians were somewhat skeptical as to +the abilities of the cowboys to tame wild horses, believing the +bronchos in the show were specially trained for their work, and that the +horse-breaking was a mock exhibition. + +The Prince of Sermonetta declared that he had some wild horses in +his stud which no cowboys in the world could ride. The challenge was +promptly taken up by the daring riders of the plains, and the Prince +sent for his wild steeds. That they might not run amuck and injure the +spectators, specially prepared booths of great strength were erected. + +The greatest interest and enthusiasm were manifested by the populace, +and the death of two or three members of the company was as confidently +looked for as was the demise of sundry gladiators in the "brave days of +old." + +But the cowboys laughed at so great a fuss over so small a matter, and +when the horses were driven into the arena, and the spectators held +their breath, the cowboys, lassos in hand, awaited the work with the +utmost nonchalance. + +The wild equines sprang into the air, darted hither and thither, and +fought hard against their certain fate, but in less time than would be +required to give the details, the cowboys had flung their lassos, caught +the horses, and saddled and mounted them. The spirited beasts still +resisted, and sought in every way to throw their riders, but the +experienced plainsmen had them under control in a very short time; and +as they rode them around the arena, the spectators rose and howled with +delight. The display of horsemanship effectually silenced the skeptics; +it captured the Roman heart, and the remainder of the stay in the city +was attended by unusual enthusiasm. + +Beautiful Florence, practical Bologna, and stately Milan, with its +many-spired cathedral, were next on the list for the triumphal march. +For the Venetian public the exhibition had to be given at Verona, in +the historic amphitheater built by Diocletian, A. D. '90. This is +the largest building in the world, and within the walls of this +representative of Old World civilization the difficulties over which New +World civilization had triumphed were portrayed. Here met the old and +new; hoary antiquity and bounding youth kissed each other under the +sunny Italian skies. + +The "Wild West" now moved northward, through the Tyrol, to Munich, and +from here the Americans digressed for an excursion on the "beautiful +blue Danube." Then followed a successful tour of Germany. + +During this Continental circuit Will's elder daughter, Arta, who +had accompanied him on his British expedition, was married. It was +impossible for the father to be present, but by cablegram he sent his +congratulations and check. + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. -- A TRIBUTE TO GENERAL MILES. + +IN view of the success achieved by my brother, it is remarkable that he +excited so little envy. Now for the first time in his life he felt +the breath of slander on his cheek, and it flushed hotly. From an idle +remark that the Indians in the "Wild West" exhibition were not properly +treated, the idle gossip grew to the proportion of malicious and +insistent slander. The Indians being government wards, such a charge +might easily become a serious matter; for, like the man who beat his +wife, the government believes it has the right to maltreat the red man +to the top of its bent, but that no one else shall be allowed to do so. + +A winter campaign of the "Wild West" had been contemplated, but the +project was abandoned and winter quarters decided on. In the quaint +little village of Benfield was an ancient nunnery and a castle, with +good stables. Here Will left the company in charge of his partner, Mr. +Nate Salisbury, and, accompanied by the Indians for whose welfare he was +responsible, set sail for America, to silence his calumniators. + +The testimony of the red men themselves was all that was required to +refute the notorious untruths. Few had placed any belief in the reports, +and friendly commenters were also active. + +As the sequel proved, Will came home very opportunely. The Sioux in +Dakota were again on the war-path, and his help was needed to subdue the +uprising. He disbanded the warriors he had brought back from Europe, +and each returned to his own tribe and people, to narrate around +the camp-fire the wonders of the life abroad, while Will reported at +headquarters to offer his services for the war. Two years previously he +had been honored by the commission of Brigadier-General of the Nebraska +National Guard, which rank and title were given to him by Governor +Thayer. + +The officer in command of the Indian campaign was General Nelson A. +Miles, who has rendered so many important services to his country, and +who, as Commander-in-Chief of our army, played so large a part in the +recent war with Spain. At the time of the Indian uprising he held the +rank of Brigadier-General. + +This brilliant and able officer was much pleased when he learned that he +would have Will's assistance in conducting the campaign, for he knew the +value of his good judgment, cool head, and executive ability, and of his +large experience in dealing with Indians. + +The "Wild West," which had served as an educator to the people of +Europe in presenting the frontier life of America, had quietly worked as +important educational influences in the minds of the Indians connected +with the exhibition. They had seen for themselves the wonders of the +world's civilization; they realized how futile were the efforts of the +children of the plains to stem the resistless tide of progress flowing +westward. Potentates had delighted to do honor to Pa-has-ka, the +Long-haired Chief, and in the eyes of the simple savage he was as +powerful as any of the great ones of earth. To him his word was law; it +seemed worse than folly for their brethren to attempt to cope with so +mighty a chief, therefore their influence was all for peace; and the +fact that so many tribes did not join in the uprising may be attributed, +in part, to their good counsel and advice. + +General Miles was both able and energetic, and managed the campaign in +masterly fashion. There were one or two hard-fought battles, in one of +which the great Sioux warrior, Sitting Bull, the ablest that nation ever +produced, was slain. This Indian had traveled with Will for a time, but +could not be weaned from his loyalty to his own tribe and a desire to +avenge upon the white man the wrongs inflicted on his people. + +What promised at the outset to be a long and cruel frontier war was +speedily quelled. The death of Sitting Bull had something to do with the +termination of hostilities. Arrangements for peace were soon perfected, +and Will attributed the government's success to the energy of its +officer in command, for whom he has a most enthusiastic admiration. He +paid this tribute to him recently: + +"I have been in many campaigns with General Miles, and a better general +and more gifted warrior I have never seen. I served in the Civil War, +and in any number of Indian wars; I have been under at least a dozen +generals, with whom I have been thrown in close contact because of the +nature of the services which I was called upon to render. General Miles +is the superior of them all. + +"I have known Phil Sheridan, Tecumseh Sherman, Hancock, and all of our +noted Indian fighters. For cool judgment and thorough knowledge of all +that pertains to military affairs, none of them, in my opinion, can be +said to excel General Nelson A. Miles. + +"Ah, what a man he is! I know. We have been shoulder to shoulder in +many a hard march. We have been together when men find out what their +comrades really are. He is a man, every inch of him, and the best +general I ever served under." + +After Miles was put in command of the forces, a dinner was given in his +honor by John Chamberlin. Will was a guest and one of the speakers, and +took the opportunity to eulogize his old friend. He dwelt at length on +the respect in which the red men held the general, and in closing said: + +"No foreign invader will ever set foot on these shores as long as +General Miles is at the head of the army. If they should--just call on +me!" + +The speaker sat down amid laughter and applause. + +While Will was away at the seat of war, his beautiful home in North +Platte, "Welcome Wigwam," burned to the ground. The little city is not +equipped with much of a fire department, but a volunteer brigade held +the flames in check long enough to save almost the entire contents of +the house, among which were many valuable and costly souvenirs that +could never be replaced. + +Will received a telegram announcing that his house was ablaze, and his +reply was characteristic: + +"Save Rosa Bonheur's picture, and the house may go to blazes." + +When the frontier war was ended and the troops disbanded, Will made +application for another company of Indians to take back to Europe with +him. Permission was obtained from the government, and the contingent +from the friendly tribes was headed by chiefs named Long Wolf, No Neck, +Yankton Charlie, and Black Heart. In addition to these a company was +recruited from among the Indians held as hostages by General Miles at +Fort Sheridan, and the leaders of these hostile braves were such noted +chiefs as Short Bull, Kicking Bear, Lone Bull, Scatter, and Revenge. To +these the trip to Alsace-Lorraine was a revelation, a fairy-tale more +wonderful than anything in their legendary lore. The ocean voyage, +with its seasickness, put them in an ugly mood, but the sight of the +encampment and the cowboys dissipated their sullenness, and they shortly +felt at home. The hospitality extended to all the members of the company +by the inhabitants of the village in which they wintered was most +cordial, and left them the pleasantest of memories. + +An extended tour of Europe was fittingly closed by a brief visit to +England. The Britons gave the "Wild West" as hearty a welcome as if it +were native to their heath. A number of the larger cities were visited, +London being reserved for the last. + +Royalty again honored the "Wild West" by its attendance, the Queen +requesting a special performance on the grounds of Windsor Castle. The +requests of the Queen are equivalent to commands, and the entertainment +was duly given. As a token of her appreciation the Queen bestowed upon +Will a costly and beautiful souvenir. + +Not the least-esteemed remembrance of this London visit was an +illuminated address presented by the English Workingman's Convention. In +it the American plainsman was congratulated upon the honors he had won, +the success he had achieved, and the educational worth of his great +exhibition. A banquet followed, at which Will presented an autograph +photograph to each member of the association. + +Notwithstanding tender thoughts of home, English soil was left +regretfully. To the "Wild West" the complacent Briton had extended a +cordial welcome, and manifested an enthusiasm that contrasted strangely +with his usual disdain for things American. + +A singular coincidence of the homeward voyage was the death of Billy, +another favorite horse of Will's. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. -- THE "WILD WEST" AT THE WORLD'S FAIR. + +EUROPEAN army officers of all nationalities regarded my brother with +admiring interest. To German, French, Italian, or British eyes he was +a commanding personality, and also the representative of a peculiar and +interesting phase of New World life. Recalling their interest in his +scenes from his native land, so unlike anything to be found in Europe +to-day, Will invited a number of these officers to accompany him on an +extended hunting-trip through Western America. + +All that could possibly do so accepted the invitation. A date was set +for them to reach Chicago, and from there arrangements were made for a +special train to convey them to Nebraska. + +When the party gathered, several prominent Americans were of the number. +By General Miles's order a military escort attended them from Chicago, +and the native soldiery remained with them until North Platte was +reached. + +Then the party proceeded to "Scout's Rest Ranch," where they were +hospitably entertained for a couple of days before starting out on their +long trail. + +At Denver ammunition and supplies were taken on board the train. A +French chef was also engaged, as Will feared his distinguished guests +might not enjoy camp-fare. But a hen in water is no more out of +place than a French cook on a "roughing-it" trip. Frontier cooks, who +understand primitive methods, make no attempt at a fashionable cuisine, +and the appetites developed by open-air life are equal to the rudest, +most substantial fare. + +Colorado Springs, the Garden of the Gods, and other places in Colorado +were visited. The foreign visitors had heard stories of this wonderland +of America, but, like all of nature's masterpieces, the rugged beauties +of this magnificent region defy an adequate description. Only one who +has seen a sunrise on the Alps can appreciate it. The storied Rhine is +naught but a story to him who has never looked upon it. Niagara is only +a waterfall until seen from various view-points, and its tremendous +force and transcendent beauty are strikingly revealed. The same is true +of the glorious wildness of our Western scenery; it must be seen to be +appreciated. + +The most beautiful thing about the Garden of the Gods is the entrance +known as the Gateway. Color here runs riot. The mass of rock in the +foreground is white, and stands out in sharp contrast to the rich red of +the sandstone of the portals, which rise on either side to a height of +three hundred feet. Through these giant portals, which in the sunlight +glow with ruddy fire, is seen mass upon mass of gorgeous color, rendered +more striking by the dazzling whiteness of Pike's Peak, which soars +upward in the distance, a hoary sentinel of the skies. The whole picture +is limned against the brilliant blue of the Colorado sky, and stands out +sharp and clear, one vivid block of color distinctly defined against the +other. + +The name "Garden of the Gods" was doubtless applied because of the +peculiar shape of the spires, needles, and basilicas of rock that rise +in every direction. These have been corroded by storms and worn smooth +by time, until they present the appearance of half-baked images of clay +molded by human hands, instead of sandstone rocks fashioned by wind and +weather. Each grotesque and fantastic shape has received a name. One +is here introduced to the "Washerwoman," the "Lady of the Garden," the +"Siamese Twins," and the "Ute God," and besides these may be seen +the "Wreck," the "Baggage Room," the "Eagle," and the "Mushroom." The +predominating tone is everywhere red, but black, brown, drab, white, +yellow, buff, and pink rocks add their quota to make up a harmonious and +striking color scheme, to which the gray and green of clinging mosses +add a final touch of picturesqueness. + +At Flagstaff, Arizona, the train was discarded for the saddle and the +buckboard. And now Will felt himself quite in his element; it was a +never-failing pleasure to him to guide a large party of guests over +plain and mountain. From long experience he knew how to make ample +provision for their comfort. There were a number of wagons filled with +supplies, three buckboards, three ambulances, and a drove of ponies. +Those who wished to ride horseback could do so; if they grew tired of +a bucking broncho, opportunity for rest awaited them in ambulance or +buckboard. The French chef found his occupation gone when it was a +question of cooking over a camp-fire; so he spent his time picking +himself up when dislodged by his broncho. The daintiness of his menu was +not a correct gauge for the daintiness of his language on these numerous +occasions. + +Through the Grand Canon of the Colorado Will led the party, and the +dwellers of the Old World beheld some of the rugged magnificence of +the New. Across rushing rivers, through quiet valleys, and over lofty +mountains they proceeded, pausing on the borders of peaceful lakes, or +looking over dizzy precipices into yawning chasms. + +There was no lack of game to furnish variety to their table; mountain +sheep, mountain lions, wildcats, deer, elk, antelope, and even coyotes +and porcupines, were shot, while the rivers furnished an abundance of +fish. + +It seemed likely at one time that there might be a hunt of bigger game +than any here mentioned, for in crossing the country of the Navajos the +party was watched and followed by mounted Indians. An attack was feared, +and had the red men opened fire, there would have been a very animated +defense; but the suspicious Indians were merely on the alert to see that +no trespass was committed, and when the orderly company passed out of +their territory the warriors disappeared. + +The visitors were much impressed with the vastness and the undeveloped +resources of our country. They were also impressed with the climate, as +the thermometer went down to forty degrees below zero while they were +on Buckskin Mountain. Nature seemed to wish to aid Will in the effort to +exhibit novelties to his foreign guests, for she tried her hand at +some spectacular effects, and succeeded beyond mortal expectation. She +treated them to a few blizzards; and shut in by the mass of whirling, +blinding snowflakes, it is possible their thoughts reverted with a +homesick longing to the sunny slopes of France, the placid vales of +Germany, or the foggy mildness of Great Britain. + +On the summit of San Francisco Mountain, the horse of Major St. +John Mildmay lost its footing, and began to slip on the ice toward a +precipice which looked down a couple of thousand feet. Will saw the +danger, brought out his ever-ready lasso, and dexterously caught the +animal in time to save it and its rider--a feat considered remarkable by +the onlookers. + +Accidents happened occasionally, many adventures were met with, Indian +alarms were given, and narrow were some of the escapes. On the whole, +it was a remarkable trail, and was written about under the heading, "A +Thousand Miles in the Saddle with Buffalo Bill." + +At Salt Lake City the party broke up, each going his separate way. All +expressed great pleasure in the trip, and united in the opinion that +Buffalo Bill's reputation as guide and scout was a well-deserved one. + +Will's knowledge of Indian nature stands him in good stead when he +desires to select the quota of Indians for the summer season of the +"Wild West." He sends word ahead to the tribe or reservation which he +intends to visit. The red men have all heard of the wonders of the great +show; they are more than ready to share in the delights of travel, and +they gather at the appointed place in great numbers. + +Will stands on a temporary platform in the center of the group. He looks +around upon the swarthy faces, glowing with all the eagerness which the +stolid Indian nature will permit them to display. It is not always the +tallest nor the most comely men who are selected. The unerring judgment +of the scout, trained in Indian warfare, tells him who may be relied +upon and who are untrustworthy. A face arrests his attention--with a +motion of his hand he indicates the brave whom he has selected; another +wave of the hand and the fate of a second warrior is settled. Hardly a +word is spoken, and it is only a matter of a few moments' time before +he is ready to step down from his exalted position and walk off with his +full contingent of warriors following happily in his wake. + +The "Wild West" had already engaged space just outside the World's Fair +grounds for an exhibit in 1893, and Will was desirous of introducing +some new and striking feature. He had succeeded in presenting to the +people of Europe some new ideas, and, in return, the European trip had +furnished to him the much-desired novelty. He had performed the work of +an educator in showing to Old World residents the conditions of a new +civilization, and the idea was now conceived of showing to the world +gathered at the arena in Chicago a representation of the cosmopolitan +military force. He called it "A Congress of the Rough Riders of the +World." It is a combination at once ethnological and military. + +To the Indians and cowboys were added Mexicans, Cossacks, and South +Americans, with regular trained cavalry from Germany, France, England, +and the United States. This aggregation showed for the first time in +1893, and was an instantaneous success. Of it Opie Read gives a fine +description: + +"Morse made the two worlds touch the tips of their fingers together. +Cody has made the warriors of all nations join hands. + +"In one act we see the Indian, with his origin shrouded in history's +mysterious fog; the cowboy--nerve-strung product of the New World; the +American soldier, the dark Mexican, the glittering soldier of Germany, +the dashing cavalryman of France, the impulsive Irish dragoon, and that +strange, swift spirit from the plains of Russia, the Cossack. + +"Marvelous theatric display, a drama with scarcely a word--Europe, Asia, +Africa, America in panoramic whirl, and yet as individualized as if they +had never left their own country." + +In 1893 the horizon of my brother's interests enlarged. In July of that +year I was married to Mr. Hugh A. Wetmore, editor of the Duluth _Press_. +My steps now turned to the North, and the enterprising young city on +the shore of Lake Superior became my home. During the long years of my +widowhood my brother always bore toward me the attitude of guardian +and protector; I could rely upon his support in any venture I deemed a +promising one, and his considerate thoughtfulness did not fail when +I remarried. He wished to see me well established in my new home; he +desired to insure my happiness and prosperity, and with this end in view +he purchased the Duluth _Press_ plant, erected a fine brick building to +serve as headquarters for the newspaper venture, and we became business +partners in the untried field of press work. + +My brother had not yet seen the Zenith City. So in January of 1894 he +arranged to make a short visit to Duluth. We issued invitations for +a general reception, and the response was of the genuine Western +kind--eighteen hundred guests assembling in the new Duluth _Press_ +Building to bid welcome and do honor to the world-famed Buffalo Bill. + +His name is a household word, and there is a growing demand for +anecdotes concerning him. As he does not like to talk about himself, +chroniclers have been compelled to interview his associates, or are +left to their own resources. Like many of the stories told about Abraham +Lincoln, some of the current yarns about Buffalo Bill are of doubtful +authority. Nevertheless, a collection of those that are authentic would +fill a volume. Almost every plainsman or soldier who met my brother +during the Indian campaigns can tell some interesting tale about him +that has never been printed. During the youthful season of redundant +hope and happiness many of his ebullitions of wit were lost, but he +was always beloved for his good humor, which no amount of carnage could +suppress. He was not averse to church-going, though he was liable even +in church to be carried away by the rollicking spirit that was in him. +Instance his visit to the little temple which he had helped to build at +North Platte. + +His wife and sister were in the congregation, and this ought not only to +have kept him awake, but it should have insured perfect decorum on his +part. The opening hymn commenced with the words, "Oh, for a thousand +tongues to sing," etc. The organist, who played "by ear," started the +tune in too high a key to be followed by the choir and congregation, and +had to try again. A second attempt ended, like the first, in failure. +"Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing, my blest--" came the opening words +for the third time, followed by a squeak from the organ, and a relapse +into painful silence. Will could contain himself no longer, and blurted +out: "Start it at five hundred, and mebbe some of the rest of us can get +in." + + +Another church episode occurred during the visit of the "Wild West" +to the Atlanta Exposition. A locally celebrated colored preacher had +announced that he would deliver a sermon on the subject of Abraham +Lincoln. A party of white people, including my brother, was made up, and +repaired to the church to listen to the eloquent address. Not wishing +to make themselves conspicuous, the white visitors took a pew in the +extreme rear, but one of the ushers, wishing to honor them, insisted +on conducting them to a front seat. When the contribution platter came +around, our hero scooped a lot of silver dollars from his pocket and +deposited them upon the plate with such force that the receptacle was +tilted and its contents poured in a jingling shower upon the floor. +The preacher left his pulpit to assist in gathering up the scattered +treasure, requesting the congregation to sing a hymn of thanksgiving +while the task was being performed. At the conclusion of the hymn the +sable divine returned to the pulpit and supplemented his sermon with the +following remarks: + + +"Brudderen an' sisters: I obsahve dat Co'nel and Gen'l Buflo Bill am +present. [A roar of 'Amens' and 'Bless God's' arose from the audience.] +You will wifhold yuh Amens till I git froo. You all owes yuh freedom to +Abraham's bosom, but he couldn't hab went an' gone an' done it widout +Buflo Bill, who he'ped him wid de sinnoose ob wah! Abraham Lincum was de +brack man's fren'--Buflo Bill am de fren' ob us all. ['Amen!' screamed +a sister.] Yes, sistah, he am yo' fren', moreova, an' de fren' ob every +daughtah ob Jakup likewise. De chu'ch debt am a cross to us, an' to dat +cross he bends his back as was prefigu'd in de scriptu's ob ol', De +sun may move, aw de sun mought stan' still, but Buflo Bill nebba stan's +still--he's ma'ching froo Geo'gia wid his Christian cowboys to sto'm +de Lookout Mountain ob Zion. Deacon Green Henry Turner will lead us in +prayah fo' Buflo Bill." + + +The following is one of Will's own stories: During the first years of +his career as an actor Will had in one of his theatrical companies a +Westerner named Broncho Bill. There were Indians in the troupe, and a +certain missionary had joined the aggregation to look after the morals +of the Indians. Thinking that Broncho Bill would bear a little looking +after also, the good man secured a seat by his side at the dinner-table, +and remarked pleasantly: + +"This is Mr. Broncho Bill, is it not?" + +"Yaas." + +"Where were you born?" + +"Near Kit Bullard's mill, on Big Pigeon." + +"Religious parents, I suppose?" + +"Yaas." + +"What is your denomination?" + +"My what?" + +"Your denomination?" + +"O--ah--yaas. Smith & Wesson." + + +While on his European tour Will was entertained by a great many +potentates. At a certain dinner given in his honor by a wealthy English +lord, Will met for the first time socially a number of blustering +British officers, fresh from India. One of them addressed himself to +the scout as follows: "I understand you are a colonel. You Americans +are blawsted fond of military titles, don't cherneow. By gad, sir, we'll +have to come over and give you fellows a good licking!" + +"What, again?" said the scout, so meekly that for an instant his +assailant did not know how hard he was hit, but he realized it when the +retort was wildly applauded by the company. + + +Before closing these pages I will give an account of an episode which +occurred during the Black Hills gold excitement, and which illustrates +the faculty my hero possesses of adapting himself to all emergencies. +Mr. Mahan, of West Superior, Wisconsin, and a party of adventurous +gold-seekers were being chased by a band of Indians, which they had +succeeded in temporarily eluding. They met Buffalo Bill at the head of +a squad of soldiers who were looking for redskins. The situation was +explained to the scout, whereupon he said: + +"I am looking for that identical crowd. Now, you draw up in line, and I +will look you over and pick out the men that I want to go back with me." + +Without any questioning he was able to select the men who really wanted +to return and fight the Indians. He left but two behind, but they were +the ones who would have been of no assistance had they been allowed to +go to the front. Will rode some distance in advance of his party, and +when the Indians sighted him, they thought he was alone, and made a dash +for him. Will whirled about and made his horse go as if fleeing for +his life. His men had been carefully ambushed. The Indians kept up a +constant firing, and when he reached a certain point Will pretended to +be hit, and fell from his horse. On came the Indians, howling like a +choir of maniacs. The next moment they were in a trap, and Will and his +men opened fire on them, literally annihilating the entire squad. It was +the Indian style of warfare, and the ten "good Indians" left upon the +field, had they been able to complain, would have had no right to do so. + +Will continued the march, and as the day was well advanced, began +looking for a good place to camp. Arriving at the top of a ridge +overlooking a little river, Will saw a spot where he had camped on a +previous expedition; but, to his great disappointment, the place was +in possession of a large village of hostiles, who were putting up their +tepees, building camp fires, and making themselves comfortable for the +coming night. + +Quick as a flash Will decided what to do. "There are too many of them +for us to whip in the tired condition of ourselves and horses," said +our hero. Then he posted his men along the top of the ridge, with +instructions to show themselves at a signal from him, and descended at +once, solitary and alone, to the encampment of hostiles. Gliding rapidly +up to the chief, Will addressed him in his own dialect as follows: + +"I want you to leave here right away, quick! I don't want to kill your +women and children. A big lot of soldiers are following me, and they +will destroy your whole village if you are here when they come." + +As he waved his hand in the direction of the hilltop, brass buttons and +polished gun-barrels began to glitter in the rays of the setting sun, +and the chief ordered his braves to fold their tents and move on. + + + +CHAPTER XXX. -- CODY DAY AT THE OMAHA EXPOSITION. + +SINCE 1893 the "Wild West" exhibitions have been restricted to the +various cities of our own land. Life in "Buffalo Bill's Tented City," +as it is called, is like life in a small village. There are some six +hundred persons in the various departments. Many of the men have their +families with them; the Indians have their squaws and papooses, and the +variety of nationalities, dialects, and costumes makes the miniature +city an interesting and entertaining one. + +The Indians may be seen eating bundles of meat from their fingers +and drinking tankards of iced buttermilk. The Mexicans, a shade more +civilized, shovel with their knives great quantities of the same food +into the capacious receptacles provided by nature. The Americans, +despite what is said of their rapid eating, take time to laugh and crack +jokes, and finish their repast with a product only known to the highest +civilization--ice-cream. + +When the "Wild West" visited Boston, one hot June day the parade passed +a children's hospital on the way to the show-grounds. Many of the little +invalids were unable to leave their couches. All who could do so ran to +the open windows and gazed eagerly at the passing procession, and +the greatest excitement prevailed. These more fortunate little ones +described, as best they could, to the little sufferers who could not +leave their beds the wonderful things they saw. The Indians were the +special admiration of the children. After the procession passed, one wee +lad, bedridden by spinal trouble, cried bitterly because he had not +seen it. A kind-hearted nurse endeavored to soothe the child, but words +proved unavailing. Then a bright idea struck the patient woman; she told +him he might write a letter to the great "Buffalo Bill" himself and ask +him for an Indian's picture. + +The idea was taken up with delight, and the child spent an eager hour +in penning the letter. It was pathetic in its simplicity. The little +sufferer told the great exhibitor that he was sick in bed, was unable to +see the Indians when they passed the hospital, and that he longed to see +a photograph of one. + +The important missive was mailed, and even the impatient little invalid +knew it was useless to expect an answer that day. The morning had hardly +dawned before a child's bright eyes were open. Every noise was listened +to, and he wondered when the postman would bring him a letter. The nurse +hardly dared to hope that a busy man like Buffalo Bill would take time +to respond to the wish of a sick child. + +"Colonel Cody is a very busy man," she said. "We must be patient." + +At perhaps the twentieth repetition of this remark the door opened +noiselessly. In came a six-foot Indian, clad in leather trousers and +wrapped in a scarlet blanket. He wore a head-dress of tall, waving +feathers, and carried his bow in his hand. + +The little invalids gasped in wonder; then they shrieked with delight. +One by one, silent and noiseless, but smiling, six splendid warriors +followed the first. The visitors had evidently been well trained, and +had received explicit directions as to their actions. + +So unusual a sight in the orderly hospital so startled the nurse that +she could not even speak. The warriors drew up in a line and saluted +her. The happy children were shouting in such glee that the poor woman's +fright was unnoticed. + +The Indians ranged themselves in the narrow space between the cots, laid +aside their gay blankets, placed their bows upon the floor, and waving +their arms to and fro, executed a quiet war-dance. A sham battle was +fought, followed by a song of victory. After this the blankets were +again donned, the kindly red men went away, still smiling as benignly as +their war paint would allow them to do. A cheer of gratitude and delight +followed them down the broad corridors. The happy children talked about +Buffalo Bill and the "Wild West" for weeks after this visit. + +North Platte had long urged my brother to bring the exhibition there. +The citizens wished to see the mammoth tents spread over the ground +where the scout once followed the trail on the actual war-path; they +desired that their famous fellow-citizen should thus honor his home +town. A performance was finally given there on October 12, 1896, the +special car bearing Will and his party arriving the preceding day, +Sunday. The writer of these chronicles joined the party in Omaha, and we +left that city after the Saturday night performance. + +The Union Pacific Railroad had offered my brother every inducement +to make this trip; among other things, the officials promised to make +special time in running from Omaha to North Platte. + +When we awoke Sunday morning, we found that in some way the train had +been delayed, that instead of making special time we were several hours +late. Will telegraphed this fact to the officials. At the next station +double-headers were put on, and the gain became at once perceptible. +At Grand Island a congratulatory telegram was sent, noting the gain in +time. At the next station we passed the Lightning Express, the "flyer," +to which usually everything gives way, and the good faith of the company +was evidenced by the fact that this train was side-tracked to make way +for Buffalo Bill's "Wild West" train. Another message was sent over the +wires to the officials; it read as follows: + + +"Have just noticed that Lightning Express is side-tracked to make way +for Wild west. I herewith promote you to top seat in heaven." + + +The trip was a continued ovation. Every station was thronged, and Will +was obliged to step out on the platform and make a bow to the assembled +crowds, his appearance being invariably greeted with a round of cheers. +When we reached the station at North Platte, we found that the entire +population had turned out to receive their fellow-townsman. The "Cody +Guards," a band to which Will presented beautiful uniforms of white +broadcloth trimmed with gold braid, struck up the strains of "See, the +Conquering Hero Comes." The mayor attempted to do the welcoming honors +of the city, but it was impossible for him to make himself heard. Cheer +followed cheer from the enthusiastic crowd. + +We had expected to reach the place some hours earlier, but our late +arrival encroached upon the hour of church service. The ministers +discovered that it was impossible to hold their congregations; so they +were dismissed, and the pastors accompanied them to the station, one +reverend gentleman humorously remarking: + +"We shall be obliged to take for our text this morning 'Buffalo Bill and +his Wild West,' and will now proceed to the station for the discourse." + +Will's tally-ho coach, drawn by six horses, was in waiting for the +incoming party. The members of his family seated themselves in that +conveyance, and we passed through the town, preceded and followed by +a band. As we arrived at the home residence, both bands united in a +welcoming strain of martial music. + +My oldest sister, Julia, whose husband is manager of "Scout's Rest +Ranch," when informed that the "Wild West" was to visit North Platte, +conceived the idea of making this visit the occasion of a family +reunion. We had never met in an unbroken circle since the days of +our first separation, but as a result of her efforts we sat thus that +evening in my brother's home. The next day our mother-sister, as she had +always been regarded, entertained us at "Scout's Rest Ranch." + +The "Wild West" exhibition had visited Duluth for the first time that +same year. This city has a population of 65,000. North Platte numbers +3,500. When he wrote to me of his intention to take the exhibition to +Duluth, Will offered to make a wager that his own little town would +furnish a bigger crowd than would the city of my residence. I could +not accept any such inferred slur upon the Zenith City, so accepted the +wager, a silk hat against a fur cloak. + +October 12th, the date of the North Platte performance, dawned bright +and cloudless. "To-day decides our wager," said Will. "I expect there +will be two or three dozen people out on this prairie. Duluth turned +out a good many thousands, so I suppose you think your wager as good as +won." + +The manager of the tents evidently thought the outlook a forlorn one. I +shared his opinion, and was, in fancy, already the possessor of a fine +fur cloak. + +"Colonel, shall we stretch the full canvas?" asked the tentman. + +"Every inch of it," was the prompt response. "We want to show North +Platte the capacity of the 'Wild West,' at any rate." + +As we started for the grounds Will was evidently uncertain over the +outcome, in spite of his previous boast of the reception North Platte +would give him. "We'll have a big tent and plenty of room to spare in +it," he observed. + +But as we drove to the grounds we soon began to see indications of a +coming crowd. The people were pouring in from all directions; the very +atmosphere seemed populated; as the dust was nearly a foot deep on the +roads, the moving populace made the air almost too thick for breathing. +It was during the time of the county fair, and managers of the Union +Pacific road announced that excursion trains would be run from every +town and hamlet, the officials and their families coming up from Omaha +on a special car. Where the crowds came from it was impossible to say. +It looked as if a feat of magic had been performed, and that the stones +were turned into men, or, perchance, that, as in olden tales, they came +up out of the earth. + +Accustomed though he is to the success of the show, Will was dumfounded +by this attendance. As the crowds poured in I became alarmed about my +wager. I visited the ticket-seller and asked how the matter stood. + +"It's pretty close," he answered. "Duluth seems to be dwindling away +before the mightiness of the Great American Desert." + +This section of the country, which was a wilderness only a few years +ago, assembled over ten thousand people to attend a performance of the +"Wild West." + +Omaha, where the opening performance of this exhibition was given, +honored Will last year by setting apart one day as "Cody Day." August +31st was devoted to his reception, and a large and enthusiastic crowd +gathered to do the Nebraska pioneer honor. The parade reached the +fair-grounds at eleven o'clock, where it was fittingly received by one +hundred and fifty mounted Indians from the encampment. A large square +space had been reserved for the reception of the party in front of the +Sherman gate. As it filed through, great applause was sent up by the +waiting multitude, and the noise became deafening when my brother made +his appearance on a magnificent chestnut horse, the gift of General +Miles. He was accompanied by a large party of officials and Nebraska +pioneers, who dismounted to seat themselves on the grand-stand. +Prominent among these were the governor of the state, Senator Thurston, +and Will's old friend and first employer, Mr. Alexander Majors. As +Will ascended the platform he was met by General Manager Clarkson, +who welcomed him in the name of the president of the exposition, whose +official duties precluded his presence. Governor Holcomb was then +introduced, and his speech was a brief review of the evolution of +Nebraska from a wilderness of a generation ago to the great state which +produced this marvelous exposition. Manager Clarkson remarked, as +he introduced Mr. Majors: "Here is the father of them all, Alexander +Majors, a man connected with the very earliest history of Nebraska, and +the business father of Colonel Cody." + +This old pioneer was accorded a reception only a shade less enthusiastic +than that which greeted the hero of the day. He said: + +"_Gentlemen, and My Boy, Colonel Cody_: [Laughter.] Can I say a few +words of welcome? Friend Creighton and I came down here together to-day, +and he thought I was not equal to the occasion. Gentlemen, I do not know +whether I am equal to the occasion at this time, but I am going to do +the best for you that I can. Give me your hand, Colonel. Gentlemen, +forty-three years ago this day, this fine-looking physical specimen +of manhood was brought to me by his mother--a little boy nine years +old--and little did I think at that time that the boy that was standing +before me, asking for employment of some kind by which I could afford to +pay his mother a little money for his services, was going to be a boy of +such destiny as he has turned out to be. In this country we have great +men, we have great men in Washington, we have men who are famous as +politicians in this country; we have great statesmen, we have had +Jackson and Grant, and we had Lincoln; we have men great in agriculture +and in stock-growing, and in the manufacturing business men who have +made great names for themselves, who have stood high in the nation. +Next, and even greater, we have a Cody. He, gentlemen, stands before you +now, known the wide world over as the last of the great scouts. When the +boy Cody came to me, standing straight as an arrow, and looked me in the +face, I said to my partner, Mr. Russell, who was standing by my side, +'We will take this little boy, and we will pay him a man's wages, +because he can ride a pony just as well as a man can.' He was lighter +and could do service of that kind when he was nine years old. I remember +when we paid him twenty-five dollars for the first month's work. He was +paid in half-dollars, and he got fifty of them. He tied them up in his +little handkerchief, and when he got home he untied the handkerchief and +spread the money all over the table." + + +Colonel Cody--"I have been spreading it ever since." + +A few remarks followed indicative of Mr. Majors's appreciation of the +exhibition, and he closed with the remark, "Bless your precious heart, +Colonel Cody!" and sat down, amid great applause. + +Senator Thurston's remarks were equally happy. He said: + + +"Colonel Cody, this is your day. This is your exposition. This is your +city. And we all rejoice that Nebraska is your state. You have carried +the fame of our country and of our state all over the civilized world; +you have been received and honored by princes, by emperors and by kings; +the titled women in the courts of the nations of the world have been +captivated by your charm of manner and your splendid manhood. You are +known wherever you go, abroad or in the United States, as Colonel Cody, +the best representative of the great and progressive West. You +stand here to-day in the midst of a wonderful assembly. Here are +representatives of the heroic and daring characters of most of the +nations of the world. You are entitled to the honor paid you to-day, and +especially entitled to it here. This people know you as a man who has +carried this demonstration of yours to foreign lands, and exhibited it +at home. You have not been a showman in the common sense of the word. +You have been a great national and international educator of men. You +have furnished a demonstration of the possibilities of our country that +has advanced us in the opinion of all the world. But we who have been +with you a third, or more than a third, of a century, we remember you +more dearly and tenderly than others do. We remember that when this +whole Western land was a wilderness, when these representatives of the +aborigines were attempting to hold their own against the onward tide +of civilization, the settler and the hardy pioneer, the women and the +children, felt safe whenever Cody rode along the frontier; he was their +protector and defender. + +"Cody, this is your home. You live in the hearts of the people of our +state. God bless you and keep you and prosper you in your splendid +work." + + +Will was deeply touched by these strong expressions from his friends. As +he moved to the front of the platform to respond, his appearance was the +signal for a prolonged burst of cheers. He said: + + +"You cannot expect me to make adequate response for the honor which +you have bestowed upon me to-day. You have overwhelmed my speaking +faculties. I cannot corral enough ideas to attempt a coherent reply in +response to the honor which you have accorded me. How little I dreamed +in the long ago that the lonely path of the scout and the pony-express +rider would lead me to the place you have assigned me to-day. Here, near +the banks of the mighty Missouri, which flows unvexed to the sea, my +thoughts revert to the early days of my manhood. I looked eastward +across this rushing tide to the Atlantic, and dreamed that in that +long-settled region all men were rich and all women happy. My friends, +that day has come and gone. I stand among you a witness that nowhere in +the broad universe are men richer in manly integrity, and women happier +in their domestic kingdom, than here in our own Nebraska. + +"I have sought fortune in many lands, but wherever I have wandered, the +flag of our beloved state has been unfurled to every breeze: from the +Platte to the Danube, from the Tiber to the Clyde, the emblem of our +sovereign state has always floated over the 'Wild West.' Time goes on +and brings with it new duties and responsibilities, but we 'old men,' +we who are called old-timers, cannot forget the trials and tribulations +which we had to encounter while paving the path for civilization and +national prosperity. + +"The whistle of the locomotive has drowned the howl of the coyote; +the barb-wire fence has narrowed the range of the cow-puncher; but +no material evidence of prosperity can obliterate our contribution to +Nebraska's imperial progress. + +"Through your kindness to-day I have tasted the sweetest fruit that +grows on ambition's tree. If you extend your kindness and permit me to +fall back into the ranks as a high private, my cup will be full. + +"In closing, let me call upon the 'Wild West, the Congress of Rough +Riders of the World,' to voice their appreciation of the kindness you +have shown them to-day." + + +At a given signal the "Wild West" gave three ringing cheers for Nebraska +and the Trans-Mississippi Exposition. The cowboy band followed with +the "Red, White, and Blue," and an exposition band responded with the +"Star-Spangled Banner." The company fell into line for a parade around +the grounds, Colonel Cody following on his chestnut horse, Duke. After +him came the officials and invited guests in carriages; then came the +Cossacks, the Cubans, the German cavalry, the United States cavalry, the +Mexicans, and representatives of twenty-five countries. + +As the parade neared its end, my brother turned to his friends and +suggested that as they had been detained long past the dinner-hour in +doing him honor, he would like to compensate them by giving an informal +spread. This invitation was promptly accepted, and the company adjourned +to a cafe, where a tempting luncheon was spread before them. Never +before had such a party of pioneers met around a banquet-table, and +many were the reminiscences of early days brought out. Mr. Majors, +the originator of the Pony Express line, was there. The two Creighton +brothers, who put through the first telegraph line, and took the +occupation of the express riders from them, had seats of honor. A. D. +Jones was introduced as the man who carried the first postoffice of +Omaha around in his hat, and who still wore the hat. Numbers of other +pioneers were there, and each contributed his share of racy anecdotes +and pleasant reminiscences. + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. -- THE LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS. + +THE story of frontier days is a tale that is told. The "Wild West" +has vanished like mist in the sun before the touch of the two great +magicians of the nineteenth century--steam and electricity. + +The route of the old historic Santa Fe trail is nearly followed by the +Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, which was completed in 1880. +The silence of the prairie was once broken by the wild war-whoop of the +Indian as he struggled to maintain his supremacy over some adjoining +tribe; the muffled roar caused by the heavy hoof-beats of thousands +of buffaloes was almost the only other sound that broke the stillness. +To-day the shriek of the engine, the clang of the bell, and the clatter +of the car-wheels form a ceaseless accompaniment to the cheerful hum of +busy life which everywhere pervades the wilderness of thirty years ago. +Almost the only memorials of the struggles and privations of the hardy +trappers and explorers, whose daring courage made the achievements of +the present possible, are the historic landmarks which bear the names of +some of these brave men. But these are very few in number. Pike's Peak +lifts its snowy head to heaven in silent commemoration of the early +traveler whose name it bears. Simpson's Rest, a lofty obelisk, +commemorates the mountaineer whose life was for the most part passed +upon its rugged slopes, and whose last request was that he should be +buried on its summit. Another cloud-capped mountain-height bears the +name of Fisher's Peak, and thereby hangs a tale. + +{illust. caption = {signature of} W. F. Cody} + +Captain Fisher commanded a battery in the army engaged in the conquest +of New Mexico. His command encamped near the base of the mountain which +now bears his name. Deceived by the illusive effect of the atmosphere, +he started out for a morning stroll to the supposed near-by elevation, +announcing that he would return in time for breakfast. The day passed +with no sign of Captain Fisher, and night lengthened into a new day. +When the second day passed without his return, his command was forced to +believe that he had fallen a prey to lurking Indians, and the soldiers +were sadly taking their seats for their evening meal when the haggard +and wearied captain put in an appearance. His morning stroll had +occupied two days and a night; but he set out to visit the mountain, and +he did it. + +The transcontinental line which supplanted the Old Salt Lake trail, +and is now known as the Union Pacific Railroad, antedated the Atchison, +Topeka and Santa Fe by eleven years. The story of the difficulties +encountered, and the obstacles overcome in the building of this road, +furnishes greater marvels than any narrated in the Arabian Nights' +Tales. + +This railroad superseded the Pony Express line, the reeking, panting +horses of which used their utmost endeavor and carried their tireless +riders fifteen miles an hour, covering their circuit in eight days' +time at their swiftest rate of speed. The iron horse gives a sniff of +disdain, and easily traverses the same distance, from the Missouri line +to the Pacific Coast, in three days. + +Travelers who step aboard the swiftly moving, luxurious cars of to-day +give little thought to their predecessors; for the dangers the early +voyagers encountered they have no sympathy. The traveler in the +stagecoach was beset by perils without from the Indians and the outlaws; +he faced the equally unpleasant companionship of fatigue and discomfort +within. The jolting, swinging coach bounced and jounced the unhappy +passengers as the reckless driver lashed the flying horses. Away they +galloped over mountains and through ravines, with no cessation of speed. +Even the shipper pays the low rate of transportation asked to-day with +reluctance, and forgets the great debt he owes this adjunct of our +civilization. + +But great as are the practical benefits derived from the railways, we +cannot repress a sigh as we meditate on the picturesque phases of the +vanished era. Gone are the bullwhackers and the prairie-schooners! +Gone are the stagecoaches and their drivers! Gone are the Pony Express +riders! Gone are the trappers, the hardy pioneers, the explorers, and +the scouts! Gone is the prairie monarch, the shaggy, unkempt buffalo! + +In 1869, only thirty years ago, the train on the Kansas Pacific-road was +delayed eight hours in consequence of the passage of an enormous herd +of buffaloes over the track in front of it. But the easy mode of travel +introduced by the railroad brought hundreds of sportsmen to the plains, +who wantonly killed this noble animal solely for sport, and thousands +of buffaloes were sacrificed for their skins, for which there was a +widespread demand. From 1868 to 1881, in Kansas alone, there was paid +out $2,500,000 for the bones of this animal, which were gathered up on +the prairie and used in the carbon works of the country. This represents +a total death-rate of 31,000,000 buffaloes in one state. As far as I am +able to ascertain, there remains at this writing only one herd, of less +than twenty animals, out of all the countless thousands that roamed the +prairie so short a time ago, and this herd is carefully preserved in a +private park. There may be a few isolated specimens in menageries +and shows, but this wholesale slaughter has resulted in the practical +extermination of the species. + +As with the animal native to our prairies, so has it been with the +race native to our land. We may deplore the wrongs of the Indian, +and sympathize with his efforts to wrest justice from his so-called +protectors. We may admire his poetic nature, as evidenced in the myths +and legends of the race. We may be impressed by the stately dignity +and innate ability as orator and statesman which he displays. We may +preserve the different articles of his picturesque garb as relics. But +the old, old drama of history is repeating itself before the eyes +of this generation; the inferior must give way to the superior +civilization. The poetic, picturesque, primitive red man must inevitably +succumb before the all-conquering tread of his pitiless, practical, +progressive white brother. + +Cooper has immortalized for us the extinction of a people in the "Last +of the Mohicans." Many another tribe has passed away, unhonored and +unsung. Westward the "Star of Empire" takes its way; the great domain +west of the Mississippi is now peopled by the white race, while the +Indians are shut up in reservations. Their doom is sealed; their sun is +set. "Kismet" has been spoken of them; the total extinction of the race +is only a question of time. In the words of Rudyard Kipling: + + "Take up the White Man's burden-- + Ye dare not stoop to less-- + Nor call too loud on freedom + To cloke your weariness. + By all ye will or whisper, + By all ye leave or do, + The silent, sullen peoples + Shall weigh your God and you." + +Of this past epoch of our national life there remains but one well-known +representative. That one is my brother. He occupies a unique place in +the portrait gallery of famous Americans to-day. It is not alone his +commanding personality, nor the success he has achieved along various +lines, which gives him the strong hold he has on the hearts of the +American people, or the absorbing interest he possesses in the eyes of +foreigners. The fact that in his own person he condenses a period of +national history is a large factor in the fascination he exercises over +others. He may fitly be named the "Last of the Great Scouts." He has +had great predecessors. The mantle of Kit Carson has fallen upon his +shoulders, and he wears it worthily. He has not, and never can have, a +successor. He is the vanishing-point between the rugged wilderness of +the past in Western life and the vast achievement in the present. + +When the "Wild West" disbands, the last vestige of our frontier life +passes from the scene of active realities, and becomes a matter of +history. + +"Life is real, life is earnest," sings the poet, and real and earnest it +has been for my brother. It has been spent in others' service. I cannot +recall a time when he has not thus been laden with heavy burdens. Yet +for himself he has won a reputation, national and international. A +naval officer visiting in China relates that as he stepped ashore he +was offered two books for purchase--one the Bible, the other a "Life of +Buffalo Bill." + +For nearly half a century, which comprises his childhood, youth, and +manhood, my brother has been before the public. He can scarcely be said +to have had a childhood, so early was he thrust among the rough scenes +of frontier life, therein to play a man's part at an age when most boys +think of nothing more than marbles and tops. He enlisted in the Union +army before he was of age, and did his share in upholding the flag +during the Civil War as ably as many a veteran of forty, and since then +he has remained, for the most part, in his country's service, always +ready to go to the front in any time of danger. He has achieved +distinction in many and various ways. He is president of the largest +irrigation enterprise in the world, president of a colonization company, +of a town-site company, and of two transportation companies. He is the +foremost scout and champion buffalo-hunter of America, one of the +crack shots of the world, and its greatest popular entertainer. He is +broad-minded and progressive in his views, inheriting from both father +and mother a hatred of oppression in any form. Taking his mother as +a standard, he believes the franchise is a birthright which should +appertain to intelligence and education, rather than to sex. It is his +public career that lends an interest to his private life, in which he +has been a devoted and faithful son and brother, a kind and considerate +husband, a loving and generous father. "Only the names of them that +are upright, brave, and true can be honorably known," were the mother's +dying words; and honorably known has his name become, in his own country +and across the sea. + +With the fondest expectation he looks forward to the hour when he shall +make his final bow to the public and retire to private life. It is his +long-cherished desire to devote his remaining years to the development +of the Big Horn Basin, in Wyoming. He has visited every country in +Europe, and has looked upon the most beautiful of Old World scenes. He +is familiar with all the most splendid regions of his own land, but to +him this new El Dorado of the West is the fairest spot on earth. + +He has already invested thousands of dollars and given much thought and +attention toward the accomplishment of his pet scheme. An irrigating +ditch costing nearly a million dollars now waters this fertile region, +and various other improvements are under way, to prepare a land +flowing with milk and honey for the reception of thousands of homeless +wanderers. Like the children of Israel, these would never reach the +promised land but for the untiring efforts of a Moses to go on before; +but unlike the ancient guide and scout of sacred history, my brother has +been privileged to penetrate the remotest corner of this primitive land +of Canaan. The log cabin he has erected there is not unlike the one of +our childhood days. Here he finds his haven of rest, his health-resort, +to which he hastens when the show season is over and he is free again +for a space. He finds refreshment in the healthful, invigorating +atmosphere of his chosen retreat; he enjoys sweet solace from the cares +of life under the influence of its magnificent scenery. + +And here, in the shadow of the Rockies, yet in the very "light of +things," it is his wish to finish his days as he began them, in +opening up for those who come after him the great regions of the still +undeveloped West, and in poring over the lesson learned as a boy on the +plains: + + "That nature never did betray + The heart that loved her." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Last of the Great Scouts, by Helen Cody Wetmore + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS *** + +***** This file should be named 1248.txt or 1248.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/4/1248/ + +Produced by Charles Keller and David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/1248.zip b/old/1248.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..98196a8 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1248.zip diff --git a/old/old/bbill10.txt b/old/old/bbill10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ccf97a3 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/bbill10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9753 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Etext of Last of the Great Scouts by Wetmore +Last of the Great Scouts, by Helen Cody Wetmore +The Life Story of William F. Cody ["Buffalo Bill" Cody] + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. We need your donations. + + +Last of the Great Scouts +The Life Story of William F. Cody ["Buffalo Bill" Cody] + +by Helen Cody Wetmore + +March, 1998 [Etext #1248] + + +Project Gutenberg's Etext of Last of the Great Scouts by Wetmore +******This file should be named bbill10.txt or bbill10.zip****** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, bbill11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, bbill10a.txt + + +Scanned by Charles Keller with OmniPage Professional OCR software + + +Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions, +all of which are in the Public Domain in the United States, unless a +copyright notice is included. Therefore, we do NOT keep these books +in compliance with any particular paper edition, usually otherwise. + + +We are now trying to release all our books one month in advance +of the official release dates, for time for better editing. + +Please note: neither this list nor its contents are final till +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. To be sure you have an +up to date first edition [xxxxx10x.xxx] please check file sizes +in the first week of the next month. Since our ftp program has +a bug in it that scrambles the date [tried to fix and failed] a +look at the file size will have to do, but we will try to see a +new copy has at least one byte more or less. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +fifty hours is one conservative estimate for how long it we take +to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. This +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If our value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour this year as we release thirty-two text +files per month, or 384 more Etexts in 1998 for a total of 1500+ +If these reach just 10% of the computerized population, then the +total should reach over 150 billion Etexts given away. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext +Files by the December 31, 2001. [10,000 x 100,000,000=Trillion] +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only 10% of the present number of computer users. 2001 +should have at least twice as many computer users as that, so it +will require us reaching less than 5% of the users in 2001. + + +We need your donations more than ever! + + +All donations should be made to "Project Gutenberg/CMU": and are +tax deductible to the extent allowable by law. (CMU = Carnegie- +Mellon University). + +For these and other matters, please mail to: + +Project Gutenberg +P. O. Box 2782 +Champaign, IL 61825 + +When all other email fails try our Executive Director: +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +We would prefer to send you this information by email +(Internet, Bitnet, Compuserve, ATTMAIL or MCImail). + +****** +If you have an FTP program (or emulator), please +FTP directly to the Project Gutenberg archives: +[Mac users, do NOT point and click. . .type] + +ftp uiarchive.cso.uiuc.edu +login: anonymous +password: your@login +cd etext/etext90 through /etext96 +or cd etext/articles [get suggest gut for more information] +dir [to see files] +get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files] +GET INDEX?00.GUT +for a list of books +and +GET NEW GUT for general information +and +MGET GUT* for newsletters. + +**Information prepared by the Project Gutenberg legal advisor** +(Three Pages) + + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you can distribute copies of this etext if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this etext on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG- +tm etexts, is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor +Michael S. Hart through the Project Gutenberg Association at +Carnegie-Mellon University (the "Project"). Among other +things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext +under the Project's "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] the Project (and any other party you may receive this +etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold the Project, its directors, +officers, members and agents harmless from all liability, cost +and expense, including legal fees, that arise directly or +indirectly from any of the following that you do or cause: +[1] distribution of this etext, [2] alteration, modification, +or addition to the etext, or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + etext or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word pro- + cessing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The etext may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the etext (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Project of 20% of the + net profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Carnegie-Mellon University". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Scanned by Charles Keller with OmniPage Professional OCR software + + + + + +Last of the Great Scouts, by Helen Cody Wetmore +The Life Story of William F. Cody ["Buffalo Bill" Cody] + + + + +LAST OF THE GREAT +SCOUTS + +THE LIFE STORY OF +COL. WILLIAM F. CODY +"BUFFALO BILL" + +AS TOLD BY HIS SISTER +HELEN CODY WETMORE + + + + +TO THE MEMORY OF A MOTHER +WHOSE CHRISTIAN +CHARACTER STILL LIVES A HALLOWED +INFLUENCE + + + + +GENEALOGY OF BUFFALO BILL. + +The following genealogical sketch was compiled in 1897. +The crest is copied from John Rooney's "Genealogical History +of Irish Families." + +It is not generally known that genuine royal blood courses in +Colonel Cody's veins. He is a lineal descendant of Milesius, king of Spain, +that famous monarch whose three sons, Heber, Heremon, and Ir, founded the +first dynasty in Ireland, about the beginning of the Christian era. +The Cody family comes through the line of Heremon. The original +name was Tireach, which signifies "The Rocks." Muiredach Tireach, +one of the first of this line, and son of Fiacha Straivetine, +was crowned king of Ireland, Anno Domini 320. Another of the line +became king of Connaught, Anno Domini 701. The possessions of the Sept +were located in the present counties of Clare, Galway, and Mayo. +The names Connaught-Gallway, after centuries, gradually contracted +to Connallway, Connellway, Connelly, Conly, Cory, Coddy, Coidy, and Cody, +and is clearly shown by ancient indentures still traceable among +existing records. On the maternal side, Colonel Cody can, without difficulty, +follow his lineage to the best blood of England. Several of the Cody +family emigrated to America in 1747, settling in Maryland, Pennsylvania, +and Virginia. The name is frequently mentioned in Revolutionary history. +Colonel Cody is a member of the Cody family of Revolutionary fame. +Like the other Spanish-Irish families, the Codys have their proof of +ancestry in the form of a crest, the one which Colonel Cody is entitled +to use being printed herewith. The lion signifies Spanish origin. +It is the same figure that forms a part of the royal coat-of-arms +of Spain to this day--Castile and Leon. The arm and cross denote +that the descent is through the line of Heremon, whose posterity were +among the first to follow the cross, as a symbol of their adherence +to the Christian faith. + + + +PREFACE. + +In presenting this volume to the public the writer has a twofold purpose. +For a number of years there has been an increasing demand for an authentic +biography of "Buffalo Bill," and in response, many books of varying +value have been submitted; yet no one of them has borne the hall-mark of +veracious history. Naturally, there were incidents in Colonel Cody's life-- +more especially in the earlier years--that could be given only by those with +whom he had grown up from childhood. For many incidents of his later life +I am indebted to his own and others' accounts. I desire to acknowledge +obligation to General P. H. Sheridan, Colonel Inman, Colonel Ingraham, and my +brother for valuable assistance furnished by Sheridan's Memoirs, "The Santa +Fe Trail," "The Great Salt Lake Trail," "Buffalo Bill's Autobiography," +and "Stories from the Life of Buffalo Bill." + +A second reason that prompted the writing of my brother's +life-story is purely personal. The sobriquet of "Buffalo Bill" +has conveyed to many people an impression of his personality +that is far removed from the facts. They have pictured in fancy +a rough frontier character, without tenderness and true nobility. +But in very truth has the poet sung: + "The bravest are the tenderest-- + The loving are the daring." + + +The public knows my brother as boy Indian-slayer, a +champion buffalo-hunter, a brave soldier, a daring scout, +an intrepid frontiersman, and a famous exhibitor. +It is only fair to him that a glimpse be given of the parts +he played behind the scenes--devotion to a widowed mother, +that pushed the boy so early upon a stage of ceaseless action, +continued care and tenderness displayed in later years, +and the generous thoughtfulness of manhood's prime. + +Thus a part of my pleasant task has been to enable the public to see my +brother through his sister's eyes--eyes that have seen truly if kindly. +If I have been tempted into praise where simple narrative might +to the reader seem all that was required, if I have seemed to +exaggerate in any of my history's details, I may say that I am not +conscious of having set down more than "a plain, unvarnished tale." +Embarrassed with riches of fact, I have had no thought of fiction. +H. C. W. + +CODYVIEW, DULUTH, MINNESOTA, February 26, 1899. + + + +LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS. + +CHAPTER I. + +THE OLD HOMESTEAD IN IOWA. + +A PLEASANT, roomy farm-house, set in the sunlight against +a background of cool, green wood and mottled meadow-- +this is the picture that my earliest memories frame for me. +To this home my parents, Isaac and Mary Cody, had moved soon +after their marriage. + +The place was known as the Scott farm, and was situated in Scott County, Iowa, +near the historic little town of Le Clair, where, but a few years before, +a village of the Fox Indians had been located; where Black Hawk and his +thousand warriors had assembled for their last war-dance; where the marquee +of General Scott was erected, and the treaty with the Sacs and Foxes drawn up; +and where, in obedience to the Sac chief's terms, Antoine Le Clair, +the famous half-breed Indian scholar and interpreter, had built his cabin, +and given to the place his name. Here, in this atmosphere of pioneer +struggle and Indian warfare--in the farm-house in the dancing sunshine, +with the background of wood and meadow--my brother, William Frederick Cody, +was born, on the 26th day of February, 1846. + +Of the good, old-fashioned sort was our family, numbering five +daughters and two sons--Martha, Samuel, Julia, William, Eliza, Helen, +and May. Samuel, a lad of unusual beauty of face and nature, +was killed through an unhappy accident before he was yet fourteen. + +He was riding "Betsy Baker," a mare well known among old settlers in Iowa as +one of speed and pedigree, yet displaying at times a most malevolent temper, +accompanied by Will, who, though only seven years of age, yet sat his pony +with the ease and grace that distinguished the veteran rider of the future. +Presently Betsy Baker became fractious, and sought to throw her rider. +In vain did she rear and plunge; he kept his saddle. Then, seemingly, +she gave up the fight, and Samuel cried, in boyish exultation: + +"Ah, Betsy Baker, you didn't quite come it that time!" + +His last words! As if she knew her rider was a careless victor off +his guard, the mare reared suddenly and flung herself upon her back, +crushing the daring boy beneath her. + +Though to us younger children our brother Samuel was but a shadowy +memory, in him had centered our parents' fondest hopes and aims. +These, naturally, were transferred to the younger, now the only son, +and the hope that mother, especially, held for him was strangely +stimulated by the remembrance of the mystic divination of a soothsayer +in the years agone. My mother was a woman of too much intelligence +and force of character to nourish an average superstition; +but prophecies fulfilled will temper, though they may not shake, +the smiling unbelief of the most hard-headed skeptic. +Mother's moderate skepticism was not proof against the strange +fulfillment of one prophecy, which fell out in this wise: + +To a Southern city, which my mother visited when a girl, +there came a celebrated fortune-teller, and led by curiosity, +my mother and my aunt one day made two of the crowd that thronged +the sibyl's drawing-rooms. + +Both received with laughing incredulity the prophecy that my aunt +and the two children with her would be dead in a fortnight; +but the dread augury was fulfilled to the letter. All three were +stricken with yellow fever, and died within less than the time set. +This startling confirmation of the soothsayer's divining powers +not unnaturally affected my mother's belief in that part of +the prophecy relating to herself that "she would meet her future +husband on the steamboat by which she expected to return home; +that she would be married to him in a year, and bear three sons, +of whom only the second would live, but that the name of this +son would be known all over the world, and would one day +be that of the President of the United States." The first +part of this prophecy was verified, and Samuel's death +was another link in the curious chain of circumstances. +Was it, then, strange that mother looked with unusual hope upon +her second son? + +That 'tis good fortune for a boy to be only brother to five +sisters is open to question. The older girls petted Will; +the younger regarded him as a superior being; while to all it +seemed so fit and proper that the promise of the stars concerning +his future should be fulfilled that never for a moment did we +weaken in our belief that great things were in store for our +only brother. We looked for the prophecy's complete fulfillment, +and with childish veneration regarded Will as one destined +to sit in the executive's chair. + +My mother, always somewhat delicate, was so affected in health +by the shock of Samuel's death that a change of scene was advised. +The California gold craze was then at its height, and father caught +the fever, though in a mild form; for he had prospered as a farmer, +and we not only had a comfortable home, but were in easy circumstances. +Influenced in part by a desire to improve mother's health, and in part, +no doubt, by the golden day-dreams that lured so many Argonauts Pacificward, +he disposed of his farm, and bade us prepare for a Western journey. +Before his plans were completed he fell in with certain disappointed +gold-seekers returning from the Coast, and impressed by their representations, +decided in favor of Kansas instead of California. + +Father had very extravagant ideas regarding vehicles and horses, +and such a passion for equestrian display, that we often found +ourselves with a stable full of thoroughbreds and an empty cupboard. +For our Western migration we had, in addition to three +prairie-schooners, a large family carriage, drawn by a span +of fine horses in silver-mounted harness. This carriage had been +made to order in the East, upholstered in the finest leather, +polished and varnished as though for a royal progress. +Mother and we girls found it more comfortable riding than +the springless prairie-schooners. + +Brother Will constituted himself an armed escort, and rode proudly +alongside on his pony, his gun slung across the pommel of his saddle, +and the dog Turk bringing up the rear. + +To him this Western trip thrilled with possible Indian skirmishes +and other stirring adventures, though of the real dangers that lay +in our path he did not dream. For him, therefore, the first week +of our travels held no great interest, for we were constantly chancing +upon settlers and farm-houses, in which the night might be passed; +but with every mile the settlers grew fewer and farther between; +until one day Will whispered to us, in great glee: "I heard father +tell mother that he expected we should have to camp to-night. Now +we'll have some fun!" + +Will's hope was well founded. Shortly before nightfall we +reached a stream that demanded a ferry-boat for its crossing, +and as the nearest dwelling was a dozen miles away, it was +decided that we should camp by the stream-side. The family +was first sent across the ferry, and upon the eight-year-old +lad of the house father placed the responsibility of selecting +the ground on which to pitch the tents. + +My brother's career forcibly illustrates the fact that environment +plays as large a part as heredity in shaping character. +Perhaps his love for the free life of the plains is a heritage +derived from some long-gone ancestor; but there can be no doubt +that to the earlier experiences of which I am writing he owed +his ability as a scout. The faculty for obtaining water, +striking trails, and finding desirable camping-grounds in him +seemed almost instinct. + +The tents being pitched upon a satisfactory site, Will called to Turk, +the dog, and rifle in hand, set forth in search of game for supper. +He was successful beyond his fondest hopes. He had looked only for +small game, but scarcely had he put the camp behind him when Turk gave +a signaling yelp, and out of the bushes bounded a magnificent deer. +Nearly every hunter will confess to "buck fever" at sight of his first deer, +so it is not strange that a boy of Will's age should have stood immovable, +staring dazedly at the graceful animal until it vanished from sight. +Turk gave chase, but soon trotted back, and barked reproachfully +at his young master. But Will presently had an opportunity +to recover Turk's good opinion, for the dog, after darting away, +with another signaling yelp fetched another fine stag within gun range. +This time the young hunter, mastering his nerves, took aim with steady hand, +and brought down his first deer. + +On the following Sabbath we were encamped by another deep, +swift-running stream. After being wearied and overheated by a +rabbit chase, Turk attempted to swim across this little river, +but was chilled, and would have perished had not Will rushed +to the rescue. The ferryman saw the boy struggling with +the dog in the water, and started after him with his boat. +But Will reached the bank without assistance. + +"I've hearn of dogs saving children, but this is the first time I ever +hearn of a child saving a dog from drowning," ejaculated the ferryman. +"How old be you?" + +"Eight, going on nine," answered Will. + +"You're a big boy for your age," said the man. "But it's +a wonder you didn't sink with that load; he's a big old fellow," +referring to Turk, who, standing on three feet, was vigorously +shaking the water from his coat. Will at once knelt down +beside him, and taking the uplifted foot in his hands, remarked: +"He must have sprained one of his legs when he fell over that log; +he doesn't whine like your common curs when they get hurt." + +"He's blooded stock, then," said the man. "What kind of dog +do you call him?" + +"He's an Ulm dog," said Will. + +"I never heard tell of that kind of dog before." + +"Did you ever hear of a tiger-mastiff, German mastiff, +boar-hound, great Dane? Turk's all of them together." + +"Well," said the ferryman, "you're a pretty smart little fellow, +and got lots of grit. You ought to make your mark in the world. +But right now you had better get into some dry clothes." +And on the invitation of the ferryman, Will and the limping dog +got into the boat, and were taken back to camp. + +Turk played so conspicuous and important a part in our early lives +that he deserves a brief description. He was a large and powerful animal +of the breed of dogs anciently used in Germany in hunting the wild boars. +Later the dogs were imported into England, where they were particularly +valued by people desiring a strong, brave watch-dog. When specially +trained, they are more fierce and active than the English mastiff. +Naturally they are not as fond of the water as the spaniel, the stag-hound, +or the Newfoundland, though they are the king of dogs on land. +Not alone Will, but the rest of the family, regarded Turk as the best +of his kind, and he well deserved the veneration he inspired. +His fidelity and almost human intelligence were time and again the means +of saving life and property; ever faithful, loyal, and ready to lay +down his life, if need be, in our service. + +Outlaws and desperadoes were always to be met with on Western trails +in those rugged days, and more than once Turk's constant vigilance warned +father in time to prevent attacks from suspicious night prowlers. +The attachment which had grown up between Turk and his young master +was but the natural love of boys for their dogs intensified. +Will at that time estimated dogs as in later years he did men, +the qualities which he found to admire in Turk being vigilance, +strength, courage, and constancy. With men, as with dogs, +he is not lavishly demonstrative; rarely pats them on the back. +But deeds of merit do not escape his notice or want his appreciation. +The patience, unselfishness, and true nobility observed in this +faithful canine friend of his boyhood days have many times proved +to be lacking in creatures endowed with a soul; yet he has never +lost faith in mankind, or in the ultimate destiny of his race. +This I conceive to be a characteristic of all great men. + +This trip was memorable for all of us, perhaps especially so for brother Will, +for it comprehended not only his first deer, but his first negro. + +As we drew near the Missouri line we came upon a comfortable farm-house, +at which father made inquiry concerning a lodging for the night. +A widow lived there, and the information that father was brother +to Elijah Cody, of Platte County, Missouri, won us a cordial welcome +and the hospitality of her home. + +We were yet in the road, waiting father's report, when our startled +vision and childish imagination took in a seeming apparition, +which glided from the bushes by the wayside. + +It proved a full-blooded African, with thick lips, +woolly hair, enormous feet, and scant attire. To all except +mother this was a new revelation of humanity, and we stared +in wild-eyed wonder; even Turk was surprised into silence. +At this point father rejoined us, to share in mother's amusement, +and to break the spell for us by pleasantly addressing the negro, +who returned a respectful answer, accompanied by an ample grin. +He was a slave on the widow's plantation. + +Reassured by the grin, Will offered his hand, and tasted the joy +of being addressed as "Massa" in the talk that followed. +It was with difficulty that we prevailed upon "Masse" to +come to supper. + +After a refreshing night's sleep we went on our way, +and in a few days reached my uncle's home. A rest was welcome, +as the journey had been long and toilsome, despite the fact +that it had been enlivened by many interesting incidents, +and was thoroughly enjoyed by all of the family. + + + +CHAPTER II. + +WILL'S FIRST INDIAN. + +MY uncle's home was in Weston, Platte County, Missouri, at that time the large +city of the West. As father desired to get settled again as soon as possible, +he left us at Weston, and crossed the Missouri River on a prospecting tour, +accompanied by Will and a guide. More than one day went by in the quest +for a desirable location, and one morning Will, wearied in the reconnoissance, +was left asleep at the night's camping-place, while father and the guide rode +away for the day's exploring. + +When Will opened his eyes they fell upon the most interesting +object that the world just then could offer him--an Indian! + +The "noble red man," as he has been poetically termed by people who +have but known him from afar, was in the act of mounting Will's horse, +while near by stood his own, a miserable, scrawny beast. + +Will's boyish dreams were now a reality; he looked upon +his first Indian. Here, too, was a "buck"--not a graceful, +vanishing deer, but a dirty redskin, who seemingly was +in some hurry to be gone. Without a trace of "buck fever," +Will jumped up, rifle in hand, and demanded: + +"Here, what are you doing with my horse?" + +The Indian regarded the lad with contemptuous composure. + +"Me swap horses with paleface boy," said he. + +The red man was fully armed, and Will did not know whether +his father and the guide were within call or not; but to suffer +the Indian to ride away with Uncle Elijah's fine horse was to +forfeit his father's confidence and shake his mother's and sisters' +belief in the family hero; so he put a bold face upon the matter, +and remarked carelessly, as if discussing a genuine transaction: + +"No; I won't swap." + +"Paleface boy fool!" returned the Indian, serenely. + +Now this was scarcely the main point at issue, so Will contented +himself with replying, quietly but firmly: + +"You cannot take my horse." + +The Indian condescended to temporize. "Paleface horse no good," said he. + +"Good enough for me," replied Will, smiling despite the gravity of +the situation. The Indian shone rather as a liar than a judge of horseflesh. +"Good enough for me; so you can take your old rack of bones and go." + +Much to Will's surprise, the red man dropped the rein, flung himself upon his +own pony, and made off. And down fell"Lo the poor Indian" from the exalted +niche that he had filled in Will's esteem, for while it was bad in a copper +hero to steal horses, it was worse to flee from a boy not yet in his teens. +But a few moments later Lo went back to his lofty pedestal, for Will +heard the guide's voice, and realized that it was the sight of a man, +and not the threats of a boy, that had sent the Indian about his business-- +if he had any. + +The guide had returned to escort Will to the spot which father, +after a search of nearly a week, had discovered, and where he had +decided to locate our home. It was in Salt Creek Valley, a fertile +blue-grass region, sheltered by an amphitheater range of hills. +The old Salt Lake trail traversed this valley. There were at +this time two great highways of Western travel, the Santa Fe and +the Salt Lake trails; later the Oregon trail came into prominence. +Of these the oldest and most historic was the Santa Fe trail, +the route followed by explorers three hundred years ago. +It had been used by Indian tribes from time, to white men, immemorial. +At the beginning of this century it was first used as an artery +of commerce. Over it Zebulon Pike made his well-known +Western trip, and from it radiated his explorations. +The trail lay some distance south of Leavenworth. It ran westward, +dipping slightly to the south until the Arkansas River was reached; +then, following the course of this stream to Bent's Fort, +it crossed the river and turned sharply to the south. +It went through Raton Pass, and below Las Vegas it turned west +to Santa Fe. + +Exploration along the line of the Salt Lake trail began also +with this century. It became a beaten highway at the time of +the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo to their present place of abode. +The trail crossed the Missouri River at Leavenworth, and ran northerly +to the Platte, touching that stream at Fort Kearny. With a few +variations it paralleled the Platte to its junction with the Sweetwater, +and left this river valley to run through South Pass to big +Sandy Creek, turning south to follow this little stream. +At Fort Bridger it turned westward again, passed Echo Canon, +and a few miles farther on ran into Salt Lake City. Over this +trail journeyed thousands of gold-hunters toward California, +hopeful and high-spirited on the westerly way, disappointed +and depressed, the large majority of them, on the back track. +Freighting outfits, cattle trains, emigrants--nearly all +the western travel--followed this track across the new land. +A man named Rively, with the gift of grasping the advantage of location, +had obtained permission to establish a trading-post on this +trail three miles beyond the Missouri, and as proximity to this +depot of supplies was a manifest convenience, father's selection +of a claim only two miles distant was a wise one. + +The Kansas-Nebraska Bill, which provided for the organizing of +those two territories and opened them for settlement, was passed +in May. 1854. This bill directly opposed the Missouri Compromise, +which restricted slavery to all territory south of 36'0 30" north latitude. +A clause in the new bill provided that the settlers should decide for +themselves whether the new territories were to be free or slave states. +Already hundreds of settlers were camped upon the banks of the Missouri, +waiting the passage of the bill before entering and acquiring possession +of the land. Across the curtain of the night ran a broad ribbon of +dancing camp-fires, stretching for miles along the bank of the river. + +None too soon had father fixed upon his claim. The act allowing +settlers to enter was passed in less than a week afterward. +Besides the pioneers intending actual settlement, a great rush was +made into the territories by members of both political parties. +These became the gladiators, with Kansas the arena, for a bitter, +bloody contest between those desiring and those opposing the extension +of slave territory. + +Having already decided upon his location, father was among the first, +after the bill was passed, to file a claim and procure the necessary papers, +and shortly afterward he had a transient abiding-place prepared for us. +Whatever mother may have thought of the one-roomed cabin, whose chinks let +in the sun by day and the moon and stars by night, and whose carpet was +nature's greenest velvet, life in it was a perennial picnic for the children. +Meantime father was at work on our permanent home, and before the summer +fled we were domiciled in a large double-log house--rough and primitive, +but solid and comfort-breeding. + +This same autumn held an episode so deeply graven in my memory that time +has not blurred a dine of it. Jane, our faithful maid of all work, +who went with us to our Western home, had little time to play the governess. +Household duties claimed her every waking hour, as mother was delicate, +and the family a large one; so Turk officiated as both guardian and playmate +of the children + +One golden September day Eliza and I set out after wild flowers, +accompanied by Turk and mother's caution not to stray too far, +as wild beasts, 'twas said, lurked in the neighboring forest; +but the prettiest flowers were always just beyond, and we +wandered afield until we reached a fringe of timber half +a mile from the house, where we tarried under the trees. +Meantime mother grew alarmed, and Will was dispatched after +the absent tots. + +Turk, as we recalled, had sought to put a check upon our wanderings, +and when we entered the woods his restlessness increased. +Suddenly he began to paw up the carpet of dry leaves, +and a few moments later the shrill scream of a panther echoed +through the forest aisles. + +Eliza was barely six years old, and I was not yet four. +We clung to each other in voiceless terror. Then from afar came +a familiar whistle--Will's call to his dog. That heartened us, babes as +we were, for was not our brother our reliance in every emergency? +Rescue was at hand; but Turk continued tearing up the leaves, +after signaling his master with a loud bark. Then, pulling at +our dresses, he indicated the refuge he had dug for us. +Here we lay down, and the dog covered us with the leaves, +dragging to the heap, as a further screen, a large dead branch. +Then, with the heart of a lion, he put himself on guard. + +From our leafy covert we could see the panther's tawny form come +gliding through the brush. He saw Turk, and crouched for a spring. +This came as an arrow, but Turk dodged it; and then, with a scream +such as I never heard from dog before or since, our defender hurled +himself upon the foe. + +Turk was powerful, and his courage was flawless, but he was no match +for the panther. In a few moments the faithful dog lay stunned +and bleeding from one stroke of the forest-rover's steel-shod paw. +The cruel beast had scented other prey, and dismissing Turk, he paced +to and fro, seeking to locate us. We scarcely dared to breathe, +and every throb of our frightened little hearts was a prayer that Will +would come to us in time. + +At last the panther's roving eyes rested upon our inadequate hiding-place, +and as he crouched for the deadly leap we hid our faces. + +But Turk had arisen. Wounded as he was, he yet made one last heroic effort +to save us by again directing the panther's attention to himself. + +The helpless, hopeless ordeal of agony was broken by a rifle's sharp report. +The panther fell, shot through the heart, and out from the screen of leaves +rushed two hysterical little girls, with pallid faces drowned in tears, +who clung about a brother's neck and were shielded in his arms. + +Will, himself but a child, caressed and soothed us in a most paternal fashion; +and when the stone of sobs was passed we turned to Turk. Happily his injuries +were not fatal, and he whined feebly when his master reached him. + +"Bravo! Good dog!" cried Will. "You saved them, Turk! You saved them!" +And kneeling beside our faithful friend, he put his arms about +the shaggy neck. + +Dear old Turk! If there be a land beyond the sky for such as thou, +may the snuggest corner and best of bones be thy reward! + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE SHADOW OF PARTISAN STRIFE. + +OWING to the conditions, already spoken of, under which Kansas +was settled, all classes were represented in its population. +Honest, thrifty farmers and well-to-do traders leavened +a lump of shiftless ne'er-do-wells, lawless adventurers, +and vagabonds of all sorts and conditions. If father at times +questioned the wisdom of coming to this new and untried land, +he kept his own counsel, and set a brave face against the future. + +He had been prominent in political circles in Iowa, and had filled +positions of public trust; but he had no wish to become involved +in the partisan strife that raged in Kansas. He was a Free Soil man, +and there were but two others in that section who did not believe +in slavery. For a year he kept his political views to himself; +but it became rumored about that he was an able public speaker, +and the pro-slavery men naturally ascribed to him the same opinions +as those held by his brother Elijah, a pronounced pro-slavery man; +so they regarded father as a promising leader in their cause. +He had avoided the issue, and had skillfully contrived to escape +declaring for one side or the other, but on the scroll of his destiny +it was written that he should be one of the first victims offered +on the sacrificial altar of the struggle for human liberty. + +The post-trader's was a popular rendezvous for all the settlers round. +It was a day in the summer of '55 that father visited the store, +accompanied, as usual, by Will and Turk. Among the crowd, which was noisy +and excited, he noted a number of desperadoes in the pro-slavery faction, +and noted, too, that Uncle Elijah and our two Free Soil neighbors, +Mr. Hathaway and Mr. Lawrence, were present. + +Father's appearance was greeted by a clamor for a speech. +To speak before that audience was to take his life in his hands; +yet in spite of his excuses he was forced to the chair. + +It was written! There was no escape! Father walked +steadily to the dry-goods box which served as a rostrum. +As he passed Mr. Hathaway, the good old man plucked him by +the sleeve and begged him to serve out platitudes to the crowd, +and to screen his real sentiments. + +But father was not a man that dealt in platitudes. + +"Friends," said he, quietly, as he faced his audience and drew +himself to his full height,--"friends, you are mistaken in your man. +I am sorry to disappoint you. I have no wish to quarrel with you. +But you have forced me to speak, and I can do no less than declare +my real convictions. I am, and always have been, opposed to slavery. +It is an institution that not only degrades the slave, but brutalizes +the slave-holder, and I pledge you my word that I shall use my +best endeavors--yes, that I shall lay down my life, if need be-- +to keep this curse from finding lodgment upon Kansas soil. +It is enough that the fairest portions of our land are already +infected with this blight. May it spread no farther. +All my energy and my ability shall swell the effort to bring +in Kansas as a Free Soil state." + +Up to this point the crowd had been so dumfounded by his temerity +that they kept an astonished silence. Now the storm broke. +The rumble of angry voices swelled into a roar of fury. +An angry mob surrounded the speaker. Several desperadoes leaped +forward with deadly intent, and one, Charles Dunn by name, +drove his knife to the hilt into the body of the brave man +who dared thus openly to avow his principles. + +As father fell, Will sprang to him, and turning to the murderous assailant, +cried out in boyhood's fury: + +"You have killed my father! When I'm a man I'll kill you!" + +The crowd slunk away, believing father dead. The deed appalled them; +they were not yet hardened to the lawlessness that was so soon to put +the state to blush. + +Mr. Hathaway and Will then carried father to a hiding-place +in the long grass by the wayside. The crowd dispersed +so slowly that dusk came on before the coast was clear. +At length, supported by Will, father dragged his way homeward, +marking his tortured progress with a trail of blood. + +This path was afterward referred to in the early history of Kansas +as "The Cody Bloody Trail." + +It was such wild scenes as these that left their impress on the youth and +fashioned the Cody of later years--cool in emergency, fertile in resource, +swift in decision, dashing and intrepid when the time for action came. + +Our troubles were but begun. Father's convalescence was long +and tedious; he never recovered fully. His enemies believed +him dead, and for a while we kept the secret guarded; +but as soon as he was able to be about persecution began. + +About a month after the tragedy at Rively's, Will ran in one +evening with the warning that a band of horsemen were approaching. +Suspecting trouble, mother put some of her own clothes about father, +gave him a pail, and bade him hide in the cornfield. +He walked boldly from the house, and sheltered by the +gathering dusk, succeeded in passing the horsemen unchallenged. +The latter rode up to the house and dismounted. + +"Where's Cody?" asked the leader. He was informed that father +was not at home. + +"Lucky for him!" was the frankly brutal rejoinder. +"We'll make sure work of the killing next time." + +Disappointed in their main intention, the marauders revenged themselves +in their own peculiar way by looting the house of every article that took +their fancy; then they sat down with the announced purpose of waiting +the return of their prospective victim. + +Fearing the effect of the night air upon father, though it was yet summer, +mother made a sign to Will, who slipped from the room, and guided by Turk, +carried blankets to the cornfield, returning before his absence had +been remarked. The ruffians soon tired of waiting, and rode away, +after warning mother of the brave deed they purposed to perform. +Father came in for the night, returning to his covert with the dawn. + +In expectation of some such raid, we had secreted a good stock +of provisions; but as soon as the day was up Will was dispatched +to Rively's store to reconnoiter, under pretext of buying groceries. +Keeping eyes and ears open, he learned that father's enemies were +on the watch for him; so the cornfield must remain his screen. +After several days, the exposure and anxiety told on his strength. +He decided to leave home and go to Fort Leavenworth, four miles distant. +When night fell he returned to the house, packed a few needed +articles, and bade us farewell. Will urged that he ride Prince, +but he regarded his journey as safer afoot. It was a sad parting. +None of us knew whether we should ever again see our father. + +"I hope," he said to mother, "that these clouds will soon pass away, and that +we may have a happy home once more." Then, placing his hands on Will's head, +"You will have to be the man of the house until my return," he said. +"But I know I can trust my boy to watch over his mother and sisters." + +With such responsibilities placed upon his shoulders, such confidence +reposed in him, small wonder that Will should grow a man in thought +and feeling before he grew to be one in years. + +Father reached Fort Leavenworth in safety, but the quarrel between +the pro-slavery party and the Free Soilers waxed more bitter, +and he decided that security lay farther on; so he took passage on an +up-river boat to Doniphan, twenty miles distant. This was then a mere +landing-place, but he found a small band of men in camp cooking supper. +They were part of Colonel Jim Lane's command, some three hundred strong, +on their way West from Indiana. + +Colonel Lane was an interesting character. He had been a friend +to Elijah Lovejoy, who was killed, in 1836, for maintaining an +anti-slavery newspaper in Illinois. The Kansas contest speedily +developed the fact that the actual settlers sent from the North +by the emigrant-aid societies would enable the Free State +party to outnumber the ruffians sent in by the Southerners; +and when the pro-slavery men were driven to substituting +bullets for ballots, Colonel Lane recruited a band of hardy +men to protect the anti-slavery settlers, and incidentally +to avenge the murder of Lovejoy. + +The meeting of father and Lane's men was a meeting +of friends, and he chose to cast his lot with theirs. +Shortly afterward he took part in "The Battle of Hickory Point," +in which the pro-slavery men were defeated with heavy loss; +and thenceforward the name of Jim Lane was a terror to the lawless +and a wall of protection to our family. + +The storm and stress of battle had drawn heavily on what little +strength was left to father, and relying for safety upon the proximity +of Colonel Lane and his men, he returned to us secretly by night, +and was at once prostrated on a bed of sickness. + +This proved a serious strain upon our delicate mother, for during +father's absence a little brother had been added to our home, +and not only had she, in addition to the care of Baby Charlie, +the nursing of a sick man, but she was constantly harassed +by apprehensions for his safety as well. + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +PERSECUTION CONTINUES. + +MOTHER'S fears were well grounded. A few days after father +had returned home, a man named Sharpe, who disgraced the small +office of justice of the peace, rode up to our house, very much +the worse for liquor, and informed mother that his errand was +to "search the house for that abolition husband of yours." +The intoxicated ruffian then demanded something to eat. +While mother, with a show of hospitality, was preparing supper +for him, the amiable Mr. Sharpe killed time in sharpening his +bowie-knife on the sole of his shoe. + +"That," said he to Will, who stood watching him, "that's to +cut the heart out of that Free State father of yours!" +And he tested the edge with brutally suggestive care. + +Will's comment was to take down his rifle and place +himself on the staircase leading up to father's room. +There was trouble in that quarter for Mr. Sharpe, if he attempted +to ascend those stairs. + +But the justice, as mother surmised, had no notion that father was at home, +else he would not have come alone. He ate heartily of the supper, +which Will hoped would choke him, and passing from drowsiness to +drunken slumber, soon tumbled from his chair. This so confused him +that he forgot his pretended errand, and shambled out of the house. +He was not so drunk that he could not tell a good bit of horseflesh, +and he straightway took a fancy to Prince, the pet pony of the family. +An unwritten plank in the platform of the pro-slavery men was +that the Free Soil party had no rights they were bound to respect, +and Sharpe remarked to Will, with a malicious grin: + +"That's a nice pony of yours, sonny. Guess I'll take him along with me." +And he proceeded to exchange the saddle from the back of his own horse +to that of Prince. + +"You old coward!" muttered Will, bursting with wrath. +"I'll get even with you some day." + +The justice was a tall, burly fellow, and he cut so ridiculous a figure +as he rode away on Prince's back, his heels almost touching the ground, +that Will laughed outright as he thought of a plan to save his pony. + +A shrill whistle brought Turk to the scene, and receiving his cue, +the dog proceeded to give Sharpe a very bad five minutes. +He would nip at one of the dangling legs, spring back out of reach +of the whip with a triumphant bark, then repeat the performance +with the other leg. This little comedy had a delighted spectator +in Will, who had followed at a safe distance. Just as Sharpe made +one extra effort to reach Turk, the boy whistled a signal to Prince, +who responded with a bound that dumped his rider in the dust. +Here Turk stood over him and showed his teeth. + +"Call off your dog, bub!" the justice shouted to Will, "and you +may keep your little sheep, for he's no good, anyway." + +"That's a bargain!" cried Will, restored to good humor; +and helping the vanquished foe upon his own steed, he assured +him that he need not fear Turk so long as he kept his word. +Sharpe departed, but we were far from being rid of him. + +About a fortnight later we were enjoying an evening with father, +who was now able to come downstairs. He was seated in a big +arm-chair before the open fire, with his family gathered round him, +by his side our frail, beautiful mother, with Baby Charlie on her knee, +Martha and Julia, with their sewing, and Will, back of mother's chair, +tenderly smoothing the hair from her brow, while he related spiritedly +some new escapade of Turk. Suddenly he checked his narrative, +listened for a space, and announced: + +"There are some men riding on the road toward the house. +We'd better be ready for trouble." + +Mother, equal to every emergency, hurriedly disposed her slender forces +for defense. Martha and Julia were directed to help father to bed; +that done, to repair to the unfurnished front room above stairs; +Will was instructed to call the hired man and Jane, who was almost +as large and quite as strong as the average man; and the three were +armed and given their cue. They were all handy with their weapons, +but mother sought to win by strategy, if possible. She bade +the older girls don heavy boots, and gave them further instructions. +By this time the horsemen had reached the gate. Their leader was +the redoubtable Justice Sharpe. He rode up to the door, and rapped +with the but of his riding-whip. Mother threw up the window overhead. + +"Who's there? and what do you want?" she demanded. + +"We want that old abolition husband of yours, and, dead or alive, +we mean to have him!" + +"All right, Mr. Sharpe," was the steady answer. "I'll ask Colonel Lane +and his men to wait on you." + +The hired man, who had served in the Mexican War, here gave +a sharp word of command, which was responded to by trampling +of heavy boots upon the bare floor. Then, calling a halt, +the pretended Colonel Lane advanced to the window, and shouted +to the horsemen: + +"Set foot inside that gate and my men will fire on you!" + +Sharpe, an arrant coward, had retreated at the first sound of a man's voice, +and after a short parley with his nonplused companions, he led them away-- +outwitted by a woman. + +As a sort of consolation prize, Sharpe again made off with Prince; +but Will's sorrow in the morning was short-lived, for the sagacious +little creature slipped his halter and came flying home before +the forenoon was half spent. + +After this experience, father decided that, for our sakes +as well as for his own, he must again leave home, and as soon as +he recovered a measure of his strength he went to Grasshopper Falls, +thirty-five miles west of Leavenworth. Here he erected a sawmill, +and hoped that he had put so many miles between him and his +enemies that he might be allowed to pursue a peaceful occupation. +He made us occasional visits, so timing his journey that he reached +home after nightfall, and left again before the sun was up. + +One day when we were looking forward to one of these visits, our good friend +Mr. Hathaway made his appearance about eleven o'clock. + +"It is too bad to be the bearer of ill tidings," said he, +"but the news of your husband's expected visit has been noised +about in some way, and another plot to kill him is afoot. +Some of his enemies are camped at Big Stranger's Creek, +and intend to shoot him as he passes there." + +Then followed a long and anxious consultation, which ended without +any plan of rescue. + +All of which had been overheard by Will, who was confined to his bed +with an attack of ague. In him, he decided, lay the only hope for +father's safety; so, dressing, he presented his fever-flushed face to mother. +As he held out a handkerchief, "Tie it tight around my head, mother," said he; +"then it won't ache so hard." + +A remonstrance against his getting out of bed brought out the fact +that he contemplated riding to Grasshopper Falls! + +He was almost too weak to stand, a storm threatened, and thirty miles lay +between him and father; yet he was not to be dissuaded from his undertaking. +So Julia and Martha saddled Prince and helped the ague-racked courier +to his saddle. + +The plunge into the open air and the excitement of the start +encouraged Will to believe that he could hold out. As he settled +down to his long, hard ride he reflected that it was not yet noon, +and that father would not set out until late in the day. +Prince seemed to discern that something extraordinary was afoot, +and swung along at a swift, steady gait. + +Big Stranger's Creek cut the road half-way to the Falls, +and Will approached it before the afternoon was half gone. +The lowering sky darkened the highway, and he hoped to pass +the ambush unrecognized; but as he came up to the stream he made +out a camp and campers, one of whom called out carelessly to him +as he passed: + +"Are you all right on the goose?"--the cant phrase of the pro-slavery men. + +"Never rode a goose in my life, gentlemen," was the reply. + +"That's Cody's boy!" shouted another voice; and the word "Halt!" rang +out just as Will had galloped safely past the camp. + +Will's answer was to drive the spurs into Prince and dart ahead, +followed by a rain of bullets. He was now well out of range, +and the pony still strong and fleet. + +The chase was on, and in the thrill of it Will forgot his weakness. +A new strength came with the rush of air and the ring of hoofs, +and "I'll reach the Falls in time!" was his heartening thought, +as pursurer and pursued sped through the forests, clattered over bridges, +and galloped up hill and down. + +Then broke the long-impending storm, and the hard road became +the bed of a muddy stream. The pursuit was abandoned, and this +stimulus removed, Will felt the chills and weakness coming on again. +He was drenched to the skin, and it was an effort to keep his saddle, +but he set his teeth firmly in his resolve to accomplish +his heroic purpose. + +At last! A welcome light gleamed between the crystal bars of the rain. +His mission was accomplished. + +His ride had been longer by ten miles than that famous gallop +of the friend of his after years--Phil Sheridan. Like Sheridan, +he reached the goal in time, for father was just mounting his horse. + +But the ride proved too much for his strength, and Will collapsed. +Father started with him, a few days later, for Topeka, which was +headquarters for the Free State party. + +Father acquainted mother of their safety, and explained that he had gone +to Topeka because he feared his life was no longer safe at Grasshopper Falls. + +Party strife in Kansas was now at its height. Thousands came +into the territory from adjacent slave states simply to vote, +and the pro-slavery party elected a legislature, whose first +meeting was held at Le Compton. This election the Free Soilers +declared illegal, because of fraudulent voting, and assembling +at Topeka in the winter of 1855-56, they framed a constitution +excluding slavery, and organized a rival government. +Of this first Free-Soil Legislature father was a member. + +Thenceforth war was the order of the day, and in the fall of 1856 +a military governor was appointed, with full authority to maintain +law and order in Kansas. + +Recognizing the good work effected by the emigrant-aid societies, +and realizing that in a still larger Northern emigration +to Kansas lay the only hope of its admission as a free state, +father went to Ohio in the following spring, to labor for +the salvation of the territory he had chosen for his home. +Here his natural gift of oratory had free play, and as the result +of his work on the stump he brought back to Kansas sixty families, +the most of whom settled in the vicinity of Grasshopper Falls, +now Valley Falls. + +This meant busy times for us, for with that magnificent disregard for +practical matters that characterizes many men of otherwise great gifts, +father had invited each separate family to make headquarters at his +home until other arrangements could be perfected. As a result, +our house overflowed, while the land about us was dotted with tents; +but these melted away, as one by one the families selected claims +and put up cabins. + +Among the other settlers was Judge Delahay, who, with his family, +located at Leavenworth, and began the publishing of the first +abolition newspaper in Kansas. The appointing of the military +governor was the means of restoring comparative tranquillity; +but hundreds of outrages were committed, and the judge +and his newspaper came in for a share of suffering. +The printing-office was broken into, and the type and press +thrown into the Missouri River. Undaunted, the judge procured +a new press, and the paper continued. + +A semi-quiet now reigned in the territory; father resumed +work at the sawmill, and we looked forward to a peaceful +home and the joy of being once more permanently united. +But it was not to be. The knife wound had injured father's lung. +With care and nursing it might have healed, but constant +suffering attended on the life that persecution had led him, +and in the spring of '57 he again came home, and took to his bed +for the last time. + +All that could be was done, but nothing availed. After a very short illness +he passed away--one of the first martyrs in the cause of freedom in Kansas. + +The land of his adoption became his last, long resting-place. His +remains now lie on Pilot Knob, which overlooks the beautiful city +of Leavenworth. His death was regretted even by his enemies, +who could not help but grant a tribute of respect to a man who had +been upright, just, and generous to friend and foe. + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE "BOY EXTRA." + +AT this sorrowful period mother was herself almost at death's +door with consumption, but far from sinking under the blow, +she faced the new conditions with a steadfast calm, +realizing that should she, too, be taken, her children would +be left without a protector, and at the mercy of the enemies +whose malignity had brought their father to an untimely end. +Her indomitable will opposed her bodily weakness. "I will not die," +she told herself, "until the welfare of my children is assured." +She was needed, for our persecution continued. + +Hardly was the funeral over when a trumped-up claim for a thousand +dollars, for lumber and supplies, was entered against our estate. +Mother knew the claim was fictitious, as all the bills had been settled, +but the business had been transacted through the agency of Uncle Elijah, +and father had neglected to secure the receipts. In those bitter, +troublous days it too often happened that brother turned against brother, +and Elijah retained his fealty to his party at the expense of his +dead brother's family. + +This fresh affliction but added fuel to the flame of mother's energy. +Our home was paid for, but father's business had been made so broken +and irregular that our financial resources were of the slenderest, +and should this unjust claim for a thousand dollars be allowed, +we would be homeless. + +The result of mother's study of the situation was, "If I had the ready money, +I should fight the claim." + +"You fight the claim, and I'll get the money," Will replied. + +Mother smiled, but Will continued: + +"Russell, Majors & Waddell will give me work. Jim Willis says I am capable +of filling the position of `extra.' If you'll go with me and ask Mr. Majors +for a job, I'm sure he'll give me one." + +Russell, Majors & Waddell were overland freighters and contractors, +with headquarters at Leavenworth. To Will's suggestion mother +entered a demurrer, but finally yielded before his insistence. +Mr. Majors had known father, and was more than willing to aid us, +but Will's youth was an objection not lightly overridden. + +"What can a boy of your age do?" he asked, kindly. + +"I can ride, shoot, and herd cattle," said Will; "but I'd rather +be an `extra' on one of your trains.' + +"But that is a man's work, and is dangerous besides." Mr. Majors hesitated. +"But I'll let you try it one trip, and if you do a man's work, I'll give you +a man's pay." + +So Will's name was put on the company roll, and he signed a pledge +that illustrates better than a description the character and disposition +of Mr. Majors. + +"I, William F. Cody," it read, "do hereby solemnly swear, +before the great and living God, that during my engagement with, +and while I am in the employ of, Russell, Majors & Waddell, I will, +under no circumstances, use profane language, that I will not quarrel +or fight with any other employee of the firm, and that in every +respect I will conduct myself honestly, be faithful to my duties, +and so direct all my acts as to win the confidence of my employers. +So help me God!" + +Mr Majors employed many wild and reckless men, but the language +of the pledge penetrated to the better nature of them all. +They endeavored, with varying success, to live up to its conditions, +although most of them held that driving a bull-team constituted +extenuating circumstances for an occasional expletive. + +The pledge lightened mother's heart; she knew that Will would keep his word; +she felt, too, that a man that required such a pledge of his employees was +worthy of their confidence and esteem. + +The train was to start in a day, and all of us were busy with the +preparations for Will's two months' trip. The moment of parting came, +and it was a trying ordeal for mother, so recently bereaved of husband. +Will sought to soothe her, but the younger sisters had better success, +for with tears in our eyes we crowded about him, imploring him to "run +if he saw any Indians." + +'Tis but a step from tears to smiles; the situation was relieved, and Will +launched his life bark amid adieus of hope and confidence and love. +His fortitude lasted only till he was out of sight of the house; +but youth is elastic, the plains lay before him, and mother and sisters +were to be helped; so he presented a cheerful face to his employers. + +That night the bed of the "boy extra" was a blanket under a wagon; +but he slept soundly, and was ready when the train started +with the dawn. + +The "bull-train" took its name from the fact that each of the thirty-five +wagons making up a full train was hauled by several yoke of oxen, +driven by one man, known as a bullwhacker. This functionary's whip cracked +like a rifle, and could be heard about as far. The wagons resembled +the ordinary prairie-schooner, but were larger and more strongly built; +they were protected from the weather by a double covering of heavy canvas, +and had a freight capacity of seven thousand pounds. + +Besides the bullwhackers there were cavallard drivers (who cared +for the loose cattle), night herders, and sundry extra hands, +all under the charge of a chief wagon-master, termed the wagon-boss, +his lieutenants being the boss of the cattle train and the assistant +wagon-master. The men were disposed in messes, each providing its +own wood and water, doing its own cooking, and washing up its own +tin dinner service, while one man in each division stood guard. +Special duties were assigned to the "extras," and Will's was to ride up +and down the train delivering orders. This suited his fancy to a dot, +for the oxen were snail-gaited, and to plod at their heels was dull work. +Kipling tells us it is quite impossible to "hustle the East"; +it were as easy, as Will discovered, to hustle a bull-train. + +From the outset the "boy extra" was a favorite with the men. +They liked his pluck in undertaking such work, and when it was +seen that he took pride in executing orders promptly, he became +a favorite with the bosses as well. In part his work was play to him; +he welcomed an order as a break in the monotony of the daily march, +and hailed the opportunity of a gallop on a good horse. + +The world of Will's fancy was bounded by the hazy rim where plain +and sky converge, and when the first day's journey was done, +and he had staked out and cared for his horse, he watched with +fascinated eyes the strange and striking picture limned against +the black hills and the sweeping stretch of darkening prairie. +Everything was animation; the bullwhackers unhitching and disposing +of their teams, the herders staking out the cattle, and-- +not the least interesting--the mess cooks preparing +the evening meal at the crackling camp-fires, with the huge, +canvas-covered wagons encircling them like ghostly sentinels; +the ponies and oxen blinking stupidly as the flames stampeded +the shadows in which they were enveloped; and more weird than all, +the buckskin-clad bullwhackers, squatted around the fire, +their beards glowing red in its light, their faces drawn +in strange black and yellow lines, while the spiked grasses +shot tall and sword-like over them. + +It was wonderful--that first night of the "boy extra." + +But Will discovered that life on the plains is not all a supper under +the stars when the sparks fly upward; it has its hardships and privations. +There were days, as the wagons dragged their slow lengths along, +when the clouds obscured the sky and the wind whistled dismally; +days when torrents fell and swelled the streams that must be crossed, +and when the mud lay ankle-deep; days when the cattle stampeded, +and the round-up meant long, extra hours of heavy work; and, hardest but +most needed work of all, the eternal vigil 'gainst an Indian attack. + +Will did not share the anxiety of his companions. +To him a brush with Indians would prove that boyhood's dreams +sometimes come true, and in imagination he anticipated the glory +of a first encounter with the "noble red man," after the fashion +of the heroes in the hair-lifting Western tales he had read. +He was soon to learn, as many another has learned, that the Indian +of real Life is vastly different from the Indian of fiction. +He refuses to "bite the dust" at sight of a paleface, +and a dozen of them have been known to hold their own against +as many white men. + +Some twenty miles west of Fort Kearny a halt was made for dinner +at the bank of a creek that emptied into the Platte River. No signs +of Indians had been observed, and there was no thought of +special danger. Nevertheless, three men were constantly on guard. +Many of the trainmen were asleep under the wagons while waiting dinner, +and Will was watching the maneuvers of the cook in his mess. +Suddenly a score of shots rang out from the direction of a +neighboring thicket, succeeded by a chorus of savage yells. + +Will saw the three men on the lookout drop in their tracks, +and saw the Indians divide, one wing stampeding the cattle, +the other charging down upon the camp. + +The trainmen were old frontiersmen, and although taken wholly by surprise, +they lined up swiftly in battle array behind the wagons, with the bosses, +Bill and Frank McCarthy, at their head, and the "boy extra" +under the direction of the wagon-master. + +A well-placed volley of rifle-balls checked the Indians, +and they wheeled and rode away, after sending in a scattering +cloud of arrows, which wounded several of the trainmen. +The decision of a hasty council of war was, that a defensive +stand would be useless, as the Indians outnumbered the whites +ten to one, and red reinforcements were constantly coming up, +until it seemed to Will as if the prairie were alive with them. +The only hope of safety lay in the shelter of the creek's +high bank, so a run was made for it. The Indians charged again, +with the usual accompaniment of whoops, yells, and flying arrows; +but the trainmen had reached the creek, and from behind its +natural breastwork maintained a rifle fire that drove the foe +back out of range. + +To follow the creek and river to Fort Kearny was not accounted +much of a chance for escape, but it was the only avenue that +lay open; so, with a parting volley to deceive the besiegers +into thinking that the fort was still held, the perilous +and difficult journey was begun. + +The Indians quickly penetrated the ruse, and another charge +had to be repulsed. Besides the tiresome work of wading, +there were wounded men to help along, and a ceaseless +watch to keep against another rush of the reds. +It was a trying ordeal for a man, doubly so for a boy like Will; +but he was encouraged to coolness and endurance by a few words +from Frank McCarthy, who remarked, admiringly, "Well, Billy, +you didn't scare worth a cent." + +After a few miles of wading the little party issued out upon +the Platte River. By this time the wounded men were so exhausted +that a halt was called to improvise a raft. On this the sufferers +were placed, and three or four men detailed to shove it before them. +In consideration of his youth, Will was urged to get upon +the raft, but he declined, saying that he was not wounded, +and that if the stream got too deep for him to wade, he could swim. +This was more than some of the men could do, and they, too, had to +be assisted over the deep places. + +Thus wore the long and weary hours away, and though the men, +who knew how hard a trip it was, often asked, "How goes it, Billy?" +he uttered no word of complaint. + +But half a day's wading, without rest or food, gradually weighted +his heels, and little by little he lagged behind his companions. +The moon came out and silvered tree and river, but the silent, +plodding band had no eyes for the glory of the landscape. + +Will had fallen behind some twenty rods, but in a moment fatigue +was forgotten, the blood jumped in his veins, for just ahead +of him the moonlight fell upon the feathered head-dress of an +Indian chief, who was peering over the bank. Motionless, he watched +the head, shoulders, and body of the brave come into view. +The Indian supposed the entire party ahead, and Will made no move +until the savage bent his bow. + +Then he realized, with a thumping heart, that death must come +to one of his comrades or the Indian. + +Even in direst necessity it is a fearful thing to deliberately +take a human life, but Will had no time for hesitation. +There was a shot, and the Indian rolled down the bank +into the river. + +His expiring yell was answered by others. The reds were not far away. +Frank McCarthy, missing Will, stationed guards, and ran back to look for him. +He found the lad hauling the dead warrior ashore, and seizing his hand, +cried out: "Well done, my boy; you've killed your first Indian, and done +it like a man!" + +Will wanted to stop and bury the body, but being assured that it was not only +an uncustomary courtesy, but in this case quite impossible, he hastened on. +As they came up with the waiting group McCarthy called out: + +"Pards, little Billy has killed his first redskin!" + +The announcement was greeted with cheers, which grated on Will's ears, +for his heart was sick, and the cheers seemed strangely out of place. + +Little time, however, was afforded for sentiment of any sort. +Enraged at the death of their scout, the Indians made a final charge, +which was repulsed, like the others, and after this Bill McCarthy +took the lead, with Frank at the rear, to prevent further straggling +of the forces. + +It was a haggard-faced band that came up to Fort Kearny with the dawn. +The wounded men were left at the post, while the others returned +to the wrecked bull-train under escort of a body of troops. +They hoped to make some salvage, but the cattle had either been +driven away or had joined one of the numerous herds of buffalo; +the wagons and their freight had been burned, and there was nothing +to do but bury the three pickets, whose scalped and mutilated bodies +were stretched where they had fallen. + +Then the troops and trainmen parted company, the former +to undertake a bootless quest for the red marauders, +the latter to return to Leavenworth, their occupation gone. +The government held itself responsible for the depredations +of its wards, and the loss of the wagons and cattle was +assumed at Washington. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +FAMILY DEFENDER AND HOUSEHOLD TEASE. + +THE fame to which Byron woke one historic morning was no more +unexpected to him than that which now greeted Will. The trainmen +had not been over-modest in their accounts of his pluck; +and when a newspaper reporter lent the magic of his imagination +to the plain narrative, it became quite a story, headed in +display type, "The Boy Indian Slayer." + +But Will was speedily concerned with other than his own affairs, +for as soon as his position with the freighters was assured, +mother engaged a lawyer to fight the claim against our estate. +This legal light was John C. Douglass, then unknown, unhonored, +and unsung, but talented and enterprising notwithstanding. +He had just settled in Leavenworth, and he could scarcely have found +a better case with which to storm the heights of fame--the dead father, +the sick mother, the helpless children, and relentless persecution, +in one scale; in the other, an eleven-year-old boy doing a man's +work to earn the money needed to combat the family's enemies. +Douglass put his whole strength into the case. + +He knew as well as we that our cause was weak; it hung by a single thread-- +a missing witness, Mr. Barnhart. This man had acted as bookkeeper +when the bills were paid, but he had been sent away, and the prosecution-- +or persecution--had thus far succeeded in keeping his where-abouts a secret. +To every place where he was likely to be Lawyer Douglass had written; +but we were as much in the dark as ever when the morning for the trial +of the suit arrived. + +The case had excited much interest, and the court-room was crowded, +many persons having been drawn thither by a curiosity to look +upon "The Boy Indian Slayer." There was a cheerful unanimity of +opinion upon the utter hopelessness of the Cody side of the case. +Not only were prominent and wealthy men arrayed against us, +but our young and inexperienced lawyer faced the heaviest legal +guns of the Leavenworth bar. Our only witnesses were a frail +woman and a girl of eighteen, though by their side, with his head +held high, was the family protector, our brave young brother. +Against us were might and malignity; upon our side, right and the high +courage with which Christianity steels the soul of a believer. +Mother had faith that the invisible forces of the universe were +fighting for our cause. + +She and Martha swore to the fact that all the bills had been settled; +and after the opposition had rested its case, Lawyer Douglass +arose for the defense. His was a magnificent plea for the rights +of the widow and the orphan, and was conceded to be one of the finest +speeches ever heard in a Kansas court-room; but though all were moved +by our counsel's eloquence--some unto tears by the pathos of it-- +though the justice of our cause was freely admitted throughout +the court-room, our best friends feared the verdict. + +But the climax was as stunning to our enemies as it was unexpected. +As Lawyer Douglass finished his last ringing period, +the missing witness, Mr. Barnhart, hurried into the court-room. +He had started for Leavenworth upon the first intimation that his +presence there was needed, and had reached it just in time. +He took the stand, swore to his certain knowledge that the bills +in question had been paid, and the jury, without leaving their seats, +returned a verdict for the defense. + +Then rose cheer upon cheer, as our friends crowded about us and offered +their congratulations. Our home was saved, and Lawyer Douglass had won +a reputation for eloquence and sterling worth that stood undimmed through +all his long and prosperous career. + +The next ripple on the current of our lives was sister Martha's wedding day. +Possessed of remarkable beauty, she had become a belle, and as young +ladies were scarce in Kansas at that time, she was the toast of all our +country round. But her choice had fallen on a man unworthy of her. +Of his antecedents we knew nothing; of his present life little more, +save that he was fair in appearance and seemingly prosperous. +In the sanction of the union Will stood aloof. Joined to a native intuition +were the sharpened faculties of a lad that lived beyond his years. +Almost unerring in his insight, he disliked the object of our sister's +choice so thoroughly that he refused to be a witness of the nuptials. +This dislike we attributed to jealousy, as brother and sister worshiped +each other, but the sequel proved a sad corroboration of his views. + +Nature seemed to join her protest to Will's silent antagonism. +A terrific thunder-storm came up with the noon hour of the wedding. +So deep and sullen were the clouds that we were obliged to light the candles. +When the wedding pair took their places before Hymen's altar, a crash +of thunder rocked the house and set the casements rattling. + +The couple had their home awaiting them in Leavenworth, +and departed almost immediately after the ceremony. + +The cares and responsibilities laid upon our brother's +shoulders did not quench his boyish spirits and love of fun. +Not Buffalo Bill's! He gave us a jack-o'-lantern scare once +upon a time, which I don't believe any of us will ever forget. +We had never seen that weird species of pumpkin, and Will +embroidered a blood-and-thunder narrative. + +"The pumpkins all rise up out of the ground," said he, +"on fire, with the devil's eyes, and their mouths open, +like blood-red lions, and grab you, and go under the earth. +You better look out!" + +"That ain't so!" all of us little girls cried; "you know it's a fib. +Ain't it, mother?" and we ran as usual to mother. + +"Will, you mustn't tell the children such tales. +Of course they're just fibs," said mother. + +"So there!" we cried, in triumph. But Will had a "so there" +answer for us a few nights later. We were coming home late one evening, +and found the gate guarded by mad-looking yellow things, all afire, +and grinning hideously like real live men in the moon dropped down +from the sky. + +"Jack-o'-lanterns!" screamed Eliza, grabbing May by the hand, +and starting to run. I began to say my prayers, of course, +and cry for mother. All at once the heads moved! +Even Turk's tail shot between his legs, and he howled in fright. +We saw the devil's eyes, the blood-red lion's mouths, and all the rest, +and set up such a chorus of wild yells that the whole household +rushed to our rescue. While we were panting out our story, +we heard Will snickering behind the door. + +"So there, smarties! You'll believe what I tell you next time. +You bet--ter--had!" + +But he liked best to invade our play-room and "work magic" on our dolls. +Mother had set aside one apartment in our large log house for a play-room, +and here each one of our doll families dwelt in peace and harmony, +when Will wasn't around. But there was tragedy whenever he came near. +He would scalp the mother dolls, and tie their babies to the bedposts, +and would storm into their pasteboard-box houses at night, after we had +fixed them all in order, and put the families to standing on their heads. +He was a dreadful tease. It was in this play-room that the germ of +his Wild West took life. He formed us into a regular little company-- +Turk and the baby, too--and would start us in marching order for the woods. +He made us stick horses and wooden tomahawks, spears, and horsehair strings, +so that we could be cowboys, Indians, bullwhackers, and cavalrymen. +All the scenes of his first freighting trip were acted out in the woods +of Salt Creek Valley. We had stages, robbers, "hold-ups," and most +ferocious Indian battles. + +Will was always the "principal scalper," however, and we +had few of our feathers left after he was on the warpath. +We were so little we couldn't reach his feathers. +He always wore two long shiny ones, which had been the special +pride of our black rooster, and when he threw a piece of an old +blanket gotten from the Leavenworth barracks around his shoulders, +we considered him a very fine general indeed. + +All of us were obedient to the letter on "show days," +and scarcely ever said "Now, stop," or "I'll tell mother on you!" +But during one of these exciting performances Will came +to a short stop. + +"I believe I'll run a show when I get to be a man," said he. + +"That fortune lady said you'd got to be President of the United States," +said Eliza. + +"How could ze presiman won a show?" asked May. + +"How could that old fortune-teller know what I'm going to be?" +Will would answer, disdainfully. "I rather guess I can have +a show, in spite of all the fortune-tellers in the country. +I'll tell you right now, girls, I don't propose to be President, +but I do mean to have a show!" + +Such temerity in disputing one's destiny was appalling; and though our +ideas of destiny were rather vague, we could grasp one dreadful fact: +Will had refused to be President of the United States! So we ran crying +to mother, and burying our faces in her lap, sobbed out: "Oh, mother! +Will says he ain't going to be President. Don't he have to be?" + +Still, in spite of Will's fine scorn of fortune-tellers, the prophecy +concerning his future must have been sometimes in his mind. +This was shown in an episode that the writer is in duty bound, +as a veracious chronicler, to set down. + +Our neighbor, Mr. Hathaway, had a son, Eugene, of about Will's age, +and the two were fast friends. One day, when Will was visiting +at Eugene's house, the boys introduced themselves to a barrel +of hard cider. Temperance sentiment had not progressed far +enough to bring hard cider under the ban, and Mr. Hathaway had +lately pressed out a quantity of the old-fashioned beverage. +The boys, supposing it a harmless drink, took all they desired-- +much more than they could carry. They were in a deplorable +condition when Mr. Hathaway found them; and much distressed, +the good old man put Eugene to bed and brought Will home. + +The family hero returned to us with a flourish of trumpets. +He stood up in the wagon and sang and shouted; and when Mr. Hathaway +reproved him, "Don't talk to me," was his lofty rejoinder. +"You forget that I am to be President of the United States." + +There is compensation for everything. Will never touched cider again; +and never again could he lord it over his still admiring but no longer +docile sisters. If he undertook to boss or tease us more than to our fancy, +we would subdue him with an imitation of his grandiloquent, "You forget +that I am to be President of the United States." Indeed, so severe was this +retaliation that we seldom saw him the rest of the day. + +But he got even with us when "preacher day" came around. + +Like "Little Breeches' " father, Will never did go in much +on religion, and when the ministers assembled for "quarterly meeting" +at our house, we never knew what to expect from him. +Mother was a Methodist, and as our log house was larger than the others +in the valley, it fell to our lot to entertain the preachers often. +We kept our preparations on the quiet when Will was home, +but he always managed to find out what was up, and then trouble began. +His first move was to "sick" Turk on the yellow-legged chickens. +They were our best ones, and the only thing we had for the ministers +to eat. Then Will would come stalking in: + +"Say, mother, just saw all the yellow-legged chickens a-scooting up +the road. Methodist preachers must be in the wind, for the old hens +are flying like sixty!" + +"Now, Will, you call Turk off, and round up those chickens right away." + +"Catch meself!" And Will would dance around and tease so he nearly +drove us all distracted. It was with the greatest difficulty that +mother could finally prevail upon him to round up the chickens. +That done, he would tie up the pump-handle, milk the cows dry, +strew the path to the gate with burrs and thistles, and stick up +a sign, "Thorney is the path and stickery the way that leedith unto +the kingdom of heaven. Amen!" + +Then when mother had put a nice clean valance, freshly starched and ruffled, +around the big four-poster bed in the sitting-room, Will would daub it up +with smearcase, and just before the preachers arrived, sneak in under it, +and wait for prayers. + +Mother always desired us to file in quietly, but we couldn't +pass the bed without our legs being pinched; so we "hollered," +but were afraid to tell mother the reason before the ministers. +We had to bear it, but we snickered ourselves when the man Will +called "Elder Green Persimmon," because when he prayed his mouth +went inside out, came mincing into the room, and as he passed +the valance and got a pinch, jerked out a sour-grape sneeze: + +"Mercy on us! I thought I was bitten by that fierce dog of yours, Mrs. Cody; +but it must have been a burr." + +Then the "experiences" would begin. Will always listened quietly, +until the folks began telling how wicked they had been before they +got religion; then he would burst in with a vigorous "Amen!" + +The elders did not know Will's voice; so they would get +warmed up by degree as the amens came thicker and faster. +When he had worked them all up to a red-hot pitch, Will would +start that awful snort of his that always made us double up +with giggles, and with a loud cockle-doodle-doo! would bolt +from the bed like a lightning flash and make for the window. + +So "preacher day," as Will always called it, became the torment +of our lives. + +To tell the truth, Will always was teasing us, but if he crooked his finger +at us we would bawl. We bawled and squalled from morning till night. +Yet we fairly worshiped him, and cried harder when he went away than +when he was home. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +INDIAN ENCOUNTER AND SCHOOL-DAY INCIDENTS. + +WILL was not long at home. The Mormons, who were settled in Utah, +rebelled when the government, objecting to the quality of justice +meted out by Brigham Young, sent a federal judge to the territory. +Troops, under the command of General Albert Sidney Johnston, +were dispatched to quell the insurrection, and Russell, Majors & +Waddell contracted to transport stores and beef cattle +to the army massing against the Mormons in the fall of 1857. +The train was a large one, better prepared against such an +attack as routed the McCarthy brothers earlier in the summer; +yet its fate was the same. + +Will was assigned to duty as "extra" under Lew Simpson, +an experienced wagon-master, and was subject to his orders only. +There was the double danger of Mormons and Indians, so the pay +was good. Forty dollars a month in gold looked like a large +sum to an eleven-year-old. + +Will's second departure was quite as tragic as the first. +We girls, as before, were loud in our wailings, and offered +to forgive him the depredations in the doll-house and all +his teasings, if only he would not go away and be scalped +by the Indians. Mother said little, but her anxious look, +as she recalled the perils of the former trip, spoke volumes. +He carried with him the memory of the open-mouthed admiration +of little Charlie, to whom "Brother Will" was the greatest hero +in the world. Turk's grief at the parting was not a whit less +than ours, and the faithful old fellow seemed to realize that in +Will's absence the duty of the family protector devolved on him; +so he made no attempt to follow Will beyond the gate. + +The train made good progress, and more than half the journey +to Fort Bridger was accomplished without a setback. +When the Rockies were reached, a noon halt was made near Green River, +and here the men were surrounded and overcome by a large force +of Danites, the "Avenging Angels" of the Mormon Church, who had +"stolen the livery of the court of heaven to serve the devil in." +These were responsible for the atrocious Mountain Meadow Massacre, +in June of this same year, though the wily "Saints" had planned to place +the odium of an unprovoked murder of innocent women and children +upon the Indians, who had enough to answer for, and in this instance +were but the tools of the Mormon Church. Brigham Young repudiated +his accomplice, and allowed John D. Lee to become the scapegoat. +The dying statement of this man is as pathetic as Cardinal Wolsey's +arraignment of Henry VIII. + +"A victim must be had," said he, "and I am that victim. +For thirty years I studied to make Brigham Young's will my law. +See now what I have come to this day. I have been sacrificed +in a cowardly, dastardly manner. I do not fear death. +I cannot go to a worse place than I am now in." + +John D. Lee deserved his fate, but Brigham Young was none the less a coward. + +The Danites spared the lives of the trainmen, but they made sad havoc +of the supplies. These they knew to be intended for the use of the army +opposed to Brigham Young. They carried off all the stores they could handle, +drove with them or stampeded the cattle, and burned the wagons. +The trainmen were permitted to retain one wagon and team, with just enough +supplies to last them to army headquarters. + +It was a disheartened, discomfited band that reached +Fort Bridger. The information that two other trains had been +destroyed added to their discouragement, for that meant +that they, in common with the other trainmen and the soldiers +at the fort, must subsist on short rations for the winter. +There were nearly four hundred of these trainmen, and it was +so late in the season that they had no choice but to remain +where they were until spring opened. + +It was an irksome winter. The men at the fort hauled their firewood +two miles; as the provisions dwindled, one by one the oxen were slaughtered, +and when this food supply was exhausted, starvation reared its gaunt form. +Happily the freighters got word of the situation, and a relief team reached +the fort before the spring was fairly opened. + +As soon as practicable the return journey was undertaken. +At Fort Laramie two large trains were put in charge of Lew Simpson, +as brigade wagon-master, and Will was installed as courier +between the two caravans, which traveled twenty miles apart-- +plenty of elbow room for camping and foraging. + +One morning, Simpson, George Woods, and Will, who were in the rear train, +set out for the forward one, mounted upon mules, and armed, as the +trainmen always were, with rifle, knife, and a brace of revolvers. +About half of the twenty miles had been told off when the trio +saw a band of Indians emerge from a clump of trees half a mile +away and sweep toward them. Flight with the mules was useless; +resistance promised hardly more success, as the Indians numbered +a full half-hundred: but surrender was death and mutilation. + +"Shoot the mules, boys!" ordered Simpson, and five minutes later two men +and a boy looked grimly over a still palpitating barricade. + +The defense was simple; rifles at range, revolvers for close quarters, +knives at the last. The chief, easily distinguished by his feathered +head-dress, was assigned to Will. Already his close shooting was +the pride of the frontiersmen. Simpson's coolness steadied the lad, +who realized that the situation was desperate. + +The Indians came on with the rush and scream of the March wind. +"Fire!" said Simpson, and three ponies galloped riderless as the smoke +curled from three rifle barrels. + +Dismayed by the fall of their chief, the redskins wheeled and rode +out of range. Will gave a sigh of relief. + +"Load up again, Billy!" smiled Simpson. "They'll soon be back." + +"They've only three or four rifles," said Woods. There had been little +lead in the cloud of arrows. + +"Here they come!" warned Simpson, and the trio ran their rifles +out over the dead mules. + +Three more riderless ponies; but the Indians kept on, +supposing they had drawn the total fire of the whites. +A revolver fusillade undeceived them, and the charging column +wavered and broke for cover. + +Simpson patted Will on the shoulder as they reloaded. +"You're a game one, Billy!" said he. + +"You bet he is," echoed Woods, coolly drawing an arrow from his shoulder. +"How is that, Lew--poisoned?" + +Will waited breathless for the decision, and his relief was as great +as Woods's when Simpson, after a critical scrutiny, answered "No." + +The wound was hastily dressed, and the little company gave an undivided +attention to the foe, who were circling around their quarry, +hanging to the off sides of their ponies and firing under them. +With a touch of the grim humor that plain life breeds, +Will declared that the mules were veritable pincushions, +so full of arrows were they stuck. + +The besieged maintained a return fire, dropping pony after pony, +and occasionally a rider. This proved expensive sport to the Indians, +and the whole party finally withdrew from range. + +There was a long breathing spell, which the trio improved +by strengthening their defense, digging up the dirt with their +knives and piling it upon the mules. It was tedious work, +but preferable to inactivity and cramped quarters. + +Two hours went by, and the plan of the enemy was disclosed. +A light breeze arose, and the Indians fired the prairie. +Luckily the grass near the trail was short, and though the heat was +intense and the smoke stifling, the barricade held off the flame. +Simpson had kept a close watch, and presently gave the order to fire. +A volley went through the smoke and blaze, and the yell that +followed proved that it was not wasted. This last ruse failing, +the Indians settled down to their favorite game--waiting. + +A thin line of them circled out of range; ponies were picketed +and tents pitched; night fell, and the stars shot out. + +As Woods was wounded, he was excused from guard duty, Will and +Simpson keeping watch in turn. Will took the first vigil, and, +tired though he was, experienced no difficulty in keeping awake, +but he went soundly to sleep the moment he was relieved. +He was wakened by a dream that Turk was barking to him, +and vaguely alarmed, he sat up to find Simpson sleeping +across his rifle. + +The midnight hush was unbroken, and the darkness lay thick +upon the plain, but shapes blacker than night hovered near, +and Will laid his hand on Simpson's shoulder. + +The latter was instantly alive, and Woods was wakened. +A faint click went away on the night breeze, and a moment later +three jets of flame carried warning to the up-creeping foe +that the whites were both alive and on the alert. + +There was no more sleep within the barricade. The dawn grew into day, +and anxious eyes scanned the trail for reinforcements--coming surely, +but on what heavy and slow-turning wheels! + +Noon came and passed. The anxious eyes questioned one another. +Had the rear train been overcome by a larger band of savages? +But suddenly half a dozen of the Indians were seen to spring up +with gestures of excitement, and spread the alarm around the circle. + +"They hear the cracking of the bull-whips," said Simpson. + +The Indians who had seen the first team pass, and had assumed +that Simpson and his companions were straggling members of it, +did not expect another train so soon. There was "mounting in hot haste," +and the Indians rode away in one bunch for the distant foothills, +just as the first ox-team broke into view. + +And never was there fairer picture to more appreciative eyes +than those same lumbering, clumsy animals, and never sweeter +music than the harsh staccato of the bullwhips. + +When hunger was appeased, and Woods's wound properly dressed, Will, +for the second time, found himself a hero among the plainsmen. +His nerve and coolness were dwelt upon by Simpson, and to the dream +that waked him in season was ascribed the continued life on earth +of the little company. Will, however, was disposed to allow Turk +the full credit for the service. + +The remainder of the trip was devoid of special incident, +and as Will neared home he hurried on in advance of the train. +His heart beat high as he thought of the dear faces awaiting him, +unconscious that he was so near. + +But the home toward which he was hastening with beating heart +and winged heels was shadowed by a great grief. Sister Martha's +married life, though brief, had amply justified her brother's +estimate of the man into whose hands she had given her life. +She was taken suddenly ill, and it was not until several months later +that Will learned that the cause of her sickness was the knowledge +that had come to her of the faithless nature of her husband. +The revelation was made through the visit of one of Mr. C----'s creditors, +who, angered at a refusal to liquidate a debt, accused Mr. C---- +of being a bigamist, and threatened to set the law upon him. +The blow was fatal to one of Martha's pure and affectionate nature, +already crushed by neglect and cruelty. All that night she was delirious, +and her one thought was "Willie," and the danger he was in-- +not alone the physical danger, but the moral and spiritual peril +that she feared lay in association with rough and reckless men. +She moaned and tossed, and uttered incoherent cries; but as the morning +broke the storm went down, and the anxious watchers fancied that +she slept. Suddenly she sat up, the light of reason again shining +in her eyes, and with a joyous cry, "Tell mother Willie's saved! +Willie's saved!" she fell back on her pillow, and her spirit passed away. +On her face was the peace that the world can neither give nor take away. +The veil of the Unknown had been drawn aside for a space. +She had "sent her soul through the Invisible," and it had found +the light that lit the last weary steps through the Valley +of the Shadow. + +Mr. C---- had moved from Leavenworth to Johnson County, +twenty-five miles away, and as there were neither telegraph nor +mail facilities, he had the body sent home, himself accompanying it. +Thus our first knowledge of Martha's sickness came when her +lifeless clay was borne across our threshold, the threshold that, +less than a year before, she had crossed a bright and bonny bride. +Dazed by the shock, we longed for Will's return before we must +lay his idolized sister forever in her narrow cell. + +All of the family, Mr. C---- included, were gathered in the sitting-room, +sad and silent, when Turk suddenly raised his head, listened a second, +and bounded out of doors. + +"Will is coming!" cried mother, and we all ran to the door. +Turk was racing up the long hill, at the top of which +was a moving speck that the dog knew to be his master. +His keen ears had caught the familiar whistle half a mile away. + +When Turk had manifested his joy at the meeting, +he prepared Will for the bereavement that awaited him; +he put his head down and emitted a long and repeated wail. +Will's first thought was for mother, and he fairly ran down the hill. +The girls met him some distance from the house, and sobbed +out the sad news. + +And when he had listened, the lad that had passed unflinching through +two Indian fights, broke down, and sobbed with the rest of us. + +"Did that rascal, C----, have anything to do with her death?" +he asked, when the first passion of grief was over. + +Julia, who knew no better at the time, replied that Mr. C---- +was the kindest of husbands, and was crushed with sorrow at his loss; +but spite of the assurance, Will, when he reached the house, had neither +look nor word for him. He just put his arms about mother's neck, +and mingled his grief with her words of sympathy and love. + +Martha was shortly after laid by father's side, and as we stood +weeping in that awful moment when the last spadeful of earth +completes the sepulture, Will, no longer master of himself, +stepped up before Mr. C----: + +"Murderer," he said, "one day you shall answer to me for the death +of her who lies there!" + +When Will next presented himself at Mr. Majors's office, +he was told that his services had been wholly satisfactory, +and that he could have work at any time he desired. +This was gratifying, but a sweeter pleasure was to lay his +winter's wages in mother's lap. Through his help, and her +business ability, our pecuniary affairs were in good condition. +We were comfortably situated, and as Salt Creek Valley now +boasted of a schoolhouse, mother wished Will to enter school. +He was so young when he came West that his school-days had been few; +nor was the prospect of adding to their number alluring. +After the excitement of life on the plains, going to school +was dull work; but Will realized that there was a world beyond +the prairie's horizon, and he entered school, determined to +do honest work. + +Our first teacher was of the good, old-fashioned sort. +He taught because he had to live. He had no love for his work, +and knew nothing of children. The one motto he lived up to was, +"Spare the rod and spoil the child." As Will was a regular +Tartar in the schoolroom, he, more than all the other scholars, +made him put his smarting theory into practice. +Almost every afternoon was attended with the dramatic attempt to +switch Will. The schoolroom was separated into two grand divisions, +"the boys on teacher's side," and those "on the Cody side." +The teacher would send his pets out to get switches, and part +of our division--we girls, of course--would begin to weep; +while those who had spunk would spit on their hands, +clench their fists, and "dare 'em to bring them switches in!" +Those were hot times in old Salt Creek Valley! + +One morning Turk, too, was seized with educational ambition, +and accompanied Will to school. We tried to drive him home, +but he followed at a distance, and as we entered the schoolhouse, +he emerged from the shrubbery by the roadside and crept +under the building. + +Alas for the scholars, and alas for the school! Another ambitious +dog reposed beneath the temple of learning. + +Will, about that time, was having a bad quarter of an hour. +An examination into his knowledge, or lack of it, was under way, +and he was hard pressed. Had he been asked how to strike a trail, +locate water, or pitch a tent, his replies would have been full +and accurate, but the teacher's queries seemed as foolish as the "Reeling +and Writhing, Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision" +of the Mock Turtle in "Alice in Wonderland." + +Turk effected an unexpected rescue. Snarls were heard beneath +the schoolhouse; then savage growls and yelps, while the floor +resounded with the whacks of the canine combatants. +With a whoop that would not have disgraced an Indian, Will was +out of doors, shouting, "Eat him up, Turk! Eat him up!" + +The owner of the opposing dog was one Steve Gobel. 'Twixt him and Will +a good-sized feud existed. Steve was also on the scene, with a defiant, +"Sic 'em, Nigger!" and the rest of the school followed in his wake. + +Of the twisting, yelping bundle of dog-flesh that rolled from +under the schoolhouse it was difficult to say which was Turk and +which Nigger. Eliza and I called to Turk, and wept because he would +not hear. The teacher ordered the children back to their studies, +but they were as deaf as Turk; whereat the enraged pedagogue hopped +wildly about, flourishing a stick and whacking every boy that strayed +within reach of it. + +Nigger soon had enough of the fight, and striking his tail-colors, +fled yelping from the battle-ground. His master, Steve Gobel, a large +youth of nineteen or twenty years, pulled off his coat to avenge +upon Will the dog's defeat, but the teacher effected a Solomon-like +compromise by whipping both boys for bringing their dogs to school, +after which the interrupted session was resumed. + +But Gobel nursed his wrath, and displayed his enmity in a thousand +small ways. Will paid no attention to him, but buckled down to his +school work. Will was a born "lady's man," and when Miss Mary Hyatt +complicated the feud 'twixt him and Steve, it hurried to its climax. +Mary was older than Will, but she plainly showed her preference for him +over Master Gobel. Steve had never distinguished himself in an Indian fight; +he was not a hero, but just a plain boy. + +Now, indeed, was Will's life unendurable; "patience had had its +perfect work." He knew that a boy of twelve, however strong and sinewy, +was not a match for an almost full-grown man; so, to balance matters, +he secreted on his person an old bowie-knife. When next he met Steve, +the latter climaxed his bullying tactics by striking the object +of his resentment; but he was unprepared for the sudden leap that +bore him backward to the earth. Size and strength told swiftly +in the struggle that succeeded, but Will, with a dextrous thrust, +put the point of the bowie into the fleshy part of Steve's lower leg, +a spot where he knew the cut would not be serious. + +The stricken bully shrieked that he was killed; the children +gathered round, and screamed loudly at the sight of blood. +"Will Cody has killed Steve Gobel!" was the wailing cry, +and Will, though he knew Steve was but pinked, began to realize +that frontier styles of combat were not esteemed in communities +given up to the soberer pursuits of spelling, arithmetic, +and history. Steve, he knew, was more frightened than hurt; +but the picture of the prostrate, ensanguined youth, +and the group of awestricken children, bore in upon his mind +the truth that his act was an infraction of the civil code; +that even in self-defense, he had no right to use a knife unless +his life was threatened. + +The irate pedagogue was hastening to the scene, and after one glance +at him, Will incontinently fled. At the road he came upon a wagon train, +and with a shout of joy recognized in the "boss" John Willis, a wagon-master +employed by Russell, Majors & Waddell, and a great friend of the "boy extra." +Will climbed up behind Willis on his horse, and related his escapade +to a close and sympathetic listener. + +"If you say so, Billy," was his comment, "I'll go over and lick +the whole outfit, and stampede the school." + +"No, let the school alone," replied Will; "but I guess I'll graduate, +if you'll let me go along with you this trip." + +Willis readily agreed, but insisted upon returning to the schoolhouse. +"I m not going," said he, "to let you be beaten by a bully of a boy, +and a Yankee school-teacher, with a little learning, but not a bit of sand." +His idea of equalizing forces was that he and "Little Billy" should fight +against the pedagogue and Steve. + +Will consented, and they rode back to the schoolhouse, on the door of +which Willis pounded with his revolver butt, and when the door was opened +he invited Gobel and the "grammar man" to come forth and do battle. +But Steve had gone home, and the teacher, on seeing the two gladiators, +fled, while the scholars, dismissing themselves, ran home in a fright. + +That night mother received a note from the teacher. + +He was not hired, he wrote, to teach desperadoes; therefore Will +was dismissed. But Will had already dismissed himself, and had rejoined +the larger school whose walls are the blue bowl called the sky. +And long after was his name used by the pedagogue to conjure up obedience +in his pupils; unless they kissed the rod, they, too, might go to the bad, +and follow in Will Cody's erring footsteps. + +Willis and Will had gone but a piece on the road when horsemen +were seen approaching. + +"Mr. Gobel and the officers are after me," said Will. + +"Being after you and gittin' you are two different things," +said the wagon-master. "Lie low, and I'll settle the men." + +Mr. Gobel and his party rode up with the information that they had come +to arrest Will; but they got no satisfaction from Willis. He would +not allow them to search the wagons, and they finally rode away. +That night, when the camp was pitched, the wagon-master gave Will a mule, +and accompanied him home. We were rejoiced to see him, especially mother, +who was much concerned over his escapade. + +"Oh, Will, how could you do such a thing?" she said, sorrowfully. +"It is a dreadful act to use a knife on any one." + +Will disavowed any homicidal intentions; but his explanations +made little headway against mother's disapproval and her +disappointment over the interruption of his school career. +As it seemed the best thing to do, she consented to his +going with the wagon train under the care of John Willis, +and the remainder of the night was passed in preparations +for the journey. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +DEATH AND BURIAL OF TURK. + +THIS trip of Will's covered only two months, and was succeeded +by another expedition, to the new post at Fort Wallace, +at Cheyenne Pass. + +Meanwhile mother had decided to improve the opportunity afforded by her +geographical position, and under her supervision "The Valley Grove House" +was going up. + +The hotel commanded a magnificent prospect. Below lay the beautiful +Salt Creek Valley. It derived its name from the saline properties +of the little stream that rushed along its pebbly bed to empty +its clear waters into the muddy Missouri. From the vantage-ground +of our location Salt Creek looked like a silver thread, +winding its way through the rich verdure of the valley. +The region was dotted with fertile farms; from east to west +ran the government road, known as the Old Salt Lake Trail, +and back of us was Cody Hill, named for my father. Our house +stood on the side hill, just above the military road, and between +us and the hilltop lay the grove that gave the hotel its name. +Government hill, which broke the eastern sky-line, hid Leavenworth +and the Missouri River, culminating to the south in Pilot Knob, +the eminence on which my father was buried, also beyond our view. + +Mother's business sagacity was justified in the hotel venture. +The trail began its half-mile ascent of Cody Hill just below our house, +and at this point the expedient known as "doubling" was employed. +Two teams hauled a wagon up the steep incline, the double team returning +for the wagon left behind. Thus the progress of a wagon train, +always slow, became a very snail's pace, and the hotel was insured +a full quota of hungry trainmen. + +Will found that his wages were of considerable aid to mother +in the large expense incurred by the building of the hotel; +and the winter drawing on, forbidding further freighting trips, +he planned an expedition with a party of trappers. +More money was to be made at this business during the winter +than at any other time. + +The trip was successful, and contained only one adventure spiced +with danger, which, as was so often the case, Will twisted to his own +advantage by coolness and presence of mind. + +One morning, as he was making the round of his traps, three Indians +appeared on the trail, each leading a pony laden with pelts. +One had a gun; the others carried bows and arrows. +The odds were three to one, and the brave with the gun was +the most to be feared. + +This Indian dropped his bridle-rein and threw up his rifle; but before it +was at his shoulder Will had fired, and he fell forward on his face. +His companions bent their bows, one arrow passing through Will's hat +and another piercing his arm--the first wound he ever received. +Will swung his cap about his head. + +"This way! Here they are!" he shouted to an imaginary party +of friends at his back. Then with his revolver he wounded another +of the Indians, who, believing reinforcements were at hand, +left their ponies and fled. + +Will took the ponies on the double-quick back to camp, +and the trappers decided to pull up stakes at once. +It had been a profitable season, and the few more pelts to be +had were not worth the risk of an attack by avenging Indians; +so they packed their outfit, and proceeded to Fort Laramie. +Will realized a handsome sum from the sale of his captured furs, +besides those of the animals he had himself trapped. + +At the fort were two men bound east, and impatient to set out, +and Will, in his haste to reach home, joined forces with them. +Rather than wait for an uncertain wagon train, they decided to chance +the dangers of the road. They bought three ponies and a pack-mule +for the camp outfit, and sallied forth in high spirits. + +Although the youngest of the party, Will was the most +experienced plainsman, and was constantly on the alert. +They reached the Little Blue River without sign of Indians, +but across the stream Will espied a band of them. The redskins +were as keen of eye, and straightway exchanged the pleasures +of the chase for the more exciting pursuit of human game. +But they had the river to cross; and this gave the white men +a good start. The pursuit was hot, and grew hotter, but the kindly +darkness fell, and under cover of it the trio got safely away. +That night they camped in a little ravine that afforded shelter +from both Indians and weather. + +A look over the ravine disclosed a cave that promised a snug harbor, +and therein Will and one of his companions spread their blankets and +fell asleep. The third man, whose duty it was to prepare the supper, +kindled a fire just inside the cave, and returned outside for a supply +of fuel. When he again entered the cave the whole interior was revealed +by the bright firelight, and after one look he gave a yell of terror, +dropped his firewood, and fled. + +Will and the other chap were on their knees instantly, groping for +their rifles, in the belief that the Indians were upon them; +but the sight that met their eyes was more terror-breeding than +a thousand Indians. A dozen bleached and ghastly skeletons were +gathered with them around the camp-fire, and seemed to nod and sway, +and thrust their long-chilled bones toward the cheery blaze. + +Ghastly as it was within the cave, Will found it more unpleasant in the open. +The night was cold, and a storm threatened. + +"Well," said he to his companions, "we know the worst that's in there now. +Those old dead bones won't hurt us. Let's go back." + +"Not if I know myself, sonny," returned one of the men decidedly, +and the other heartily agreed with him, swearing that as it was, he should +not be able to close his eyes for a week. So, after a hurried lunch +upon the cold provisions, the party mounted their ponies and pushed on. +The promised snowstorm materialized, and shortly became a young blizzard, +and obliged to dismount and camp in the open prairie, they made a miserable +night of it. + +But it had an end, as all things have, and with the morning +they resumed the trail, reaching Marysville, on the Big Blue, +after many trials and privations. + +From here the trail was easier, as the country was pretty well settled, +and Will reached home without further adventure or misadventure. +Here there was compensation for hardship in the joy of handing over +to mother all his money, realizing that it would lighten her burdens-- +burdens borne that she might leave her children provided for when she +could no longer repel the dread messenger, that in all those years +seemed to hover so near that even our childish hearts felt its presence +ere it actually crossed the threshold. + +It was early in March when Will returned from his trapping expedition. +Mother's business was flourishing, though she herself grew frailer +with the passing of each day. The summer that came on was a sad +one for us all, for it marked Turk's last days on earth. +One evening he was lying in the yard, when a strange dog came up +the road, bounded in, gave Turk a vicious bite, and went on. +We dressed the wound, and thought little of it, until some horsemen +rode up, with the inquiry, "Have you seen a dog pass here?" + +We answered indignantly that a strange dog had passed, +and had bitten our dog. + +"Better look out for him, then," warned the men as they rode away. +"The dog is mad." + +Consternation seized us. It was dreadful to think of Turk going mad-- +he who had been our playmate from infancy, and who, through childhood's +years, had grown more dear to us than many human beings could; +but mother knew the matter was serious, and issued her commands. +Turk must be shut up, and we must not even visit him for a certain space. +And so we shut him up, hoping for the best; but it speedily became +plain that the poison was working in his veins, and that the greatest +kindness we could do him was to kill him. + +That was a frightful alternative. Will utterly refused to shoot him, +and the execution was delegated to the hired man, Will stipulating +that none of his weapons should be used, and that he be allowed to get +out of ear-shot. + +Late that afternoon, just before sunset, we assembled +in melancholy silence for the funeral. A grave had been dug +on the highest point of the eastern extremity of Cody Hill, +and decorated in black ribbons, we slowly filed up the steep path, +carrying Turk's body on a pine board softened with moss. +Will led the procession with his hat in his hand, +and every now and then his fist went savagely at his eyes. +When we reached the grave, we formed around it in a tearful circle, +and Will, who always called me "the little preacher," +told me to say the Lord's Prayer. The sun was setting, +and the brilliant western clouds were shining round about us. +There was a sighing in the treetops far below us, and the sounds +in the valley were muffled and indistinct. + +"Our Father which art in heaven," I whispered softly, +as all the children bent their heads, "Hallowed be Thy name. +Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven." +I paused, and the other children said the rest in chorus. +The next day Will procured a large block of red bloodstone, +which abounds in that country, squared it off, carved the name +of Turk upon it in large letters, and we placed it at the head +of the grave. + +To us there had been no incongruity in the funeral ceremonials and burial. +Turk had given us all that dog could give; we, for our part, +gave him Christian sepulture. Our sorrow was sincere. +We had lost an honest, loyal friend. For many succeeding days his +grave was garlanded with fresh flowers, placed there by loving hands. +Vale Turk! Would that our friends of the higher evolution were +all as stanch as thou! + +THE BURIAL OF TURK. + + Only a dog! but the tears fall fast. + As we lay him to rest underneath the green sod, + Where bountiful nature, the sweet summer through, + Will deck him with daisies and bright goldenrod. + + The loving thought of a boyish heart + Marks the old dog's grave with a bloodstone red; + The name, carved in letters rough and rude, + Keeps his memory green, though his life be sped. + For the daring young hero of wood and plain, + +Like all who are generous, strong, and brave, + Has a heart that is loyal and kind and true, + And shames not to weep o'er his old friend's grave. + + Only a dog, do you say? but I deem + A dog who with faithfulness fills his trust, + More worthy than many a man to be given + A tribute of love, when but ashes and dust. + + +An unusually good teacher now presided at the schoolhouse in +our neighborhood, and Will was again persuaded into educational paths. +He put in a hard winter's work; but with the coming of spring +and its unrest, the swelling of buds and the springing of grass, +the return of the birds and the twittering from myriad nests, +the Spirits of the Plains beckoned to him, and he joined a party +of gold-hunters on the long trail to Pike's Peak. + +The gold excitement was at its apogee in 1860. By our house had +passed the historic wagon bearing on its side the classic motto, +"Pike's Peak or Bust!" Afterward, stranded by the wayside, +a whole history of failure and disappointment, borne with grim humor, +was told by the addition of the eloquent word, "Busted!" + +For all his adventures, Will was only fourteen, and although tall for his age, +he had not the physical strength that might have been expected from his +hardy life. It was not strange that he should take the gold fever; less so +that mother should dread to see him again leave home to face unknown perils; +and it is not at all remarkable that upon reaching Auraria, now Denver, +he should find that fortunes were not lying around much more promiscuously +in a gold country than in any other. + +Recent events have confirmed a belief that under the excitement +of a gold craze men exercise less judgment than at any other time. +Except in placer mining, which almost any one can learn, +gold mining is a science. Now and again a nugget worth a fortune +is picked up, but the average mortal can get a better livelihood, +with half the work, in almost any other field of effort. +To become rich a knowledge of ores and mining methods is indispensable. + +But Will never reached the gold-fields. Almost the first person +he met on the streets of Julesberg was George Chrisman, who had been +chief wagon-master for Russell, Majors & Waddell. Will had become +well acquainted with Chrisman on the various expeditions he had made +for the firm. + +This man was located at Julesberg as agent for the Pony Express line, +which was in process of formation. This line was an enterprise +of Russell, Majors & Waddell. Mr. Russell met in Washington the Senator +from California. This gentleman knew that the Western firm of contractors +was running a daily stagecoach from the Missouri River to Sacramento, +and he urged upon Mr. Russell the desirability of operating a pony +express line along the same route. There was already a line known +as the "Butterfield Route," but this was circuitous; the fastest time +ever made on it was twenty-one days. + +Mr. Russell laid the matter before his partners. They were opposed +to it, as they were sure it would be a losing venture; but the senior +member urged the matter so strongly that they consented to try it, +for the good of the country, with no expectation of profit. +They utilized the stagecoach stations already established, +and only about two months were required to put the Pony Express +line in running order. + +Riders received from a hundred and twenty to a hundred and +twenty-five dollars a month, but they earned it. In order to stand +the life great physical strength and endurance were necessary; +in addition, riders must be cool, brave, and resourceful. +Their lives were in constant peril, and they were obliged +to do double duty in case the comrade that was to relieve them +had been disabled by outlaws or Indians. + +Two hundred and fifty miles was the daily distance that must be made; +this constituted an average of a little over ten miles an hour. +In the exceedingly rough country this average could not be kept up; +to balance it, there were a few places in the route where the rider +was expected to cover twenty-five miles an hour. + +In making such a run, it is hardly necessary to say that no extra +weight was carried. Letters were written on the finest tissue paper; +the charge was at the rate of five dollars for half an ounce. +A hundred of these letters would make a bulk not much larger than +an ordinary writing-tablet. + + +The mail-pouches were never to carry more than twenty pounds. +They were leather bags, impervious to moisture; the letters, +as a further protection, were wrapped in oiled silk. +The pouches were locked, sealed, and strapped to the rider's side. +They were not unlocked during the journey from St. Joseph to Sacramento. + +The first trip was made in ten days; this was a saving of eleven days over +the best time ever made by the "Butterfield Route." Sometimes the time +was shortened to eight days; but an average trip was made in nine. +The distance covered in this time was nineteen hundred and sixty-six miles. + +President Buchanan's last presidential message was carried in December, +1860, in a few hours over eight days. President Lincoln's inaugural, +the following March, was transmitted in seven days and seventeen hours. +This was the quickest trip ever made. + +The Pony Express line made its worth at once felt. +It would have become a financial success but that a telegraph +line was put into operation over the same stretch of territory, +under the direction of Mr. Edward Creighton. The first +message was sent over the wires the 24th of October, 1861. +The Pony Express line had outlived its usefulness, and was at +once discontinued. But it had accomplished its main purpose, +which was to determine whether the route by which it went +could be made a permanent track for travel the year through. +The cars of the Union Pacific road now travel nearly the same old +trails as those followed by the daring riders of frontier days. + +Mr. Chrisman gave Will a cordial greeting. He explained +the business of the express line to his young friend, and stated +that the company had nearly perfected its arrangements. +It was now buying ponies and putting them into good condition, +preparatory to beginning operations. He added, jokingly: + +"It's a pity you're not a few years older, Billy. I would give +you a job as Pony Express rider. There's good pay in it." + +Will was at once greatly taken with the idea, and begged so hard to be given +a trial that Mr. Chrisman consented to give him work for a month. If the life +proved too hard for him, he was to be laid off at the end of that time. +He had a short run of forty-five miles; there were three relay stations, +and he was expected to make fifteen miles an hour. + +The 3d of April, 1860, Mr. Russell stood ready to receive +the mail from a fast New York train at St. Joseph. He adjusted +the letter-pouch on the pony in the presence of an excited crowd. +Besides the letters, several large New York papers printed +special editions on tissue paper for this inaugural trip. +The crowd plucked hairs from the tail of the first animal to start +on the novel journey, and preserved these hairs as talismans. +The rider mounted, the moment for starting came, the signal +was given, and off he dashed. + +At the same moment Sacramento witnessed a similar scene; +the rider of that region started on the two thousand mile ride +eastward as the other started westward. All the way along the road +the several other riders were ready for their initial gallop. + +Will looked forward eagerly to the day when the express line +should be set in motion, and when the hour came it found +him ready, standing beside his horse, and waiting for the rider +whom he was to relieve. There was a clatter of hoofs, +and a horseman dashed up and flung him the saddlebags. +Will threw them upon the waiting pony, vaulted into the saddle, +and was off like the wind. + +The first relay station was reached on time, and Will changed +with hardly a second's loss of time, while the panting, +reeking animal he had ridden was left to the care of the stock-tender. +This was repeated at the end of the second fifteen miles, +and the last station was reached a few minutes ahead of time. +The return trip was made in good order, and then Will wrote +to us of his new position, and told us that he was in love +with the life. + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +WILL AS PONY EXPRESS RIDER. + +AFTER being pounded against a saddle three dashes daily for three months, +to the tune of fifteen miles an hour, Will began to feel a little loose +in his joints, and weary withal, but he was determined to "stick it out." +Besides the daily pounding, the track of the Pony Express rider was strewn +with perils. A wayfarer through that wild land was more likely to run +across outlaws and Indians than to pass unmolested, and as it was known +that packages of value were frequently dispatched by the Pony Express line, +the route was punctuated by ambuscades. + +Will had an eye out every trip for a hold-up, but three months +went by before he added that novelty to his other experiences. +One day, as he flew around a bend in a narrow pass, he confronted +a huge revolver in the grasp of a man who manifestly meant business, +and whose salutation was: + +"Halt! Throw up your hands!" + +Most people do, and Will's hands were raised reluctantly. +The highwayman advanced, saying, not unkindly: + +"I don't want to hurt you, boy, but I do want them bags." + +Money packages were in the saddlebags, and Will was minded to save them +if he could, so, as the outlaw reached for the booty, Will touched the pony +with his foot, and the upshot was satisfactory to an unexpected degree. +The plunge upset the robber, and as the pony swept over him he got a +vicious blow from one hoof. Will wheeled for a revolver duel, but the foe +was prostrate, stunned, and bleeding at the head. Will disarmed the fellow, +and pinioned his arms behind him, and then tied up his broken head. +Will surmised that the prisoner must have a horse hidden hard by, +and a bit of a search disclosed it. When he returned with the animal, +its owner had opened his eyes and was beginning to remember a few things. +Will helped him to mount, and out of pure kindness tied him on; +then he straddled his own pony, and towed the dismal outfit along with him. + +It was the first time that he had been behind on his run, +but by way of excuse he offered to Mr. Chrisman a broken-headed +and dejected gentleman tied to a horse's back; and Chrisman, +with a grin, locked the excuse up for future reference. + +A few days after this episode Will received a letter from Julia, +telling him that mother was ill, and asking him to come home. +He at once sought out Mr. Chrisman, and giving his reason, +asked to be relieved. + +"I'm sorry your mother is sick," was the answer, "but I'm +glad something has occurred to make you quit this life. +It's wearing you out, Billy, and you're too gritty to give it +up without a good reason." + +Will reached home to find mother slightly improved. For three weeks +was he content to remain idly at home; then (it was November of 1860) +his unquiet spirit bore him away on another trapping expedition, +this time with a young friend named David Phillips. + +They bought an ox-team and wagon to transport the traps, +camp outfit, and provisions, and took along a large supply +of ammunition, besides extra rifles. Their destination was +the Republican River. It coursed more than a hundred miles +from Leavenworth, but the country about it was reputed rich in beaver. +Will acted as scout on the journey, going ahead to pick +out trails, locate camping grounds, and look out for breakers. +The information concerning the beaver proved correct; +the game was indeed so plentiful that they concluded to pitch +a permanent camp and see the winter out. + +They chose a hollow in a sidehill, and enlarged it to the dimensions of a +decent-sized room. A floor of logs was put in, and a chimney fashioned +of stones, the open lower part doing double duty as cook-stove and heater; +the bed was spread in the rear, and the wagon sheltered the entrance. +A corral of poles was built for the oxen, and one corner of it protected +by boughs. Altogether, they accounted their winter quarters thoroughly +satisfactory and agreeable. + +The boys had seen no Indians on their trip out, and were +not concerned in that quarter, though they were too good +plainsmen to relax their vigilance. There were other foes, +as they discovered the first night in their new quarters. +They were aroused by a commotion in the corral where the oxen +were confined, and hurrying out with their rifles, they found +a huge bear intent upon a feast of beef. The oxen were bellowing +in terror, one of them dashing crazily about the inclosure, +and the other so badly hurt that it could not get up. + +Phillips, who was in the lead, fired first, but succeeded only in +wounding the bear. Pain was now added to the savagery of hunger, +and the infuriated monster rushed upon Phillips. Dave leaped back, +but his foot slipped on a bit of ice, and he went down with a thud, +his rifle flying from his hand as he struck. + +But there was a cool young head and a steady hand behind him. +A ball from Will's rifle entered the distended mouth of the onrushing +bear and pierced the brain, and the huge mass fell lifeless almost +across Dave's body. + +Phillips's nerves loosened with a snap, and he laughed for very relief +as he seized Will's hands. + +"That's the time you saved my life, old fellow!" said he. +"Perhaps I can do as much for you sometime." + +"That's the first bear I ever killed," said Will, more interested +in that topic than in the one Dave held forth on. + +One of the oxen was found to be mortally hurt, and a bullet ended its misery. +Will then took his first lesson in the gentle art of skinning a bear. + +Dave's chance to square his account with Will came a fortnight later. +They were chasing a bunch of elk, when Will fell, and discovered +that he could not rise. + +"I'm afraid I've broken my leg," said he, as Dave ran to him. + +Phillips had once been a medical student, and he examined the leg with a +professional eye. "You're right, Billy; the leg's broken," he reported. + +Then he went to work to improvise splints and bind up the leg; +and this done, he took Will on his back and bore him to the dugout. +Here the leg was stripped, and set in carefully prepared splints, +and the whole bound up securely. + +The outlook was unpleasant, cheerfully as one might regard it. +Living in the scoop of a sidehill when one is strong and able +to get about and keep the blood coursing is one thing; +living there pent up through a tedious winter is quite another. +Dave meditated as he worked away at the pair of crutches. + +"Tell you what I think I'd better do," said he. "The nearest settlement +is some hundred miles away, and I can get there and back in twenty days. +Suppose I make the trip, get a team for our wagon, and come back for you?" + +The idea of being left alone and well-nigh helpless struck dismay +to Will's heart, but there was no help for it, and he assented. +Dave put matters into shipshape, piled wood in the dugout, +cooked a quantity of food and put it where Will could reach it +without rising, and fetched several days' supply of water. +Mother, ever mindful of Will's education, had put some school-books +in the wagon, and Dave placed these beside the food and water. +When Phillips finally set out, driving the surviving ox before him, +he left behind a very lonely and homesick boy. + +During the first day of his confinement Will felt too desolate +to eat, much less to read; but as he grew accustomed to solitude +he derived real pleasure from the companionship of books. +Perhaps in all his life he never extracted so much benefit +from study as during that brief period of enforced idleness, +when it was his sole means of making the dragging hours endurable. +Dave, he knew, could not return in less than twenty days, +and one daily task, never neglected, was to cut a notch +in the stick that marked the humdrum passage of the days. +Within the week he could hobble about on his crutches for a +short distance; after that he felt more secure. + +A fortnight passed. And one day, weary with his studies, +he fell asleep over his books. Some one touched his shoulder, +and looking up, he saw an Indian in war paint and feathers. + +"How?" said Will, with a show of friendliness, though he knew +the brave was on the war-path. + +Half a score of bucks followed at the heels of the first, +squeezing into the little dugout until there was barely room +for them to sit down. + +With a sinking heart Will watched them enter, but he plucked up +spirit again when the last, a chief, pushed in, for in this warrior +he recognized an Indian that he had once done a good turn. + +Whatever Lo's faults, he never forgets a kindness any more than he forgets +an injury. The chief, who went by the name of Rain-in-the-Face, at +once recognized Will, and asked him what he was doing in that place. +Will displayed his bandages, and related the mishap that had made +them necessary, and refreshed the chief's memory of a certain +occasion when a blanket and provisions had drifted his way. +Rain-in-the-Face replied, with proper gravity, that he and his chums +were out after scalps, and confessed to designs upon Will's, but in +consideration of Auld Lang Syne he would spare the paleface boy. + +Auld Lang Syne, however, did not save the blankets and provisions, +and the bedizened crew stripped the dugout almost bare of supplies; +but Will was thankful enough to see the back of the last of them. + +Two days later a blizzard set in. Will took an inventory, +and found that, economy considered, he had food for a week; +but as the storm would surely delay Dave, he put himself +on half rations. + +Three weeks were now gone, and he looked for Dave momentarily; +but as night followed day, and day grew into night again, +he was given over to keen anxiety. Had Phillips lost his way? +Had he failed to locate the snow-covered dugout? +Had he perished in the storm? Had he fallen victim to Indians? +These and like questions haunted the poor lad continually. +Study became impossible, and he lost his appetite for what food +there was left; but the tally on the stick was kept. + +The twenty-ninth day dawned. Starvation stalked into the dugout. +The wood, too, was nigh gone. But great as was Will's physical suffering, +his mental distress was greater. He sat before a handful of fire, +shivering and hungry, wretched and despondent. + +Hark! Was that his name? Choking with emotion, unable to articulate, +he listened intently. Yes; it was his name, and Dave's familiar voice, +and with all his remaining energy he made an answering call. + +His voice enabled Phillips to locate the dugout, and a passage +was cleared through the snow. And when Will saw the door open, +the tension on his nerves let go, and he wept--"like a girl," +as he afterward told us. + +"God bless you, Dave!" he cried, as he clasped his friend around the neck. + + + +CHAPTER X. + +ECHOES FROM SUMTER. + +THE guns that opened on Fort Sumter set the country all ablaze. +In Kansas, where blood had already been shed, the excitement +reached an extraordinary pitch. Will desired to enlist, +but mother would not listen to the idea. + +My brother had never forgotten the vow made in the post-trader's, +and now with the coming of war his opportunity seemed ripe and lawful; +he could at least take up arms against father's old-time enemies, +and at the same time serve his country. This aspect of the case was +presented to mother in glowing colors, backed by most eloquent pleading; +but she remained obdurate. + +"You are too young to enlist, Willie," she said. "They would +not accept you, and if they did, I could not endure it. +I have only a little time to live; for my sake, then, wait till +I am no more before you enter the army." + +This request was not to be disregarded, and Will promised that he would +not enlist while mother lived. + +Kansas had long been the scene of bitter strife between the two parties, +and though there was a preponderance of the Free-Soil element when it was +admitted to the Union in 1861, we were fated to see some of the horrors +of slavery. Suffering makes one wondrous kind; mother had suffered so much +herself that the misery of others ever vibrated a chord of sympathy in +her breast, and our house became a station on "the underground railway." +Many a fugitive slave did we shelter, many here received food and clothing, +and, aided by mother, a great number reached safe harbors. + +One old man, named Uncle Tom, became so much attached to us +that he refused to go on. We kept him as help about the hotel. +He was with us several months, and we children grew very fond of him. +Every evening when supper was over, he sat before the kitchen fire +and told a breathless audience strange stories of the days of slavery. +And one evening, never to be forgotten, Uncle Tom was sitting +in his accustomed place, surrounded by his juvenile listeners, +when he suddenly sprang to his feet with a cry of terror. +Some men had entered the hotel sitting-room, and the sound of their +voices drove Uncle Tom to his own little room, and under the bed. + +"Mrs. Cody," said the unwelcome visitors, "we understand that you +are harboring our runaway slaves. We propose to search the premises; +and if we find our property, you cannot object to our removing it." + +Mother was sorely distressed for the unhappy Uncle Tom, +but she knew objection would be futile. She could only hope +that the old colored man had made good his escape. + +But no! Uncle Tom lay quaking under his bed, and there his brutal master +found him. It is not impossible that there were slaveholders kind +and humane, but the bitter curse of slavery was the open door it left +for brutality and inhumanity; and never shall I forget the barbarity +displayed by the owner of Uncle Tom before our horrified eyes. +The poor slave was so old that his hair was wholly white; yet a rope +was tied to it, and, despite our pleadings, he was dragged from +the house, every cry he uttered evoking only a savage kick from a heavy +riding-boot. When he was out of sight, and his screams out of hearing, +we wept bitterly on mother's loving breast. + +Uncle Tom again escaped, and made his way to our house, +but he reached it only to die. We sorrowed for the poor old slave, +but thanked God that he had passed beyond the inhumanity of man. + +Debarred from serving his country as a soldier, Will decided +to do so in some other capacity, and accordingly took service +with a United States freight caravan, transporting supplies +to Fort Laramie. On this trip his frontier training and skill +as a marksman were the means of saving a life. + +In Western travel the perils from outlaws and Indians were so real +that emigrants usually sought the protection of a large wagon-train. +Several families of emigrants journeyed under the wing of the caravan +to which Will was attached. + +When in camp one day upon the bank of the Platte River, and the members +of the company were busied with preparations for the night's rest +and the next day's journey, Mamie Perkins, a little girl from one +of the emigrant families, was sent to the river for a pail of water. +A moment later a monster buffalo was seen rushing upon the camp. +A chorus of yells and a fusillade from rifles and revolvers neither +checked nor swerved him. Straight through the camp he swept, +like a cyclone, leaping ropes and boxes, overturning wagons, +and smashing things generally. + +Mamie, the little water-bearer, had filled her pail +and was returning in the track selected by the buffalo. +Too terrified to move, she watched, with white face and parted lips, +the maddened animal sweep toward her, head down and tail up, +its hoofs beating a thunderous tattoo on the plain. + +Will had been asleep, but the commotion brought him to his feet, and snatching +up his rifle, he ran toward the little girl, aimed and fired at the buffalo. +The huge animal lurched, staggered a few yards farther, then dropped within +a dozen feet of the terrified child. + +A shout of relief went up, and while a crowd of praising men gathered +about the embryo buffalo-hunter, Mamie was taken to her mother. +Will never relished hearing his praises sung, and as the camp +was determined to pedestal him as a hero, he ran away and hid +in his tent. + +Upon reaching Fort Laramie, Will's first business was to look up +Alf Slade, agent of the Pony Express line, whose headquarters +were at Horseshoe Station, twenty miles from the fort. +He carried a letter of recommendation from Mr. Russell, +but Slade demurred. + +"You're too young for a Pony Express rider," said he. + +"I rode three months a year ago, sir, and I'm much stronger now," said Will. + +"Oh, are you the boy rider that was on Chrisman's division?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"All right; I'll try you. If you can't stand it, I 'll give +you something easier." + +Will's run was from Red Buttes, on the North Platte, to Three Crossings, +on the Sweetwater--seventy-six miles. + +The wilderness was of the kind that is supposed to howl, and no +person fond of excitement had reason to complain of lack of it. +One day Will arrived at his last station to find that the rider +on the next run had been mortally hurt by Indians. There being +no one else to do it, he volunteered to ride the eighty-five miles +for the wounded man. He accomplished it, and made his own return trip +on time--a continuous ride of three hundred and twenty-two miles. +There was no rest for the rider, but twenty-one horses were used +on the run--the longest ever made by a Pony Express rider. + +Shortly afterward Will fell in with California Joe, a remarkable +frontier character. He was standing beside a group of bowlders +that edged the trail when Will first clapped eyes on him, +and the Pony Express man instantly reached for his revolver. +The stranger as quickly dropped his rifle, and held up his hands +in token of friendliness. Will drew rein, and ran an interested +eye over the man, who was clad in buckskin. + +California Joe, who was made famous in General Custer's book, +entitled "Life on the Plains," was a man of wonderful physique, +straight and stout as a pine. His red-brown hair hung +in curls below his shoulders; he wore a full beard, +and his keen, sparkling eyes were of the brightest hue. +He came from an Eastern family, and possessed a good education, +somewhat rusty from disuse. + +"Hain't you the boy rider I has heard of--the youngest rider on the trail?" +he queried, in the border dialect. Will made an affirmative answer, +and gave his name. + +"Waal," said Joe, "I guess you've got some money on this trip. I was strikin' +fer the Big Horn, and I found them two stiffs up yonder layin' fer ye. +We had a little misunderstandin', and now I has 'em to plant." + +Will thanked him warmly, and begged him not to risk the perils +of the Big Horn; but California Joe only laughed, and told him +to push ahead. + +When Will reached his station he related his adventure, and the stock-tender +said it was "good by, California Joe" But Will had conceived a better opinion +of his new friend, and he predicted his safe return. + +This confidence was justified by the appearance of California Joe, +three months later, in the camp of the Pony Riders on the Overland trail. +He received a cordial greeting, and was assured by the men that they had +not expected to see him alive again. In return he told them his story, +and a very interesting story it was. + +"Some time ago," said he (I shall not attempt to reproduce his +dialect), "a big gang of gold-hunters went into the Big Horn country. +They never returned, and the general sent me to see if I could get +any trace of them. The country is full of Indians, and I kept my eye +skinned for them, but I wasn't looking for trouble from white men. +I happened to leave my revolver where I ate dinner one day, +and soon after discovering the loss I went back after the gun. +Just as I picked it up I saw a white man on my trail. +I smelled trouble, but turned and jogged along as if I hadn't +seen anything. That night I doubled back over my trail until I +came to the camp where the stranger belonged. As I expected, +he was one of a party of three, but they had five horses. +I'll bet odds, Pard Billy"--this to Will--"that the two pilgrims +laying for you belonged to this outfit. + +"They thought I'd found gold, and were going to follow me until +I struck the mine, then do me up and take possession. + +"The gold is there, too, lots of it. There's silver, iron, copper, +and coal, too, but no one will look at them so long as gold is to be had; +but those that go for gold will, many of them, leave their scalps behind. + +"We kept the trail day after day; the men stuck right to me, the chap +ahead keeping me in sight and marking out the trail for his pard. +When we got into the heart of the Indian country I had to use every caution; +I steered clear of every smoke that showed a village or camp, and didn't +use my rifle on game, depending on the rations I had with me. + +"At last I came to a spot that showed signs of a battle. +Skulls and bones were strewn around, and after a look about I was +satisfied beyond doubt that white men had been of the company. +The purpose of my trip was accomplished; I could safely report +that the party of whites had been exterminated by Indians. + +"The question now was, could I return without running into Indians? The first +thing was to give my white pursuers the slip. + +"That night I crept down the bed of a small stream, passed their camp, +and struck the trail a half mile or so below. + +"It was the luckiest move I ever made. I had ridden but a short +distance when I heard the familiar war-whoop, and knew that the Indians +had surprised my unpleasant acquaintances and taken their scalps. +I should have shared the same fate if I hadn't moved. + +"But, boys, it is a grand and beautiful country, full of towering mountains, +lovely valleys, and mighty trees." + +About the middle of September the Indians became very troublesome +along the Sweetwater. Will was ambushed one day, but fortunately +he was mounted on one of the fleetest of the company's horses, +and lying flat on the animal's back, he distanced the redskins. +At the relay station he found the stock-tender dead, and as the +horses had been driven off, he was unable to get a fresh mount; +so he rode the same horse to Plontz Station, twelve miles farther. + +A few days later the station boss of the line hailed Will +with the information: + +"There's Injun signs about; so keep your eyes open." + +"I'm on the watch, boss," was Will's answer, as he exchanged ponies +and dashed away. + +The trail ran through a grim wild. It was darkened by mountains, +overhung with cliffs, and fringed with monster pines. +The young rider's every sense had been sharpened by frontier dangers. +Each dusky rock and tree was scanned for signs of lurking foes +as he clattered down the twilight track. + +One large bowlder lay in plain view far down the valley, +and for a second he saw a dark object appear above it. + +He kept his course until within rifle-shot, and then suddenly +swerved away in an oblique line. The ambush had failed, +and a puff of smoke issued from behind the bowlder. +Two braves, in gorgeous war paint, sprang up, and at the same time +a score of whooping Indians rode out of timber on the other side +of the valley. + +Before Will the mountains sloped to a narrow pass; +could he reach that he would be comparatively safe. +The Indians at the bowlder were unmounted, and though they were +fleet of foot, he easily left them behind. The mounted reds +were those to be feared, and the chief rode a very fleet pony. +As they neared the pass Will saw that it was life against life. +He drew his revolver, and the chief, for his part, fitted an arrow +to his bow. + +Will was a shade the quicker. His revolver cracked, and the warrior pitched +dead from his saddle. His fall was the signal for a shower of arrows, +one of which wounded the pony slightly; but the station was reached on time. + +The Indians were now in evidence all the time. Between Split Rock and +Three Crossings they robbed a stage, killed the driver and two passengers, +and wounded Lieutenant Flowers, the assistant division agent. +They drove the stock from the stations, and continually harassed +the Pony Express riders and stage-drivers. So bold did the reds become +that the Pony riders were laid off for six weeks, though stages +were to make occasional runs if the business were urgent. +A force was organized to search for missing stock. There were forty +men in the party--stage-drivers, express-riders, stock-tenders, +and ranchmen; and they were captained by a plainsman named Wild Bill, +who was a good friend of Will for many years. + +He had not earned the sobriquet through lawlessness. It merely denoted +his dashing and daring. Physically he was well-nigh faultless-- +tall, straight, and symmetrical, with broad shoulders and splendid chest. +He was handsome of face, with a clear blue eye, firm and well-shaped mouth, +aquiline nose, and brown, curling hair, worn long upon his shoulders. +Born of a refined and cultured family, he, like Will, seemingly inherited +from some remote ancestor his passion for the wild, free life of the plains. + +At this time Wild Bill was a well-known scout, and in this capacity +served the United States to good purpose during the war. + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +A SHORT BUT DASHING INDIAN CAMPAIGN. + +AS Will was one of the laid-off riders, he was allowed to join +the expedition against the Indian depredators, though he was +the youngest member of the company. + +The campaign was short and sharp. The Indian trail was followed +to Powder River, and thence along the banks of the stream the party +traveled to within forty miles of the spot where old Fort Reno now stands; +from here the trail ran westerly, at the foot of the mountains, +and was crossed by Crazy Woman's Fork, a tributary of the Powder. + +Originally this branch stream went by the name of the Big Beard, +because of a peculiar grass that fringed it. On its bank had +stood a village of the Crow Indians, and here a half-breed trader +had settled. He bought the red man's furs, and gave him in return +bright-colored beads and pieces of calico, paints, and blankets. +In a short time he had all the furs in the village; he packed +them on ponies, and said good by to his Indian friends. +They were sorry to see him go, but he told them he would soon return +from the land of the paleface, bringing many gifts. Months passed; +one day the Indian sentinels reported the approach of a strange object. +The village was alarmed, for the Crows had never seen ox, horse, or wagon; +but the excitement was allayed when it was found that the strange +outfit was the property of the half-breed trader. + +He had brought with him his wife, a white woman; she, too, was an object +of much curiosity to the Indians. + +The trader built a lodge of wood and stones, and exposed all his goods +for sale. He had brought beads, ribbons, and brass rings as gifts +for all the tribe. + +One day the big chief visited the store; the trader led +him into a back room, swore him to secrecy, and gave him +a drink of black water. The chief felt strangely happy. +Usually he was very dignified and stately; but under the influence +of the strange liquid he sang and danced on the streets, and finally +fell into a deep sleep, from which he could not be wakened. +This performance was repeated day after day, until the Indians called +a council of war. They said the trader had bewitched their chief, +and it must be stopped, or they would kill the intruder. +A warrior was sent to convey this intelligence to the trader; +he laughed, took the warrior into the back room, swore him to secrecy, +and gave him a drink of the black water. The young Indian, +in his turn, went upon the street, and laughed and sang and danced, +just as the chief had done. Surprised, his companions +gathered around him and asked him what was the matter. +"Oh, go to the trader and get some of the black water!" said he. + +They asked for the strange beverage. The trader denied having any, +and gave them a drink of ordinary water, which had no effect. +When the young warrior awoke, they again questioned him. +He said he must have been sick, and have spoken loosely. + +After this the chief and warrior were both drunk every day, +and all the tribe were sorely perplexed. Another council of war +was held, and a young chief arose, saying that he had made +a hole in the wall of the trader's house, and had watched; +and it was true the trader gave their friends black water. +The half-breed and the two unhappy Indians were brought before +the council, and the young chief repeated his accusation, +saying that if it were not true, they might fight him. +The second victim of the black water yet denied the story, +and said the young chief lied; but the trader had maneuvered +into the position he desired, and he confessed. They bade him +bring the water, that they might taste it; but before he departed +the young chief challenged to combat the warrior that had said +he lied. This warrior was the best spearsman of the tribe, +and all expected the death of the young chief; but the black +water had palsied the warrior's arm, his trembling hand could +not fling true, he was pierced to the heart at the first thrust. +The tribe then repaired to the trader's lodge, and he gave +them all a drink of the black water. They danced and sang, +and then lay upon the ground and slept. + +After two or three days the half-breed declined to provide black water free; +if the warriors wanted it, they must pay for it. At first he gave them +a "sleep," as they called it, for one robe or skin, but as the stock +of black water diminished, two, then three, then many robes were demanded. +At last he said he had none left except what he himself desired. +The Indians offered their ponies, until the trader had all the robes +and all the ponies of the tribe. + +Now, he said, he would go back to the land of the paleface and procure more +of the black water. Some of the warriors were willing he should do this; +others asserted that he had plenty of black water left, and was going +to trade with their enemy, the Sioux. The devil had awakened in the tribe. +The trader's stores and packs were searched, but no black water was found. +'Twas hidden, then, said the Indians. The trader must produce it, +or they would kill him. Of course he could not do this. +He had sowed the wind; he reaped the whirlwind. He was scalped before +the eyes of his horrified wife, and his body mutilated and mangled. +The poor woman attempted to escape; a warrior struck her with +his tomahawk, and she fell as if dead. The Indians fired the lodge. +As they did so, a Crow squaw saw that the white woman was not dead. +She took the wounded creature to her own lodge, bound up her wounds, +and nursed her back to strength. But the unfortunate woman's brain +was crazed, and could not bear the sight of a warrior. + +As soon as she could get around she ran away. +The squaws went out to look for her, and found her crooning +on the banks of the Big Beard. She would talk with the squaws, +but if a warrior appeared, she hid herself till he was gone. +The squaws took her food, and she lived in a covert on +the bank of the stream for many months. One day a warrior, +out hunting, chanced upon her. Thinking she was lost, +he sought to catch her, to take her back to the village, +as all Indian tribes have a veneration for the insane; +but she fled into the hills, and was never seen afterward. +The stream became known as the "Place of the Crazy Woman," +or Crazy Woman's Fork, and has retained the name to this day. + + +At this point, to return to my narrative, the signs indicated that +reinforcements had reached the original body of Indians. The plainsmen +were now in the heart of the Indian country, the utmost caution was required, +and a sharp lookout was maintained. When Clear Creek, another tributary +of the Powder, was come up with, an Indian camp, some three miles distant, +was discovered on the farther bank. + +A council of war was held. Never before had the white man followed the red +so far into his domain, and 'twas plain the Indian was off his guard; +not a scout was posted. + +At Wild Bill's suggestion, the attack waited upon nightfall. +Veiled by darkness, the company was to surprise the Indian camp +and stampede the horses. + +The plan was carried out without a hitch. The Indians outnumbered the white +men three to one, but when the latter rushed cyclonically through the camp, +no effort was made to repel them, and by the time the Indians had +recovered from their surprise the plainsmen had driven off all the horses-- +those belonging to the reds as well as those that had been stolen. +A few shots were fired, but the whites rode scathless away, and unpursued. + +The line of march was now taken up for Sweetwater Bridge, and here, +four days later, the plainsmen brought up, with their own horses +and about a hundred Indian ponies. + +This successful sadly repressed the hostilities for a space. +The recovered horses were put back on the road, and the stage-drivers +and express-riders resumed their interrupted activity. + +"Billy," said Mr. Slade, who had taken a great fancy to Will--"Billy, +this is a hard life, and you're too young to stand it. You've done +good service, and in consideration of it I'll make you a supernumerary. +You'll have to ride only when it's absolutely necessary." + +There followed for Will a period of _dolce far niente_; days when +he might lie on his back and watch the clouds drift across the sky; +when he might have an eye to the beauty of the woodland and +the sweep of the plain, without the nervous strain of studying +every tree and knoll that might conceal a lurking redskin. +Winter closed in, and with it came the memories of the trapping +season of 1860-61, when he had laid low his first and last bear. +But there were other bears to be killed--the mountains were full of them; +and one bracing morning he turned his horse's head toward the hills +that lay down the Horseshoe Valley. Antelope and deer fed in the valley, +the sage-hen and the jack-rabbit started up under his horse's hoofs, +but such small game went by unnoticed. + +Two o'clock passed without a sign of bear, save some tracks in +the snow. The wintry air had put a keen edge on Will's appetite, +and hitching his tired horse, he shot one of the lately +scorned sage-hens, and broiled it over a fire that invited +a longer stay than an industrious bear-hunter could afford. +But nightfall found him and his quarry still many miles asunder, +and as he did not relish the prospect of a chaffing from +the men at the station, he cast about for a camping-place, +finding one in an open spot on the bank of a little stream. +Two more sage-hens were added to the larder, and he was preparing +to kindle a fire when the whinnying of a horse caught his ear. +He ran to his own horse to check the certain response, resaddled him, +and disposed everything for flight, should it be necessary. +Then, taking his rifle, he put forth on a reconnoissance. + +He shortly came upon a bunch of horses, a dozen or more, around a crook +of the stream. Above them, on the farther bank, shone a light. +Drawing nearer, he saw that it came from a dugout, and he heard his own +language spoken. Reassured, he walked boldly up to the door and rapped. + +Silence--followed by a hurried whispering, and the demand: + +"Who's there?" + +"Friend and white man," answered Will. + +The door opened reluctantly, and an ugly-looking customer bade him enter. +The invitation was not responded to with alacrity, for eight such +villainous-looking faces as the dugout held it would have been hard to match. +Too late to retreat, there was nothing for it but a determined front, +and let wit point the way of escape. Two of the men Will recognized +as discharged teamsters from Lew Simpson's train, and from his knowledge +of their longstanding weakness he assumed, correctly, that he had thrust +his head into a den of horsethieves. + +"Who's with you?" was the first query; and this answered, with sundry +other information esteemed essential, "Where's your horse?" +demanded the most striking portrait in the rogues' gallery. + +"Down by the creek," said Will. + +"All right, sonny; we'll go down and get him," was the obliging rejoinder. + +"Oh, don't trouble yourself," said Will. "I'll fetch +him and put up here over night, with your permission. +I'll leave my gun here till I get back." + +"That's right; leave your gun, you won't need it," +said the leader of the gang, with a grin that was as near +amiability as his rough, stern calling permitted him. +"Jim and I will go down with you after the horse." + +This offer compelled an acquiescence, Will consoling himself +with the reflection that it is easier to escape from two men +than from eight. + +When the horse was reached, one of the outlaws obligingly volunteered +to lead it. + +"All right," said Will, carelessly. "I shot a couple of sage-hens here; +I'll take them along. Lead away!" + +He followed with the birds, the second horsethief bringing up the rear. +As the dugout was neared he let fall one of the hens, and asked the chap +following to pick it up, and as the obliging rear guard stopped, +Will knocked him senseless with the butt of his revolver. +The man ahead heard the blow, and turned, with his hand on his gun, +but Will dropped him with a shot, leaped on his horse, and dashed off. + +The sextet in the dugout sprang to arms, and came running down the bank, +and likely getting the particulars of the escape from the ruffian +by the sage-hen, who was probably only stunned for the moment, +they buckled warmly to the chase. The mountain-side was steep and rough, +and men on foot were better than on horseback; accordingly Will dismounted, +and clapping his pony soundly on the flank, sent him clattering on +down the declivity, and himself stepped aside behind a large pine. +The pursuing party rushed past him, and when they were safely gone, +he climbed back over the mountain, and made his way as best he could +to the Horseshoe. It was a twenty-five mile plod, and he reached +the station early in the morning, weary and footsore. + +He woke the plainsmen, and related his adventure, and Mr. Slade +at once organized a party to hunt out the bandits of the dugout. +Twenty well-armed stock-tenders, stage-drivers, and ranchmen rode +away at sunrise, and, notwithstanding his fatigue, Will accompanied +them as guide. + +But the ill-favored birds had flown; the dugout was deserted. + +Will soon tired of this nondescript service, and gladly +accepted a position as assistant wagon-master under Wild Bill, +who had taken a contract to fetch a load of government freight +from Rolla, Missouri. + +He returned with a wagon-train to Springfield, in that state, +and thence came home on a visit. It was a brief one, however, +for the air was too full of war for him to endure inaction. +Contented only when at work, he continued to help on government +freight contracts, until he received word that mother was dangerously ill. +Then he resigned his position and hastened home. + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE MOTHER'S LAST ILLNESS. + +IT was now the autumn of 1863, and Will was a well-grown young man, +tall, strong, and athletic, though not yet quite eighteen years old. +Our oldest sister, Julia, had been married, the spring preceding, +to Mr. J. A. Goodman. + +Mother had been growing weaker from day to day; being with her constantly, +we had not remarked the change for the worse; but Will was much +shocked by the transformation which a few months had wrought. +Only an indomitable will power had enabled her to overcome the infirmities +of the body, and now it seemed to us as if her flesh had been refined away, +leaving only the sweet and beautiful spirit. + +Will reached home none too soon, for only three weeks after his +return the doctor told mother that only a few hours were left +to her, and if she had any last messages, it were best that she +communicate them at once. That evening the children were +called in, one by one, to receive her blessing and farewell. +Mother was an earnest Christian character, but at that time +I alone of all the children appeared religiously disposed. +Young as I was, the solemnity of the hour when she charged +me with the spiritual welfare of the family has remained +with me through all the years that have gone. Calling me +to her side, she sought to impress upon my childish mind, +not the sorrow of death, but the glory of the resurrection. +Then, as if she were setting forth upon a pleasant journey, +she bade me good by, and I kissed her for the last time in life. +When next I saw her face it was cold and quiet. +The beautiful soul had forsaken its dwelling-place of clay, +and passed on through the Invisible, to wait, a glorified spirit, +on the farther shore for the coming of the loved ones whose +life-story was as yet unfinished. + +Julia and Will remained with her throughout the night. +Just before death there came to her a brief season of long-lost +animation, the last flicker of the torch before darkness. +She talked to them almost continuously until the dawn. +Into their hands was given the task of educating the others +of the family, and on their hearts and consciences the charge +was graven. Charlie, who was born during the early Kansas troubles, +had ever been a delicate child, and he lay an especial burden +on her mind. + +"If," she said, "it be possible for the dead to call the living, +I shall call Charlie to me." + +Within the space of a year, Charlie, too, was gone; and who shall say +that the yearning of a mother's heart for her child was not stronger +than the influences of the material world? + +Upon Will mother sought to impress the responsibilities of his destiny. +She reminded him of the prediction of the fortune-teller, that "his name +would be known the world over." + +"But," said she, "only the names of them that are upright, brave, +temperate, and true can be honorably known. Remember always that `he +that overcometh his own soul is greater than he who taketh a city.' +Already you have shown great abilities, but remember that they carry +with them grave responsibilities. You have been a good son to me. +In the hour of need you have always aided me. so that I can +die now feeling that my children are not unprovided for. +I have not wished you to enlist in the war, partly because I knew you +were too young, partly because my life was drawing near its close. +But now you are nearly eighteen, and if when I am gone your country +needs you in the strife of which we in Kansas know the bitterness, +I bid you go as soldier in behalf of the cause for which your father +gave his life." + +She talked until sleep followed exhaustion. When she awoke +she tried to raise herself in bed. Will sprang to aid her, +and with the upward look of one that sees ineffable things, +she passed away, resting in his arms. + + Oh, the glory and the gladness + Of a life without a fear; + Of a death like nature fading + In the autumn of the year; + Of a sweet and dreamless slumber, + In a faith triumphant borne, + Till the bells of Easter wake her + On the resurrection morn! + + Ah, for such a blessed falling + Into quiet sleep at last, + When the ripening grain is garnered, + And the toil and trial past; + When the red and gold of sunset + Slowly changes into gray; + Ah, for such a quiet passing, + Through the night into the day! + + +The morning of the 22d day of November, 1863, began the saddest day +of our lives. We rode in a rough lumber wagon to Pilot Knob Cemetery, +a long, cold, hard ride; but we wished our parents to be united in death +as they had been in life, so buried mother in a grave next to father's. + +The road leading from the cemetery forked a short distance +outside of Leavenworth, one branch running to that city, +the other winding homeward along Government Hill. When we were returning, +and reached this fork, Will jumped out of the wagon. + +"I can't go home when I know mother is no longer there," said he. +"I am going to Leavenworth to see Eugene Hathaway. I shall stay +with him to-night." + +We, pitied Will--he and mother had been so much to each other-- +and raised no objection, as we should have done had we known +the real purpose of his visit. + +The next morning, therefore, we were much surprised to see him +and Eugene ride into the yard, both clothed in, the blue uniforms +of United States soldiers. Overwhelmed with grief over mother's death, +it seemed more than we could bear to see our big brother ride off to war. +We threatened to inform the recruiting officers that he was not yet eighteen; +but he was too thoroughly in earnest to be moved by our objections. +The regiment in which he had enlisted was already ordered to +the front, and he had come home to say good by. He then rode away +to the hardships, dangers, and privations of a soldier's life. +The joy of action balanced the account for him, while we were obliged +to accept the usual lot of girlhood and womanhood--the weary, +anxious waiting, when the heart is torn with uncertainty and suspense +over the fate of the loved ones who bear the brunt and burden +of the day. + +The order sending Will's regiment to the front was countermanded, +and he remained for a time in Fort Leavenworth. His Western +experiences were "well known there, and probably for this +reason he was selected as a bearer of military dispatches to +Fort Larned. Some of our old pro-slavery enemies, who were upon +the point of joining the Confederate army, learned of Will's mission, +which they thought afforded them an excellent chance to gratify +their ancient grudge against the father by murdering the son. +The killing could be justified on the plea of service rendered +to their cause. Accordingly a plan was made to waylay Will +and capture his dispatches at a creek he was obliged to ford. + +He received warning of this plot. On such a mission +the utmost vigilance was demanded at all times, and with +an ambuscade ahead of him, he was alertness itself. +His knowledge of Indian warfare stood him in good stead now. +Not a tree, rock, or hillock escaped his keen glance. +When he neared the creek at which the attack was expected, +he left the road, and attempted to ford the stream four +or five hundred yards above the common crossing, but found +it so swollen by recent rains that he was unable to cross; +so he cautiously picked his way back to the trail. + +The assassins' camp was two or three hundred feet away from the creek. +Darkness was coming on, and he took advantage of the shelter afforded +by the bank, screening himself behind every clump of bushes. +His enemies would look for his approach from the other direction, +and he hoped to give them the slip and pass by unseen. + +When he reached the point where he could see the little cabin +where the men were probably hiding, he ran upon a thicket +in which five saddle-horses were concealed. + +"Five to one! I don't stand much show if they see me," +he decided as he rode quietly and slowly along, his carbine +in his hand ready for use. + +"There he goes, boys! he's at the ford!" came a sudden +shout from the camp, followed by the crack of a rifle. +Two or three more shots rang out, and from the bound his horse gave +Will knew one bullet had reached a mark. He rode into the water, +then turned in his saddle and aimed like a flash at a man within range. +The fellow staggered and fell, and Will put spurs to his horse, +turning again only when the stream was crossed. The men were running +toward the ford, firing as they came, and getting a warm return fire. +As Will was already two or three hundred yards in advance, +pursuers on foot were not to be feared, and he knew that before they +could reach and mount their horses he would be beyond danger. +Much depended on his horse. Would the gallant beast, wounded as +he was, be able to long maintain the fierce pace he had set? +Mile upon mile was put behind before the stricken creature fell. +Will shouldered the saddle and bridle and continued on foot. +He soon reached a ranch where a fresh mount might be procured, +and was shortly at Fort Larned. + +After a few hours' breathing-spell, he left for Fort Leavenworth +with return dispatches. As he drew near the ford, he resumed +his sharp lookout, though scarcely expecting trouble. +The planners of the ambuscade had been so certain that five +men could easily make away with one boy that there had been +no effort at disguise, and Will had recognized several of them. +He, for his part, felt certain that they would get out of +that part of the country with all dispatch; but he employed +none the less caution in crossing the creek, and his carbine +was ready for business as he approached the camp. + +The fall of his horse's hoofs evoked a faint call from one of the buildings. +It was not repeated; instead there issued hollow moans. + +It might be a trap; again, a fellow-creature might be at death's door. +Will rode a bit nearer the cabin entrance. + +"Who's there?" he called. + +"Come in, for the love of God! I am dying here alone!" +was the reply. + +"Who are you?" + +"Ed Norcross." + +Will jumped from his horse. This was the man at whom he had fired. +He entered the cabin. + +"What is the matter?" he asked. + +"I was wounded by a bullet," moaned Norcross, "and my comrades deserted me." + +Will was now within range of the poor fellow lying on the floor. + +"Will Cody!" he cried. + +Will dropped on his knee beside the dying man, choking with the emotion +that the memory of long years of friendship had raised. + +"My poor Ed!" he murmured. "And it was my bullet that struck you." + +"It was in defense of your own life, Will," said Norcross. +"God knows, I don't blame you. Don't think too hard of me. +I did everything I could to save you. It was I who sent you warning. +I hoped you might find some other trail." + +"I didn't shoot with the others," continued Norcross, after a short silence. +"They deserted me. They said they would send help back, but they haven't." + +Will filled the empty canteen lying on the floor, and rearranged the blanket +that served as a pillow; then he offered to dress the neglected wound. +But the gray of death was already upon the face of Norcross. + +"Never mind, Will," he whispered; "it's not worth while. +Just stay with me till I die." + +It was not a long vigil. Will sat beside his old friend, moistening his +pallid lips with water. In a very short time the end came. +Will disposed the stiffening limbs, crossing the hands over the heart, +and with a last backward look went out of the cabin. + +It was his first experience in the bitterness and savagery of war, +and he set a grave and downcast face against the remainder +of his journey. + +As he neared Leavenworth he met the friend who had conveyed the dead man's +warning message, and to him he committed the task of bringing home the body. +His heaviness of spirit was scarcely mitigated by the congratulations +of the commander of Fort Leavenworth upon his pluck and resources, +which had saved both his life and the dispatches. + +There followed another period of inaction, always irritating +to a lad of Will's restless temperament. Meantime, we at home +were having our own experiences. + +We were rejoiced in great measure when sister Julia decided that we +had learned as much as might be hoped for in the country school, +and must thereafter attend the winter and spring terms of the school +at Leavenworth. The dresses she cut for us, however, still followed +the country fashion, which has regard rather to wear than to appearance, +and we had not been a day in the city school before we discovered that our +apparel had stamped "provincial" upon us in plain, large characters. +In addition to this, our brother-in-law, in his endeavor to administer +the estate economically, bought each of us a pair of coarse calfskin shoes. +To these we were quite unused, mother having accustomed us to serviceable +but pretty ones. The author of our "extreme" mortification, totally ignorant +of the shy and sensitive nature of girls, only laughed at our protests, +and in justice to him it may be said that he really had no conception +of the torture he inflicted upon us. + +We turned to Will. In every emergency he was our first thought, and here +was an emergency that taxed his powers to an extent we did not dream of. +He made answer to our letter that he was no longer an opulent trainman, +but drew only the slender income of a soldier, and even that pittance +was in arrears. Disappointment was swallowed up in remorse. +Had we reflected how keenly he must feel his inability to help us, +we would not have sent him the letter, which, at worst, contained only +a sly suggestion of a fine opportunity to relieve sisterly distress. +All his life he had responded to our every demand; now allegiance was +due his country first. But, as was always the way with him, he made +the best of a bad matter, and we were much comforted by the receipt +of the following letter: + +"MY DEAR SISTERS: + +"I am sorry that I cannot help you and furnish you with +such clothes as you wish. At this writing I am so short +of funds myself that if an entire Mississippi steamer could +be bought for ten cents I couldn't purchase the smokestack. +I will soon draw my pay, and I will send it, every cent, to you. +So brave it out, girls, a little longer. In the mean time I +will write to Al. Lovingly, WILL." + + +We were comforted, yes; but my last hope was gone, and I grew desperate. +I had never worn the obnoxious shoes purchased by my guardian, and I +proceeded to dispose of them forever. I struck what I regarded as a famous +bargain with an accommodating Hebrew, and came into possession of a pair +of shiny morocco shoes, worth perhaps a third of what mine had cost. +One would say they were designed for shoes, and they certainly +looked like shoes, but as certainly they were not wearable. +Still they were of service, for the transaction convinced my guardian +that the truest economy did not lie in the pur-chasing of calfskin +shoes for at least one of his charges. A little later he received +a letter from Will, presenting our grievances and advocating our cause. +Will also sent us the whole of his next month's pay as soon as he drew it. + +In February, 1864, Sherman began his march through Mississippi. +The Seventh Kansas regiment, known as "Jennison's Jayhawkers," +was reorganized at Fort Leavenworth as veterans, and sent +to Memphis, Tenn., to join General A. J. Smith's command, +which was to operate against General Forrest and cover the retreat +of General Sturgis, who had been so badly whipped by Forrest +at Cross-Roads. Will was exceedingly desirous of engaging +in a great battle, and through some officers with whom he was +acquainted preferred a petition to be transferred to this regiment. +The request was granted, and his delight knew no bounds. +He wrote to us that his great desire was about to be gratified, +that he should soon know what a real battle was like. + +He was well versed in Indian warfare; now he was ambitious to learn, +from experience, the superiority of civilized strife--rather, I should say, +of strife between civilized people. + +General Smith had acquainted himself with the record made by the young +scout of the plains, and shortly after reaching Memphis he ordered Will +to report to headquarters for special service. + +"I am anxious," said the general, "to gain reliable +information concerning the enemy's movements and position. +This can only be done by entering the Confederate camp. +You possess the needed qualities--nerve, coolness, resource-- +and I believe you could do it." + +"You mean," answered Will, quietly, "that you wish me to go as a spy +into the rebel camp." + +"Exactly. But you must understand the risk you run. +If you are captured, you will be hanged." + +"I am ready to take the chances, sir," said Will; "ready to go at once, +if you wish." + +General Smith's stern face softened into a smile at the prompt response. + +"I am sure, Cody," said he, kindly, "that if any one can go through safely, +you will. Dodging Indians on the plains was good training for the work +in hand, which demands quick intelligence and ceaseless vigilance. +I never require such service of any one, but since you volunteer to go, +take these maps of the country to your quarters and study them carefully. +Return this evening for full instructions." + +During the few days his regiment had been in camp, Will had +been on one or two scouting expeditions, and was somewhat +familiar with the immediate environments of the Union forces. +The maps were unusually accurate, showing every lake, river, creek, +and highway, and even the by-paths from plantation to plantation. + +Only the day before, while on a reconnoissance, Will had captured +a Confederate soldier, who proved to be an old acquaintance named +Nat Golden. Will had served with Nat on one of Russell, Majors & +Waddell's freight trains, and at one time had saved the young +man's life, and thereby earned his enduring friendship. +Nat was born in the East, became infected with Western fever, +and ran away from home in order to become a plainsman. + +"Well, this is too bad," said Will, when he recognized his old friend. +"I would rather have captured a whole regiment than you. +I don't like to take you in as a prisoner. What did you enlist +on the wrong side for, anyway?" + +"The fortunes of war, Billy, my boy," laughed Nat. "Friend shall +be turned against friend, and brother against brother, you know. +You wouldn't have had me for a prisoner, either, if my rifle hadn't snapped; +but I'm glad it did, for I shouldn't want to be the one that shot you." + +"Well, I don't want to see you strung up," said Will; +"so hand me over those papers you have, and I will turn you +in as an ordinary prisoner." + +Nat's face paled as he asked, "Do you think I'm a spy, Billy?" + +"I know it." + +"Well," was the reply, "I've risked my life to obtain these papers, +but I suppose they will be taken from me anyway; so I might as well give +them up now, and save my neck." + +Examination showed them to be accurate maps of the location and +position of the Union army; and besides the maps, there were papers +containing much valuable information concerning the number of soldiers +and officers and their intended movements. Will had not destroyed +these papers, and he now saw a way to use them to his own advantage. +When he reported for final instructions, therefore, at General Smith's tent, +in the evening, Will said to him: + +"I gathered from a statement dropped by the prisoner captured yesterday, +that a Confederate spy has succeeded in making out and carrying to the enemy +a complete map of the position of our regiment, together with some idea +of the projected plan of campaign." + +"Ah," said the general; "I am glad that you have put me on my guard. +I will at once change my position, so that the information will be +of no value to them." + +Then followed full instructions as to the duty required of the volunteer. + +"When will you set out?" asked the general. + +"To-night, sir. I have procured my uniform, and have everything prepared +for an early start." + +"Going to change your colors, eh?" + +"Yes, for the time being, but not my principles." + +The general looked at Will approvingly. "You will need +all the wit, pluck, nerve, and caution of which you are +possessed to come through this ordeal safely," said he. +"I believe you can accomplish it, and I rely upon you fully. +Good by, and success go with you!" + +After a warm hand-clasp, Will returned to his tent, and lay down +for a few hours' rest. By four o'clock he was in the saddle, +riding toward the Confederate lines. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +IN THE SECRET-SERVICE. + +IN common walks of life to play the spy is an ignoble role; +yet the work has to be done, and there must be men to do it. +There always are such men--nervy fellows who swing themselves +into the saddle when their commander lifts his hand, and ride +a mad race, with Death at the horse's flank every mile of the way. +They are the unknown heroes of every war. + +It was with a full realization of the dangers confronting him that Will +cantered away from the Union lines, his borrowed uniform under his arm. +As soon as he had put the outposts behind him, he dismounted and exchanged +the blue clothes for the gray. Life on the plains had bronzed his face. +For aught his complexion could tell, the ardent Southern sun might have +kissed it to its present hue. Then, if ever, his face was his fortune +in good part; but there was, too, a stout heart under his jacket, +and the light of confidence in his eyes. + +The dawn had come up when he sighted the Confederate outposts. +What lay beyond only time could reveal; but with a last +reassuring touch of the papers in his pocket, he spurred +his horse up to the first of the outlying sentinels. +Promptly the customary challenge greeted him: + +"Halt! Who goes there?" + +"Friend." + +"Dismount, friend! Advance and give the countersign!" + +"Haven't the countersign," said Will, dropping from his horse, +"but I have important information for General Forrest. Take me +to him at once." + +"Are you a Confederate soldier?" + +"Not exactly. But I have some valuable news about the Yanks, I reckon. +Better let me see the general." + +"Thus far," he added to himself, "I have played the part. +The combination of `Yank' and `I reckon' ought to establish me +as a promising candidate for Confederate honors." + +His story was not only plausible, but plainly and fairly told; +but caution is a child of war, and the sentinel knew his business. +The pseudo-Confederate was disarmed as a necessary preliminary, +and marched between two guards to headquarters, many curious eyes +(the camp being now astir) following the trio. + +When Forrest heard the report, he ordered the prisoner brought +before him. One glance at the general's handsome but harsh face, +and the young man steeled his nerves for the encounter. +There was no mercy in those cold, piercing eyes. +This first duel of wits was the one to be most dreaded. +Unless confidence were established, his after work must be done +at a disadvantage. + +The general's penetrating gaze searched the young face before him +for several seconds. + +"Well, sir," said he, "what do you want with me?" + +Yankee-like, the reply was another question: + +"You sent a man named Nat Golden into the Union lines, did you not, sir?" + +"And if I did, what then?" + +"He is an old friend of mine. He tried for the Union camp to verify +information that he had received, but before he started he left certain +papers with me in case he should be captured." + +"Ah!" said Forrest, coldly. "And he was captured?" + +"Yes, sir; but, as I happen to know, he wasn't hanged, +for these weren't on him." + +As he spoke, Will took from his pocket the papers he had obtained from Golden, +and passed them over with the remark, "Golden asked me to take them to you." + +General Forrest was familiar with the hapless Golden's handwriting, +and the documents were manifestly genuine. His suspicion was not aroused. + +"These are important papers," said he, when he had run his eye over them. +"They contain valuable information, but we may not be able to use it, as we +are about to change our location. Do you know what these papers contain?" + +"Every word," was the truthful reply. "I studied them, so that in case +they were destroyed you would still have the information from me." + +"A wise thing to do," said Forrest, approvingly. "Are you a soldier?" + +"I have not as yet joined the army, but I am pretty well acquainted +with this section, and perhaps could serve you as a scout." + +"Um!" said the general, looking the now easy-minded young man over. +"You wear our uniform." + +"It's Golden's," was the second truthful answer. +"He left it with me when he put on the blue." + +"And what is your name?" + +"Frederick Williams." + +Pretty near the truth. Only a final "s" and a rearrangement +of his given names. + +"Very well," said the general, ending the audience; "you may remain in camp. +If I need you, I'll send for you." + +He summoned an orderly, and bade him make the volunteer scout comfortable +at the couriers' camp. Will breathed a sigh of relief as he followed +at the orderly's heels. The ordeal was successfully passed. +The rest was action. + +Two days went by. In them Will picked up valuable information +here and there, drew maps, and was prepared to depart at +the first favorable opportunity. It was about time, he figured, +that General Forrest found some scouting work for him. +That was a passport beyond the lines, and he promised himself +the outposts should see the cleanest pair of heels that ever left +unwelcome society in the rear. But evidently scouting was a drug +in the general's market, for the close of another day found Will +impatiently awaiting orders in the couriers' quarters. This sort +of inactivity was harder on the nerves than more tangible perils, +and he about made up his mind that when he left camp it would be +without orders, but with a hatful of bullets singing after him. +And he was quite sure that his exit lay that way when, +strolling past headquarters, he clapped eyes on the very last +person that he expected or wished to see--Nat Golden. + +And Nat was talking to an adjutant-general! + +There were just two things to do, knock Golden on the head, +or cut and run. Nat would not betray him knowingly, but unwittingly +was certain to do so the moment General Forrest questioned him. +There could be no choice between the two courses open; +it was cut and run, and as a preliminary Will cut for his tent. +First concealing his papers, he saddled his horse and rode toward +the outposts with a serene countenance. + + +{illust. caption = "NOW RIDE FOR YOUR LIVES!"} The same +sergeant that greeted him when he entered the lines chanced +to be on duty, and of him Will asked an unimportant question +concerning the outer-flung lines. Yet as he rode along +he could not forbear throwing an apprehensive glance behind. +No pursuit was making, and the farthest picket-line was passed +by a good fifty yards. Ahead was a stretch of timber. +Suddenly a dull tattoo of horses' hoofs caught his ear, and he turned +to see a small cavalcade bearing down upon him at a gallop. +He sank the spurs into his horse's side and plunged into the timber. +It was out of the frying-pan into the fire. He ran plump into +a half-dozen Confederate cavalrymen, guarding two Union prisoners. +"Men, a Union spy is escaping!" shouted Will. "Scatter at once, +and head him off. I'll look after your prisoners." +There was a ring of authority in the command; it came at least +from a petty officer; and without thought of challenging it, +the cavalrymen hurried right and left in search of the fugitive. +"Come,"said Will, in a hurried but smiling whisper to the dejected +pair of Union men. "I'm the spy! There!" cutting the ropes +that bound their wrists. "Now ride for your lives!" Off dashed +the trio, and not a minute too soon. Will's halt had been brief, +but it had been of advantage to his pursuers, who, with Nat Golden +at their head, came on in full cry, not a hundred yards behind. +Here was a race with Death at the horse's flanks. +The timber stopped a share of the singing bullets, but there +were plenty that got by the trees, one of them finding +lodg-ment in the arm of one of the fleeing Union soldiers. +Capture meant certain death for Will; for his companions it +meant Andersonville or Libby, at the worst, which was perhaps +as bad as death; but Will would not leave them, though his +horse was fresh, and he could easily have distanced them. +Of course, if it became necessary, he was prepared to cut +their acquaintance, but for the present he made one of the triplicate +targets on which the galloping marksmen were endeavoring to +score a bull's-eye. The edge of the wood was shortly reached, +and beyond--inspiring sight!--lay the outposts of the Union army. +The pickets, at sight of the fugitives, sounded the alarm, +and a body of blue-coats responded. Will would have gladly +tarried for the skirmish that ensued, but he esteemed it his first +duty to deliver the papers he had risked his life to obtain; +so, leaving friend and foe to settle the dispute as best they might, +he put for the clump of trees where he had hidden his uniform, +and exchanged it for the gray, that had served its purpose and was +no longer endurable. Under his true colors he rode into camp. +General Forrest almost immediately withdrew from that neighborhood, +and after the atrocious massacre at Fort Pillow, on the 12th +of April, left the state. General Smith was recalled, +and Will was transferred, with the commission of guide and scout +for the Ninth Kansas Regiment. The Indians were giving so much +trouble along the line of the old Santa Fe trail that troops +were needed to protect the stagecoaches, emigrants, and caravans +traveling that great highway. Like nearly all our Indian wars, +this trouble was precipitated by the injustice of the white +man's government of certain of the native tribes. In 1860 +Colonel A. G. Boone, a worthy grandson of the immortalDaniel, +made a treaty with the Comanches, Kiowas, Cheyennes, and Arapahoes, +and at their request he was made agent. During his wise, +just, and humane administration all of these savage nations +were quiet, and held the kindliest feelings toward the whites. +Any one could cross the plains without fear of molestation. +In 1861 a charge of disloyalty was made against Colonel Boone +by Judge Wright, of Indiana, and he succeeded in having the right +man removed from the right place. Russell, Majors & Waddell, +recognizing his influence over the Indians, gave him fourteen +hundred acres of land near Pueblo, Colorado. Colonel Boone +moved there, and the place was named Booneville. Fifty chieftains +from the tribes referred to visited Colonel Boone in +the fall of 1862, and implored him to return to them. +He told them that the President had sent him away. +They offered to raise money, by selling their horses, to send +him to Washington, to tell the Great Father what their agent +was doing--that he stole their goods and sold them back again; +and they bade the colonel say that there would be trouble +unless some one were put in the dishonest man's place. +With the innate logic for which the Indian is noted, +they declared that they had as much right to steal from +passing caravans as the agent had to steal from them. +No notice was taken of so trifling a matter as an injustice +to the Indian. The administration had its hands more than +full in the attempt to right the wrongs of the negro. +In the fall of 1863 a caravan passed along the trail. +It was a small one, but the Indians had been quiet for so long +a time that travelers were beginning to lose fear of them. +A band of warriors rode up to the wagon-train and asked for +something to eat. The teamsters thought they would be doing +humanity a service if they killed a redskin, on theancient +principle that "the only good Indian is a dead one." +Accordingly, a friendly, inoffensive Indian was shot. +The bullet that reached his heart touched that of every warrior +in these nations. Every man but one in the wagon- train +was slain, the animals driven off, and the wagons burned. +The fires of discontent that had been smoldering for two years +in the red man's breast now burst forth with volcanic fury. +Hundreds of atrocious murders followed, with wholesale destruction +of property. The Ninth Kansas Regiment, under the command of +Colonel Clark, was detailed to protect the old trail between Fort Lyon +and Fort Larned, and as guide and scout Will felt wholly at home. +He knew the Indian and his ways, and had no fear of him. +His fine horse and glittering trappings were an innocent delight +to him; and who will not pardon in him the touch of pride-- +say vanity--that thrilled him as he led his regiment down the +Arkansas River? During the summer there were sundry skirmishes +with the Indians. The same old vigilance, learned in earlier +days on the frontier, was in constant demand, and there was many +a rough and rapid ride to drive the hostiles from the trail. +Whatever Colonel Clark's men may have had to complain of, +there was no lack of excitement, no dull days, in that summer. +In the autumn the Seventh Kansas was again ordered to the front, +and at the request of its officers Will was detailed for duty +with his old regiment. General Smith's orders were that +he should go to Nashville. Rosecrans was then in command +of the Union forces in Missouri. His army was very small, +numbering only about 6,500 men, while the Confederate General Price +was on the point of entering the state with 20,000. This +superiority of numbers was sogreat that General Smith received +an order countermanding the other, and remained in Missouri, +joining forces with Rosecrans to oppose Price. Rosecrans's entire +force still numbered only 11,000, and he deemed it prudent +to concentrate his army around St. Louis. General Ewing's +forces and a portion of General Smith's command occupied +Pilot Knob. On Monday, the 24th of September, 1864, Price advanced +against this position, but was repulsed with heavy losses. +An adjacent fort in the neighborhood of Ironton was assaulted, +but the Confederate forces again sustained a severe loss. +This fort held a commanding lookout on Shepard Mountain, +which the Confederates occupied, and their wall-directed +fire obliged General Ewing to fall back to Harrison Station, +where he made a stand, and some sharp fighting followed. +General Ewing again fell back, and succeeded in reaching +General McNeill, at Rolla, with the main body of his troops. +This was Will's first serious battle, and it so chanced that +he found himself opposed at one point by a body of Missouri troops +numbering many of the men who had been his father's enemies +and persecutors nine years before. In the heat of the conflict +he recognized more than one of them, and with the recognition came +the memory of his boyhood's vow to avenge his father's death. +Three of those men fell in that battle; and whether or not +it was he who laid them low, from that day on he accounted +himself freed of his melancholy obligation. After several +hard-fought battles, Price withdrew from Missouri with the remnant +of his command--seven thousand where there had been twenty. +During this campaign Will received honorable mention "for +most conspicuous bravery and valuable service upon the field," +and he was shortly brought into favorable noticein many quarters. +The worth of the tried veterans was known, but none of the +older men was in more demand than Will. His was seemingly +a charmed life. Often was he detailed to bear dispatches +across the battlefield, and though horses were shot under him-- +riddled by bullets or torn by shells--he himself went scathless. +During this campaign, too, he ran across his old friend of the plains, +Wild Bill. Stopping at a farm-house one day to obtain a meal, +he was not a little surprised to hear the salutation: +"Well, Billy, my boy, how are you?" He looked around to see +a hand outstretched from a coat-sleeve of Confederate gray, +and as he knew Wild Bill to be a stanch Unionist, he surmised +that he was engaged upon an enterprise similar to his own. +There was an exchange of chaffing about gray uniforms and blue, +but more serious talk followed. "Take these papers, Billy," +said Wild Bill, passing over a package. "Take 'em to General McNeill, +and tell him I'm picking up too much good news to keep away +from the Confederate camp." "Don't take too many chances," +cautioned Will, well knowing that the only chances the other +would not take would be the sort that were not visible. +Colonel Hickok, to give him his real name, replied, with a laugh: +"Practice what you preach, my son. Your neck is of more value +than mine. You have a future, but mine is mostly past. +I'm getting old." At this point the good woman of the house +punctuated the colloquy with a savory meal, which the pair discussed +with good appetite and easy conscience, in spite of their hostess's +refusal to take pay from Confederate soldiers."As long as I have +a crust in the house," said she, "you boys are welcome to it." +But the pretended Confederates paid her for her kindness +in better currency than she was used to. They withheld +information concerning a proposed visit of her husband and son, +of which, during one spell of loquacity, she acquainted them. +The bread she cast upon the waters returned to her speedily. +The two friends parted company, Will returning to the Union lines, +and Colonel Hickok to the opposing camp. A few days later, +when the Confederate forces were closing up around the Union lines, +and a battle was at hand, two horsemen were seen to dart out of +the hostile camp and ride at full speed for the Northern lines. +For a space the audacity of the escape seemed to paralyze +the Confederates; but presently the bullets followed thick and fast, +and one of the saddles was empty before the rescue party-- +of which Will was one--got fairly under way. As the survivor +drew near, Will shouted: "It's Wild Bill, the Union scout." +A cheer greeted the intrepid Colonel Hickok, and he rode +into camp surrounded by a party of admirers. The information +he brought proved of great value in the battle of Pilot Knob +(already referred to), which almost immediately followed. +CHAPTER XIV. A RESCUE AND A BETROTHAL. AFTER the battle +of Pilot Knob Will was assigned, through the influence +of General Polk, to special service at military headquarters +in St. Louis. Mrs. Polk had been one of mother's school friends, +and the two had maintained a correspondence up to the time +of mother's death. As soon as Mrs. Polk learned that the son +of her old friend was in the Union army, she interested +herself in obtaining a good position for him. But desk-work +is not a Pony Express rush, and Will found the St. Louis detail +about as much to his taste as clerking in a dry-goods store. +His new duties naturally became intolerable, lacking the excitement +and danger-scent which alone made his life worth while to him. +One event, however, relieved the dead-weight monotony of his existence; +he met Louise Frederici, the girl who became his wife. +The courtship has been written far and wide with blood-and-thunder pen, +attended by lariat-throwing and runaway steeds. In reality it was +a romantic affair. More than once, while out for a morning canter, +Will had remarked a young woman of attractive face and figure, +who sat her horse with the grace of Diana Vernon. Now, few things +catch Will's eye more quickly than fine horsemanship. +He desired to establish an acquaintance with the young lady, +but as none of his friends knew her, he found it impossible. +At length a chance came. Her bridle-rein broke onemorning; +there was a runaway, a rescue, and then acquaintance was easy. +From war to love, or from love to war, is but a step, +and Will lost no time in taking it. He was somewhat better than +an apprentice to Dan Cupid. If the reader remembers, he went +to school with Steve Gobel. True, his opportunities to enjoy +feminine society had not been many, which; perhaps, accounts for +the promptness with which he embraced them when they did arise. +He became the accepted suitor of Miss Louise Frederici +before the war closed and his regiment was mustered out. +The spring of 1865 found him not yet twenty, and he was sensible +of the fact that before he could dance at his own wedding he must +place his worldly affairs upon a surer financial basis than falls +to the lot of a soldier; so, much as he would have enjoyed remaining +in St. Louis, fortune pointed to wider fields, and he set forth +in search of remunerative and congenial employment. First, there was +the visit home, where the warmest of welcomes awaited him. +During his absence the second sister, Eliza, had married a Mr. Myers, +but the rest of us were at the old place, and the eagerness +with which we awaited Will's home-coming was stimulated by +the hope that he would remain and take charge of the estate. +Before we broached this subject, however, he informed us of his +engagement to Miss Frederici, which, far from awakening jealousy, +aroused our delight, Julia voicing the sentiment of the family +in the comment: "When you're married, Will, you will have +to stay at home." This led to the matter of his remaining +with us to manage the estate--and to the upsetting of our plans. +The pay of a soldier in the war was next to nothing, and asWill +had been unable to put any money by, he took the first chance +that offered to better his fortunes. This happened to be a job +of driving horses from Leavenworth to Fort Kearny, and almost +the first man he met after reaching the fort was an old plains friend, +Bill Trotter. "You're just the chap I've been looking for," +said Trotter, when he learned that Will desired regular work. +"I'm division station agent here, but stage-driving is +dangerous work, as the route is infested with Indians and outlaws. +Several drivers have been held up and killed lately, so it's +not a very enticing job, but the pay's good, and you know +the country. If any one can take the stage through, you can. +Do you want the job?" When a man is in love and the wedding-day +has been dreamed of, if not set, life takes on an added sweetness, +and to stake it against the marksmanship of Indian or outlaw +is not, perhaps, the best use to which it may be put. +Will had come safely through so many perils that it seemed folly +to thrust his head into another batch of them, and thinking +of Louise and the coming wedding-day, his first thought was no. +But it was the old story, and there was Trotter at his elbow +expressing confidence in his ability as a frontiersman-- +an opinion Will fully shared, for a man knows what he can do. +The pay was good, and the sooner earned the sooner would +the wedding be, and Trotter received the answer he expected. +The stage line was another of the Western enterprises projected +by Russell, Majors & Waddell. When gold was discovered on +Pike's Peak there was no method of traversing the great Western +plain except by plodding ox-team, mule-pack, or stagecoach. +A semi-monthly stage line ran from St. Joseph to Salt Lake City, +but it was poorlyequipped and very tedious, oftentimes twenty-one +days being required to make the trip. The senior member +of the firm, in partnership with John S. Jones, of Missouri, +established a new line between the Missouri River and Denver, +at that time a straggling mining hamlet. One thousand Kentucky +mules were bought, with a sufficient number of coaches to +insure a daily run each way. The trip was made in six days, +which necessitated travel at the rate of a hundred miles a day. +The first stage reached Denver on May 17, 1859. It was accounted +a remarkable achievement, and the line was pronounced a great success. +In one way it was; but the expense of equipping it had +been enormous, and the new line could not meet its obligations. +To save the credit of their senior partner, Russell, Majors & +Waddell were obliged to come to the rescue. They bought up +all the outstanding obligations, and also the rival stage line +between St. Joseph and Salt Lake City. They consolidated the two, +and thereby hoped to put the Overland stage route on a paying basis. +St. Joseph now became the starting-point of the united lines. +From there the road went to Fort Kearny, and followed +the old Salt Lake trail, already described in these pages. +After leaving Salt Lake it passed through Camp Floyd, +Ruby Valley, Carson City, Placerville, and Folsom, and ended +in Sacramento. The distance from St. Joseph to Sacramento +by this old stage route was nearly nineteen hundred miles. +The time required by mail contracts and the government schedule +was nineteen days. The trip was frequently made in fifteen, +but there were so many causes for detention that the limit was +more often reached. Each two hundred and fifty miles of road +was designated a "division," and was in charge of an agent, +who hadgreat authority in his own jurisdiction. He was commonly +a man of more than ordinary intelligence, and all matters pertaining +to his division were entirely under his control. He hired and +discharged employee, purchased horses, mules, harness, and food, +and attended to their distribution at the different stations. +He superintended the erection of all buildings, +had charge of the water supply, and he was the paymaster. +There was also a man known as the conductor, whose route was almost +coincident with that of the agent. He sat with the driver, +and often rode the whole two hundred and fifty miles of his division +without any rest or sleep, except what he could catch sitting +on the top of the flying coach. The coach itself was a roomy, +swaying vehicle, swung on thorough-braces instead of springs. +It always had a six-horse or six-mule team to draw it, +and the speed was nerve-breaking. Passengers were allowed +twenty-five pounds of baggage, and that, with the mail, express, +and the passengers themselves, was in charge of the conductor. +The Overland stagecoaches were operated at a loss until 1862. +In March of that year Russell, Majors & Waddell transferred +the whole outfit to Ben Holliday. Here was a typical frontiersman, +of great individuality and character. At the time he took +charge of the route the United States mail was given to it. +This put the line on a sound financial basis, as the +government spent $800,000 yearly in transporting the mail +to San Francisco. Will reported for duty the morning after +his talk with Trotter, and when he mounted the stage-box +and gathered the reins over the six spirited horses, +the passengers were assured of an expert driver. His run was from +Fort Kearny to Plum Creek. The country was sharply familiar. +It was the scene of his first encounter with Indians. A long +and lonely ride it was, and a dismal one when the weather +turned cold; but it meant a hundred and fifty dollars a month; +and each pay day brought him nearer to St. Louis. + +Indian signs there had been right along, but they were only signs +until one bleak day in November. He pulled out of Plum Creek +with a sharp warning ringing in his ears. Indians were on +the war-path, and trouble was more likely than not ahead. +Lieutenant Flowers, assistant division agent, was on the box +with him, and within the coach were six well-armed passengers. + +Half the run had been covered, when Will's experienced eye detected +the promised red men. Before him lay a stream which must be forded. +The creek was densely fringed with underbrush, and along this the Indians +were skulking, expecting to cut the stage off at the only possible crossing. + +Perhaps this is a good place to say a word concerning the seemingly +extraordinary fortune that has stood by Will in his adventures. +Not only have his own many escapes been of the hairbreadth sort, +but he has arrived on the scene of danger at just the right moment +to rescue others from extinction. Of course, an element of luck has +entered into these affairs, but for the most part they simply proved +the old saying that an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. +Will had studied the plains as an astronomer studies the heavens. +The slightest disarrangement of the natural order of things caught his eye. +With the astronomer, it is a comet or an asteroid appearing upon +a field whose every object has long since been placed and studied; +with Will, it was a feathered headdress where there should have been +but tree, or rock, or grass; a moving figure where nature should +have been inanimate. + +When seen, those things were calculated as the astronomer +calculates the motion of the objects that he studies. +A planet will arrive at a given place at a certain time; +an Indian will reach a ford in a stream in about so many minutes. +If there be time to cross before him, it is a matter of hard driving; +if the odds are with the Indian, that is another matter. + +A less experienced observer than Will would not have seen the skulking +redskins; a less skilled frontiersman would not have apprehended their design; +a less expert driver would not have taken the running chance for life; +a less accurate marksman would not have picked off an Indian with a rifle +while shooting from the top of a swinging, jerking stagecoach. + +Will did not hesitate. A warning shout to the passengers, +and the whip was laid on, and off went the horses full speed. +Seeing that they had been discovered, the Indians came +out into the open, and ran their ponies for the ford, +but the stage was there full five hundred yards before them. +It was characteristic of their driver that the horses were +suffered to pause at the creek long enough to get a swallow +of water; then, refreshed, they were off at full speed again. + +The coach, creaking in every joint, rocked like a captive balloon, +the unhappy passengers were hurled from one side of the vehicle to the other, +flung into one another's laps, and occasionally, when some uncommon obstacle +sought to check the flying coach, their heads collided with its roof. +The Indians menaced them without, cracked skulls seemed their fate within. + +Will plied the whip relentlessly, and so nobly did the powerful +horses respond that the Indians gained but slowly on them. +There were some fifty redskins in the band, but Will assumed that +if he could reach the relay station, the two stock-tenders there, +with himself, Lieutenant Flowers, and the passengers, would be +more than a match for the marauders. + +When the pursuers drew within fair rifle range, Will handed the reins +to the lieutenant, swung round in his seat, and fired at the chief. + +"There," shouted one of the passengers, "that fellow with the feathers +is shot!" and another fusillade from the coach interior drove holes +in the air. + +The relay station was now hard by, and attracted by the firing, +the stock-tenders came forth to take a hand in the engagement. +Disheartened by the fall of their chief, the Indians weakened +at the sign of reinforcements, and gave up the pursuit. + +Lieutenant Flowers and two of the passengers were wounded, but Will could +not repress a smile at the excited assurance of one of his fares that they +(the passengers) had "killed one Indian and driven the rest back." +The stock-tenders smiled also, but said nothing. It would have been +too bad to spoil such a good story. + +The gravest fears for the safety of the coach had been expressed when it +was known that the reds were on the war-path; it was not thought possible +that it could get through unharmed, and troops were sent out to scour +the country. These, while too late to render service in the adventure +just related, did good work during the remainder of the winter. +The Indians were thoroughly subdued, and Will saw no more of them. + +There was no other adventure of special note until February. Just before Will +started on his run, Trotter took him to one side and advised him that a small +fortune was going by the coach that day, and extra vigilance was urged, +as the existence of the treasure might have become known. + +"I'll do the best I can," said Will; and he had scarcely driven +away when he suspected the two ill-favored passengers he carried. +The sudden calling away of the conductor, whereby he was left alone, +was a suspicious circumstance. He properly decided that it would +be wiser for him to hold up his passengers than to let them +hold up him, and he proceeded to take time by the forelock. +He stopped the coach, jumped down, and examined the harness +as if something was wrong; then he stepped to the coach door +and asked his passengers to hand him a rope that was inside. +As they complied, they looked into the barrels of two cocked revolvers. + +"Hands up!" said Will. + +"What's the matter with you?" demanded one of the pair, +as their arms were raised. + +"Thought I'd come in first--that's all," was the answer. + +The other was not without appreciation of humor. + +"You're a cute one, youngster," said he, "but you'll find more'n your match +down the road, or I miss my guess." + +"I'll look after that when I get to it," said Will. "Will you oblige +me by tying your friend's hands? Thank you. Now throw out your guns. +That all? All right. Let me see your hands." + +When both outlaws had been securely trussed up and proven +to be disarmed, the journey was resumed. The remark dropped +by one of the pair was evidence that they were part of the gang. +He must reach the relay station before the attack. +If he could do that, he had a plan for farther on. + +The relay station was not far away, and was safely reached. +The prisoners were turned over to the stock-tenders, and then +Will disposed of the treasure against future molestation. +He cut open one of the cushions of the coach, taking out part +of the filling, and in the cavity thus made stored everything +of value, including his own watch and pocketbook; then the filling +was replaced and the hole smoothed to a natural appearance. + +If there were more in the gang, he looked for them at the ford where +the Indians had sought to cut him off, and he was not disappointed. +As he drew near the growth of willows that bordered the road, +half a dozen men with menacing rifles stepped out. + +"Halt, or you're a dead man!" was the conventional salutation, +in this case graciously received. + +"Well, what do you want?" asked Will. + +"The boodle you carry. Fork it over!" + +"Gentlemen," said Will, smiling, "this is a case where it takes +a thief to catch a thief." + +"What's that?" cried one of the outlaws, his feelings outraged +by the frank description. + +"Not that I'm the thief," continued Will, "but your pals were +one too many for you this time." + +"Did they rob you?" howled the gang in chorus, shocked by such depravity +on the part of their comrades. + +"If there's anything left in the coach worth having, don't hesitate +to take it," offered Will, pleasantly. + +"Where's your strong-box?" demanded the outlaws, loath to believe +there was no honor among thieves. + +Will drew it forth and exposed its melancholy emptiness. +The profanity that ensued was positively shocking. + +"Where did they hold you up?" demanded the leader of the gang. + +"Eight or nine miles back. You'll find some straw in the road. +You can have that, too." + +"Were there horses to meet them?" + +"On foot the last I saw them." + +"Then we can catch 'em, boys," shouted the leader, hope upspringing +in his breast. "Come, let's be off!" + +They started for the willows on the jump, and presently returned, +spurring their horses. + +"Give them my regards!" shouted Will. But only the thud! thud! +of horsehoofs answered him. Retribution was sweeping like a hawk +upon its prey. + +Will pushed along to the end of his run, and handed over his +trust undisturbed. Fearing that his ruse might have been discovered, +he put the "extra vigilance" urged by Trotter into the return trip, +but the trail was deserted. He picked up the prisoners at the relay +station and carried them to Fort Kearny. If their companions were +to discover the sorry trick played upon them, they would have demanded +his life as a sacrifice. + +At the end of this exciting trip he found a letter from +Miss Frederici awaiting him. She urged him to give up the wild +life he was leading, return East, and find another calling. +This was precisely what Will himself had in mind, and persuasion +was not needed. In his reply he asked that the wedding-day be set, +and then he handed Trotter his resignation from the lofty perch +of a stage-driver. + +"I don't like to let you go," objected Trotter. + +"But," said Will, "I took the job only in order to save enough +money to get married on." + +"In that case," said Trotter, "I have nothing to do but wish you joy." + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +WILL AS A BENEDICT. + +WHEN Will reached home, he found another letter from Miss Frederici, who, +agreeably to his request, had fixed the wedding-day, March 6, 1866. + +The wedding ceremony was quietly performed at the home of the bride, +and the large number of friends that witnessed it united in declaring +that no handsomer couple ever bowed for Hymen's benediction. + +The bridal journey was a trip to Leavenworth on a Missouri steamer. +At that time there was much travel by these boats, and their equipment +was first-class. They were sumptuously fitted out, the table was excellent, +and except when sectional animosities disturbed the serenity of their decks, +a trip on one of them was a very pleasant excursion. + +The young benedict soon discovered, however, that in war times +the "trail of the serpent" is liable to be over all things; +even a wedding journey is not exempt from the baneful influence +of sectional animosity. A party of excursionists on board +the steamer manifested so extreme an interest in the bridal couple +that Louise retired to a stateroom to escape their rudeness. +After her withdrawal, Will entered into conversation with a gentleman +from Indiana, who had been very polite to him, and asked him +if he knew the reason for the insolence of the excursion party. +The gentleman hesitated a moment, and then answered: + +"To tell the truth, Mr. Cody, these men are Missourians, +and say they recognize you as one of Jennison's Jayhawkers; +that you were an enemy of the South, and are, therefore, +an enemy of theirs." + +Will answered, steadily: "I was a soldier during the war, and a scout in the +Union army, but I had some experience of Southern chivalry before that time." +And he related to the Indianian some of the incidents of the early Kansas +border warfare, in which he and his father had played so prominent a part. + +The next day the insolent behavior was continued. Will was much +inclined to resent it, but his wife pleaded so earnestly with him +to take no notice of it that he ignored it. + +In the afternoon, when the boat landed at a lonely spot to wood up, +the Missourians seemed greatly excited, and all gathered on the guards +and anxiously scanned the riverbank. + +The roustabouts were just about to make the boat fast, when a party of +armed horsemen dashed out of the woods and galloped toward the landing. +The captain thought the boat was to be attacked, and hastily gave +orders to back out, calling the crew on board at the same time. +These orders the negroes lost no time in obeying, as they often suffered +severely at the hands of these reckless marauders. The leader of the +horsemen rode rapidly up, firing at random. As he neared the steamer +he called out, "Where is that Kansas Jayhawker? We have come for him." +The other men caught sight of Will, and one of them cried, "We know you, +Bill Cody." But they were too late. Already the steamer was backing +away from the shore, dragging her gang-plank through the water; +the negro roustabouts were too much terrified to pull it in. +When the attacking party saw their plans were frustrated, and that they +were balked of their prey, they gave vent to their disappointment +in yells of rage. A random volley was fired at the retreating steamer, +but it soon got out of range, and continued on its way up the river. + +Will had prepared himself for the worst; he stood, revolver in hand, +at the head of the steps, ready to dispute the way with his foes. + +There was also a party of old soldiers on board, six or eight in number; +they were dressed in civilians' garb, and Will knew nothing of them; +but when they heard of their comrade's predicament, they hastily +prepared to back up the young scout. Happily the danger +was averted, and their services were not called into requisition. +The remainder of the trip was made without unpleasant incident. + +It was afterward learned that as soon as the Missourians +became aware of the presence of the Union scout on board, +they telegraphed ahead to the James and Younger brothers that Will +was aboard the boat, and asked to have a party meet it at this +secluded landing, and capture and carry off the young soldier. +Will feared that Louise might be somewhat disheartened +by such an occurrence on the bridal trip, but the welcome +accorded the young couple on their arrival at Leavenworth was +flattering enough to make amends for all unpleasant incidents. +The young wife found that her husband numbered his friends +by the score in his own home; and in the grand reception tendered +them he was the lion of the hour. + +Entreated by Louise to abandon the plains and pursue a vocation along +more peaceful paths, Will conceived the idea of taking up the business +in which mother had won financial success--that of landlord. +The house she had built was purchased after her death by Dr. Crook, +a surgeon in the Seventh Kansas Regiment. It was now for rent, +which fact no doubt decided Will in his choice of an occupation. +It was good to live again under the roof that had sheltered his mother +in her last days; it was good to see the young wife amid the old scenes. +So Will turned boniface, and invited May and me to make our home with him. + +There was a baby in Julia's home, and it had so wound itself +around May's heartstrings that she could not be enticed away; +but there was never anybody who could supplant Will in my heart; +so I gladly accepted his invitation. + +Thoreau has somewhere drawn a sympathetic portrait of the Landlord, who is +supposed to radiate hospitality as the sun throws off heat--as its own reward-- +and who feeds and lodges men purely from a love of the creatures. +Yet even such a landlord, if he is to continue long in business, must have +an eye to profit, and make up in one corner what he parts with in another. +Now, Will radiated hospitality, and his reputation as a lover of his fellowman +got so widely abroad that travelers without money and without price would +go miles out of their way to put up at his tavern. Socially, he was an +irreproachable landlord; financially, his shortcomings were deplorable. + +And then the life of an innkeeper, while not without its joys +and opportunities to love one's fellowman, is somewhat prosaic, +and our guests oftentimes remarked an absent, far-away expression +in the eyes of Landlord Cody. He was thinking of the plains. +Louise also remarked that expression, and the sympathy she felt +for his yearnings was accentuated by an examination of the books +of the hostelry at the close of the first six months' business. +Half smiling, half tearful, she consented to his return to +his Western life. + +Will disposed of the house and settled his affairs, and when all +the bills were paid, and Sister Lou and I cozily ensconced in a little +home at Leavenworth, we found that Will's generous thought for our +comfort through the winter had left him on the beach financially. +He had planned a freighting trip on his own account, but the acquiring +of a team, wagon, and the rest of the outfit presented a knotty +problem when he counted over the few dollars left on hand. + +For the first time I saw disappointment and discouragement +written on his face, and I was sorely distressed, for he had +never denied me a desire that he could gratify, and it was partly +on my account that he was not in better financial condition. +I was not yet sixteen; it would be two years more before I +could have a say as to the disposition of my own money, +yet something must be done at once. + +I decided to lay the matter before Lawyer Douglass. Surely he +could suggest some plan whereby I might assist my brother. +I had a half-matured plan of my own, but I was assured that Will +would not listen to it. + +Mr. Douglass had been the legal adviser of the family since he won +our first lawsuit, years before. We considered the problem from +every side, and the lawyer suggested that Mr. Buckley, an old friend +of the family, had a team and wagon for sale; they were strong +and serviceable, and just the thing that Will would likely want. +I was a minor, but if Mr. Buckley was willing to accept me as security +for the property, there would be no difficulty in making the transfer. + +Mr. Buckley proved entirely agreeable to the proposition. +Will could have the outfit in return for his note with my indorsement. + +That disposed of, the question of freight to put into the wagon arose. +I thought of another old friend of the family, M. E. Albright, +a wholesale grocer in Leavenworth. Would he trust Will for a load +of supplies? He would. + +Thus everything was arranged satisfactorily, and I hastened +home to not the easiest task--to prevail upon Will to accept +assistance at the hands of the little sister who, not so long ago, +had employed his aid in the matter of a pair of shoes. + +But Will could really do nothing save accept, and proud and happy, +he sallied forth one day as an individual freighter, though not +a very formidable rival of Russell, Majors & Waddell. + +Alas for enterprises started on borrowed capital! How many of them end +in disaster, leaving their projectors not only penniless, but in debt. +Our young frontiersman, whose life had been spent in protecting the property +of others, was powerless to save his own. Wagon, horses, and freight were +all captured by Indians, and their owner barely escaped with his life. +From a safe covert he watched the redskins plunge him into bankruptcy. +It took him several years to recover, and he has often remarked that +the responsibility of his first business venture on borrowed capital +aged him prematurely. + +The nearest station to the scene of this disaster was Junction City, +and thither he tramped, in the hope of retrieving his fortunes. +There he met Colonel Hickok, and in the pleasure of the greeting +forgot his business ruin for a space. The story of his marriage +and his stirring adventures as a landlord and lover of his fellowman +were first to be related, and when these were commented upon, and his +old friend had learned, too, of the wreck of the freighting enterprise, +there came the usual inquiry: + +"And now, do you know of a job with some money in it?" + +"There isn't exactly a fortune in it," said Wild Bill, "but I'm scouting +for Uncle Sam at Fort Ellsworth. The commandant needs more scouts, +and I can vouch for you as a good one." + +"All right," said Will, always quick in decision; "I'll go along with you, +and apply for a job at once." + +He was pleased to have Colonel Hickok's recommendation, but it turned +out that he did not need it, as his own reputation had preceded him. +The commandant of the fort was glad to add him to the force. +The territory he had to scout over lay between Forts Ellsworth and Fletcher, +and he alternated between those points throughout the winter. + +It was at Fort Fletcher, in the spring of 1867, that he fell +in with the dashing General Custer, and the friendship established +between them was ended only by the death of the general at the head +of his gallant three hundred. + +This spring was an exceedingly wet one, and the fort, which lay upon +the bank of Big Creek, was so damaged by floods that it was abandoned. +A new fort was erected, some distance to the westward, on the south +fork of the creek, and was named Fort Hayes. + +Returning one day from an extended scouting trip, Will discovered signs +indicating that Indians in considerable force were in the neighborhood. +He at once pushed forward at all speed to report the news, when a second +discovery took the wind out of his sails; the hostiles were between him +and the fort. + +At that moment a party of horsemen broke into view, +and seeing they were white men, Will waited their approach. +The little band proved to be General Custer and an escort of ten, +en route from Fort Ellsworth to Fort Hayes. + +Informed by Will that they were cut off by Indians, and that the only hope +of escape lay in a rapid flank movement, Custer's reply was a terse: + +"Lead on, scout, and we'll follow." + +Will wheeled, clapped spurs to his horse, and dashed away, +with the others close behind. All hands were sufficiently versed +in Indian warfare to appreciate the seriousness of their position. +They pursued a roundabout trail, and reached the fort without seeing +a hostile, but learned from the reports of others that their escape +had been a narrow one. + +Custer was on his way to Larned, sixty miles distant, and he needed a guide. +He requested that Will be assigned to the position, so pleased was he by +the service already rendered. + +"The very man I proposed to send with you, General," said the commandant, +who knew well the keen desire of the Indians to get at "Yellow Hair," +as they called Custer. "Cody knows this part of the country like a book; +he is up to all the Indian games, and he is as full of resources as a nut +is of meat." + +At daybreak the start was made, and it was planned to cover the sixty +miles before nightfall. Will was mounted on a mouse-colored mule, +to which he was much attached, and in which he had every confidence. +Custer, however, was disposed to regard the lowly steed in some disdain. + +"Do you think, Cody, that mule can set the pace to reach Larned +in a day?" he asked. + +"When you get to Larned, General," smiled Will, "the mule and I +will be with you." + +Custer said no more for a while, but the pace he set was eloquent, +and the mouse-colored mule had to run under "forced draught" to keep +up with the procession. It was a killing pace, too, for the horses, +which did not possess the staying power of the mule. Will was half +regretting that he had ridden the animal, and was wondering how he could +crowd on another pound or two of steam, when, suddenly glancing +at Custer, he caught a gleam of mischief in the general's eye. +Plainly the latter was seeking to compel an acknowledgment of error, +but Will only patted the mouse-colored flanks. + +Fifteen miles were told off; Custer's thoroughbred horse was still in +fine fettle, but the mule had got the second of its three or four winds, +and was ready for a century run. + +"Can you push along a little faster, General?" asked Will, slyly. + +"If that mule of yours can stand it, go ahead," was the reply. + +To the general's surprise, the long-eared animal did go ahead, +and when the party got into the hills, and the traveling grew heavy, +it set a pace that seriously annoyed the general's thoroughbred. + +Fifteen miles more were pounded out, and a halt was called for luncheon. +The horses needed the rest, but the mouse-colored mule wore an +impatient expression. Having got its third wind, it wanted to use it. + +"Well, General," said Will, when they swung off on the trail again, +"what do you think of my mount?" + +Custer laughed. "It's not very handsome," said he, "but it +seems to know what it's about, and so does the rider. +You're a fine guide, Cody. Like the Indian, you seem to go +by instinct, rather than by trails and landmarks." + +The praise of Custer was sweeter to the young scout than that of any +other officer on the plains would have been. + +At just four o'clock the mouse-colored mule jogged into Fort Larned +and waved a triumphant pair of ears. A short distance behind rode Custer, +on a thoroughly tired thoroughbred, while the escort was strung along +the trail for a mile back. + +"Cody," laughed the general, "that remarkable quadruped of yours +looks equal to a return trip. Our horses are pretty well fagged out, +but we have made a quick trip and a good one. You brought us 'cross +country straight as the crow flies, and that's the sort of service +I appreciate. Any time you're in need of work, report to me. +I'll see that you're kept busy." + +It was Custer's intention to remain at Fort Larned for some time, and Will, +knowing that he was needed at Hayes, tarried only for supper and a short rest +before starting back. + +When night fell, he proceeded warily. On the way out he had directed +Custer's attention to signs denoting the near-by presence of a small +band of mounted Indians. + +Suddenly a distant light flashed into view, but before he could +check his mule it had vanished. He rode back a few paces, +and the light reappeared. Evidently it was visible through +some narrow space, and the matter called for investigation. +Will dismounted, hitched his mule, and went forward. + +After he had covered half a mile, he found himself between two sandhills, +the pass leading into a little hollow, within which were a large +number of Indians camped around the fire whose light he had followed. +The ponies were in the background. + +Will's position was somewhat ticklish, as, without a doubt, an Indian sentinel +was posted in the pass; yet it was his duty, as he understood it, to obtain +a measurably accurate estimate of the number of warriors in the band. +Himself a very Indian in stealth, he drew nearer the camp-fire, when suddenly +there rang out upon the night air--not a rifle-shot, but the unearthly braying +of his mule. + +Even in the daylight, amid scenes of peace and tranquillity, the voice +of a mule falls short of the not enchanting music of the bagpipe. +At night in the wilderness, when every nerve is keyed up to the +snapping-point, the sound is simply appalling. + +Will was startled, naturally, but the Indians were thrown into +dire confusion. They smothered the campfires and scattered for cover, +while a sentinel sprang up from behind a rock not twenty feet from Will, +and was off like a deer. + +The scout held his ground till he had made a good guess at the number +of Indians in the party; then he ran for his mule, whose voice, +raised in seeming protest, guided him unerringly. + +As he neared the animal he saw that two mounted Indians had laid hold of it, +and were trying to induce it to follow them; but the mule, true to tradition +and its master, stubbornly refused to budge a foot. + +It was a comical tableau, but Will realized that it was but a step +from farce to tragedy. A rifle-shot dropped one of the Indians, +and the other darted off into the darkness. + +Another bray from the mule, this time a paean of triumph, as Will jumped +into the saddle, with an arrow from the bow of the wounded Indian through +his coat-sleeve. He declined to return the fire of the wounded wretch, +and rode away into the timber, while all around the sound of Indians +in pursuit came to his ears. + +"Now, my mouse-colored friend," said Will, "if you win this race +your name is Custer." + +The mule seemed to understand; at all events, it settled down to work +that combined the speed of a racer with the endurance of a buffalo. +The Indians shortly abandoned the pursuit, as they could not see their game. + +Will reached Fort Hayes in the early morning, to report +the safe arrival of Custer at Larned and the discovery of +the Indian band, which he estimated at two hundred braves. +The mule received "honorable mention" in his report, and was +brevetted a thoroughbred. + +The colonel prepared to dispatch troops against the Indians, +and requested Will to guide the expedition, if he were +sufficiently rested, adding, with a smile: + +"You may ride your mule if you like." + +"No, thank you," laughed Will. "It isn't safe, sir, to hunt Indians +with an animal that carries a brass-band attachment." + +Captain George A. Armes, of the Tenth Cavalry, was to command +the expedition, which comprised a troop of colored cavalry and a howitzer. +As the command lined up for the start, a courier on a foam-splashed horse +rode up with the news that the workmen on the Kansas Pacific Railroad +had been attacked by Indians, six of them killed, and over a hundred +horses and mules and a quantity of stores stolen. + +The troops rode away, the colored boys panting for a chance at the redskins, +and Captain Armes more than willing to gratify them. + +At nightfall the command made camp near the Saline River, +at which point it was expected to find the Indians. Before dawn +they were in the saddle again, riding straight across country, +regardless of trails, until the river was come up with. + +Will's judgment was again verified by the discovery of a +large camp of hostiles on the opposite bank of the stream. +The warriors were as quick of eye, and as they greatly +outnumbered the soldiers, and were emboldened by the success +of their late exploit, they did not wait the attack, but came +charging across the river. + +They were nearly a mile distant, and Captain Armes had time to plant +the howitzer on a little rise of ground. Twenty men were left to handle it. +The rest of the command advanced to the combat. + +They were just at the point of attack when a fierce yelling was heard +in the rear, and the captain discovered that his retreat to the gun +was cut off by another band of reds, and that he was between two fires. +His only course was to repulse the enemy in front. If this were done, +and the colored gunners did not flee before the overwhelming numbers, +he might unite his forces by another charge. + +The warriors came on with their usual impetuosity, whooping and screaming, +but they met such a raking fire from the disciplined troops that they +fell back in disorder. Just then the men at the howitzer opened fire. +The effect of this field-piece on the children of the plains was magical-- +almost ludicrous. A veritable stampede followed. + +"Follow me!" shouted Captain Armes, galloping in pursuit; but in their +eagerness to give chase the troops fell into such disorder that a bugle-blast +recalled them before any further damage was done the flying foe. +The Indians kept right along, however; they were pretty badly frightened. + +Captain Armes was somewhat chagrined that he had no prisoners, but there +was consolation in taking back nearly all the horses that had been stolen. +These were found picketed at the camp across the river, where likely they +had been forgotten by the Indians in their flight. + +Shortly after this, Will tried his hand at land speculation. +During one of his scouting trips to Fort Harker, he visited +Ellsworth, a new settlement, three miles from the fort. +There he met a man named Rose, who had a grading contract +for the Kansas Pacific Railroad, near Fort Hayes. Rose had +bought land at a point through which the railroad was to run, +and proposed staking it out as a town, but he needed a partner +in the enterprise. + +The site was a good one. Big Creek was hard by, and it was +near enough to the fort to afford settlers reasonable security +against Indian raids. Will regarded the enterprise favorably. +Besides the money sent home each month, he had put by a small sum, +and this he invested in the partnership with Rose. + +The town site was surveyed and staked off into lots; a cabin was erected, +and stocked with such goods as are needed on the frontier, and the budding +metropolis was weighted with the classic name of Rome. + +As an encouragement to settlers, a lot was offered to any one +that would agree to erect a building. The proprietors, of course, +reserved the choicest lots. + +Rome boomed. Two hundred cabins went up in less than sixty days. +Mr. Rose and Will shook hands and complimented each other on their penetration +and business sagacity. They were coming millionaires, they said. +Alas! they were but babes in the woods. + +One day Dr. W. E. Webb alighted in Rome. He was a gentleman of most +amiable exterior, and when he entered the store of Rose & Cody +they prepared to dispose of a large bill of goods. But Dr. Webb +was not buying groceries. He chatted a while about the weather +and Rome, and then suggested that the firm needed a third partner. +But this was the last thing the prospective millionaires had in mind, +and the suggestion of their visitor was mildly but firmly waived. + +Dr. Webb was not a gentleman to insist upon a suggestion. +He was locating towns for the Kansas Pacific Railroad, he said, +and as Rome was well started, he disliked to interfere with it; +but, really, the company must have a show. + +Neither Mr. Rose nor Will had had experience with the power +of a big corporation, and satisfied that they had the only good +site for a town in that vicinity, they declared that the railroad +could not help itself. + +Dr. Webb smiled pleasantly, and not without compassion. +"Look out for yourselves," said he, as he took his leave. + +And within sight of Rome he located a new town. The citizens +of Rome were given to understand that the railroad shops would +be built at the new settlement, and that there was really nothing +to prevent it becoming the metropolis of Kansas. + +Rome became a wilderness. Its citizens stampeded to the new town, +and Mr. Rose and Will revised their estimate of their penetration +and business sagacity. + +Meantime, the home in Leavenworth had been gladdened by the birth +of a little daughter, whom her father named Arta. As it was impossible +for Will to return for some months, it was planned that the mother, +the baby,, and I should make a visit to the St. Louis home. +This was accomplished safely; and while the grandparents were +enraptured with the baby, I was enjoying the delight of a first visit +to a large city. + +While the new town of Rome was regarded as an assured success by Will, +he had journeyed to St. Louis after his wife and little one. +They proceeded with him to the cozy cabin home he had fitted up, +while I went back to Leavenworth. + +After the fall of Rome the little frontier home was no longer +the desirable residence that Will's dreams had pictured it, +and as Rome passed into oblivion the little family returned +to St. Louis. + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +HOW THE SOBRIQUET OF "BUFFALO BILL" WAS WON. + +IN frontier days a man had but to ask for work to get it. +There was enough and to spare for every one. The work that paid +best was the kind that suited Will, it mattered not how hard +or dangerous it might be. + +At the time Rome fell, the work on the Kansas Pacific Railroad was +pushing forward at a rapid rate, and the junior member of the once +prosperous firm of Rose & Cody saw a new field of activity open for him-- +that of buffalo-hunting. Twelve hundred men were employed on +the railroad construction, and Goddard Brothers, who had undertaken +to board the vast crew, were hard pressed to obtain fresh meat. +To supply this indispensable, buffalo-hunters were employed, +and as Will was known to be an expert buffalo-slayer, +Goddard Brothers were glad to add him to their "commissary staff." +His contract with them called for en average of twelve buffaloes daily, +for which he was to receive five hundred dollars a month. It was +"good pay," the desired feature, but the work was hard and hazardous. +He must first scour the country for his game, with a good prospect +always of finding Indians instead of buffalo; then, when the game +was shot, he must oversee its cutting and dressing, and look after +the wagons that transported it to the camp where the workmen messed. +It was while working under this contract that he acquired the sobriquet +of "Buffalo Bill." It clung to him ever after, and he wore it with +more pride than he would have done the title of prince or grand duke. +Probably there are thousands of people to-day who know him by +that name only. + +At the outset he procured a trained buffalo-hunting horse, +which went by the unconventional name of "Brigham," and +from the government he obtained an improved breech-loading +needle-gun, which, in testimony of its murderous qualities, +he named "Lucretia Borgia." + +Buffaloes were usually plentiful enough, but there were times when +the camp supply of meat ran short. During one of these dull spells, +when the company was pressed for horses, Brigham was hitched to a scraper. +One can imagine his indignation. A racer dragging a street-car would +have no more just cause for rebellion than a buffalo-hunter tied to a work +implement in the company of stupid horses that never had a thought above +a plow, a hay-rake, or a scraper. Brigham expostulated, and in such +plain language, that Will, laughing, was on the point of unhitching him, +when a cry went up--the equivalent of a whaler's "There she blows!"-- +that a herd of buffaloes was coming over the hill. + +Brigham and the scraper parted company instantly, and Will +mounted him bareback, the saddle being at the camp, a mile away. +Shouting an order to the men to follow him with a wagon to take +back the meat, he galloped toward the game. + +There were other hunters that day. Five officers rode out from +the neighboring fort, and joined Will while waiting for the buffaloes +to come up. They were recent arrivals in that part of the country, +and their shoulder-straps indicated that one was a captain and the others +were lieutenants. They did not know "Buffalo Bill." They saw nothing +but a good-looking young fellow, in the dress of a working man, +astride a not handsome horse, which had a blind bridle and no saddle. +It was not a formidable-looking hunting outfit, and the captain was +disposed to be a trifle patronizing. + +"Hello!" he called out. "I see you're after the same game we are." + +"Yes, sir," returned Will. "Our camp's out of fresh meat." + +The officer ran a critical eye over Brigham. "Do you expect to run +down a buffalo with a horse like that?" said he. + +"Why," said Will, innocently, "are buffaloes pretty speedy?" + +"Speedy? It takes a fast horse to overhaul those animals on the open prairie." + +"Does it?" said Will; and the officer did not see the twinkle in his eye. +Nothing amuses a man more than to be instructed on a matter that he +knows thoroughly, and concerning which his instructor knows nothing. +Probably every one of the officers had yet to shoot his first buffalo. + +"Come along with us," offered the captain, graciously. "We're going +to kill a few for sport, and all we care for are the tongues and a chunk +of the tenderloin; you can have the rest." + +"Thank you," said Will. "I'll follow along." + +There were eleven buffaloes in the herd, and the officers started +after them as if they had a sure thing on the entire number. +Will noticed that the game was pointed toward a creek, +and understanding "the nature of the beast," started for the water, +to head them off. + +As the herd went past him, with the military quintet five hundred +yards in the rear, he gave Brigham's blind bridle a twitch, and in +a few jumps the trained hunter was at the side of the rear buffalo; +Lucretia Borgia spoke, and the buffalo fell dead. Without even a +bridle signal, Brigham was promptly at the side of the next buffalo, +not ten feet away, and this, too, fell at the first shot. +The maneuver was repeated until the last buffalo went down. +Twelve shots had been fired; then Brigham, who never wasted +his strength, stopped. The officers had not had even a shot at the game. +Astonishment was written on their faces as they rode up. + +"Gentlemen," said Will, courteously, as he dismounted, "allow me to present +you with eleven tongues and as much of the tenderloin as you wish." + +"By Jove!" exclaimed the captain, "I never saw anything like that before. +Who are you, anyway?" + +"Bill Cody's my name." + +"Well, Bill Cody, you know how to kill buffalo, and that horse of yours +has some good running points, after all." + +"One or two," smiled Will. + +Captain Graham--as his name proved to be--and his companions +were a trifle sore over missing even the opportunity of a shot, +but they professed to be more than repaid for their disappointment +by witnessing a feat they had not supposed possible in a white man-- +hunting buffalo without a saddle, bridle, or reins. Will explained +that Brigham knew more about the business than most two-legged hunters. +All the rider was expected to do was to shoot the buffalo. +If the first shot failed, Brigham allowed another; if this, +too, failed, Brigham lost patience, and was as likely as not to drop +the matter then and there. + +It was this episode that fastened the name of "Buffalo Bill" +upon Will, and learning of it, the friends of Billy Comstock, +chief of scouts at Fort Wallace, filed a protest. +Comstock, they said, was Cody's superior as a buffalo hunter. +So a match was arranged to determine whether it should be +"Buffalo Bill" Cody or "Buffalo Bill" Comstock. + +The hunting-ground was fixed near Sheridan, Kansas, and quite +a crowd of spectators was attracted by the news of the contest. +Officers, soldiers, plainsmen, and railroadmen took a day off +to see the sport, and one excursion party, including many ladies, +among them Louise, came up from St. Louis. + +Referees were appointed to follow each man and keep a tally +of the buffaloes slain. Comstock was mounted on his +favorite horse, and carried a Henry rifle of large caliber. +Brigham and Lucretia went with Will. The two hunters rode side +by side until the first herd was sighted and the word given, +when off they dashed to the attack, separating to the right and left. +In this first trial Will killed thirty-eight and Comstock +twenty-three. They had ridden miles, and the carcasses +of the dead buffaloes were strung all over the prairie. +Luncheon was served at noon, and scarcely was it over when another +herd was sighted, composed mainly of cows with their calves. +The damage to this herd was eighteen and fourteen, in favor of Cody. + +In those days the prairies were alive with buffaloes, and a third +herd put in an appearance before the rifle-barrels were cooled. +In order to give Brigham a share of the glory, Will pulled off +saddle and bridle, and advanced bareback to the slaughter. + +That closed the contest. Score, sixty-nine to forty-eight. Comstock's +friends surrendered, and Cody was dubbed "Champion Buffalo Hunter +of the Plains." + +The heads of the buffaloes that fell in this hunt were mounted +by the Kansas Pacific Company, and distributed about the country, +as advertisements of the region the new road was traversing. +Meanwhile, Will continued hunting for the Kansas Pacific contractors, +and during the year and a half that he supplied them with fresh +meat he killed four thousand two hundred and eighty buffaloes. +But when the railroad reached Sheridan it was decided to build no +farther at that time, and Will was obliged to look for other work. + +The Indians had again become so troublesome that a general war +threatened all along the border, and General P. H. Sheridan came +West to personally direct operations. He took up his quarters +at Fort Leavenworth, but the Indian depredations becoming +more widespread, he transferred his quarters to Fort Hayes, +then the terminus of the Kansas Pacific Railroad. Will was then +in the employ of the quartermaster's department at Fort Larned, +but was sent with an important dispatch to General Sheridan +announcing that the Indians near Larned were preparing to decamp. +The distance between Larned and Hayes was sixty-five miles, +through a section infested with Indians, but Will tackled it, +and reached the commanding General without mishap. + +Shortly afterward it became necessary to send dispatches +from Fort Hayes to Fort Dodge. Ninety-five miles of country +lay between, and every mile of it was dangerous ground. +Fort Dodge was surrounded by Indians, and three scouts had +lately been killed while trying to get dispatches through, +but Will's confidence in himself or his destiny was unshakable, +and he volunteered to take the dispatches, as far, at least, +as the Indians would let him. + +"It is a dangerous undertaking," said General Sheridan, "but it +is most important that the dispatches should go through; so, if you +are willing to risk it, take the best horse you can find, +and the sooner you start the better." + +Within an hour the scout was in the saddle. At the outset Will +permitted his horse to set his own pace, for in case of pursuit +he should want the animal fresh enough to at least hold his own. +But no pursuit materialized, and when the dawn came up he had +covered seventy miles, and reached a station on Coon Creek, +manned by colored troops. Here he delivered a letter to Major Cox, +the officer in command, and after eating breakfast, took a fresh horse, +and resumed his journey before the sun was above the plain. + +Fort Dodge was reached, the dispatches delivered by nine o'clock, +and Will turned in for a needed sleep. When he awoke, he was assured +by John Austin, chief of the scouts at Dodge, that his coming +through unharmed from Fort Hayes was little short of a miracle. +He was also assured that a journey to his own headquarters, +Fort Larned, would be even more ticklish than his late ride, +as the hostiles were especially thick in that direction. +But the officer in command at Dodge desired to send dispatches +to Larned, and as none of the other scouts were willing to take them, +Will volunteered his services. + +"Larned's my headquarters," said he, "and I must go there anyway; +so if you'll give me a good horse, I'll take your dispatches." + +"We haven't a decent horse left," said the officer; "but you can take +your pick of some fine government mules." + +Will made a gesture of despair. Another race on mule-back with Indians +was not an inviting prospect. There were very few mules like unto +his quondam mouse-colored mount. But he succumbed to the inevitable, +picked out the most enterprising looking mule in the bunch, and set forth. +And neither he nor the mule guessed what was in store for each of them. + +At Coon Creek Will dismounted for a drink of water, and the mule embraced +the opportunity to pull away, and start alone on the wagon-trail +to Larned. Will did not suspect that he should have any trouble +in overtaking the capricious beast, but at the end of a mile he was +somewhat concerned. He had threatened and entreated, raged and cajoled. +'Twas all wasted. The mule was as deaf to prayer as to objurgation. +It browsed contentedly along the even tenor of its way, so near and yet so far +from the young man, who, like "panting time, toil'd after it in vain." +And Larned much more than twenty miles away. + +What the poet calls "the golden exhalations of the dawn" +began to warm the gray of the plain. The sun was in the roots +of the grass. Four miles away the lights of Larned twinkled. +The only blot on a fair landscape was the mule--in the middle distance. +But there was a wicked gleam in the eye of the footsore young +man in the foreground. + +Boom! The sunrise gun at the fort. The mule threw back +its head, waved its ears, and poured forth a song of triumph, +a loud, exultant bray. + +Crack! Will's rifle. Down went the mule. It had made the fatal mistake +of gloating over its villainy. Never again would it jeopardize the life +of a rider. + +It had been a thirty-five-mile walk, and every bone in Will's body ached. +His shot alarmed the garrison, but he was soon on the ground +with the explanation; and after turning over his dispatches, +he sought his bed. + +During the day General Hazen returned, under escort, from Fort Harker, +with dispatches for Sheridan, and Will offered to be the bearer of them. +An army mule was suggested, but he declined to again put his life +in the keeping of such an animal. A good horse was selected, +and the journey made without incident. + +General Sheridan was roused at daylight to receive the scout's report +and praised Will warmly for having undertaken and safely accomplished +three such long and dangerous rides. + +"In all," says General Sheridan, in his Memoirs, "Cody rode +three hundred and fifty miles in less than sixty hours, +and such an exhibition of endurance and courage was more than +enough to convince me that his services would be extremely +valuable in the campaign; so I retained him at Fort Hayes until +the battalion of Fifth Cavalry arrived, and then made him chief +of scouts for that regiment." + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +SATANTA, CHIEF OF THE KIOWAS. + +WITHIN plain view of Fort Larned lay a large camp of Kiowas +and Comanches. They were not yet bedaubed with war paint, +but they were as restless as panthers in a cage, and it was only +a matter of days when they would whoop and howl with the loudest. + +The principal chief of the Kiowas was Satanta, a powerful +and resourceful warrior, who, because of remarkable talents for +speech-making, was called "The Orator of the Plains." Satanta was +short and bullet-headed. Hatred for the whites swelled every +square inch of his breast, but he had the deep cunning +of his people, with some especially fine points of treachery +learned from dealings with dishonest agents and traders. +There probably never was an Indian so depraved that he could not +be corrupted further by association with a rascally white man. + +When the Kiowas were friendly with the government, Satanta received +a guest with all the magnificence the tribe afforded. A carpet was spread +for the white man to sit upon, and a folding board was set up for a table. +The question of expense never intruded. + +Individually, too, Satanta put on a great deal of style. +Had the opportunity come to him, he would have worn a silk hat +with a sack-coat, or a dress suit in the afternoon. As it was, +he produced some startling effects with blankets and feathers. + +It was part of General Hazen's mission to Fort Larned to patch up a treaty +with the outraged Kiowas and Comanches, if it could be brought about. +On one warm August morning, the general set out for Fort Zarah, +on a tour of inspection. Zarah was on the Arkansas, in what is now +Barton County, Kansas. An early start was made, as it was desired to cover +the thirty miles by noon. The general rode in a four-mule army ambulance, +with an escort of ten foot soldiers, in a four-mule escort wagon. + +After dinner at Zarah the general went on to Fort Harker, leaving orders +for the scout and soldiers to return to Larned on the following day. +But as there was nothing to do at Fort Zarah, Will determined to return +at once; so he trimmed the sails of his mule-ship, and squared +away for Larned. + +The first half of the journey was without incident, but when +Pawnee Rock was reached, events began to crowd one another. +Some forty Indians rode out from behind the rock and +surrounded the scout. + +"How? How?" they cried, as they drew near, and offered their hands +for the white man's salutation. + +The braves were in war paint, and intended mischief; +but there was nothing to be lost by returning their greeting, +so Will extended his hand. + +One warrior seized it and gave it a violent jerk; another caught +the mule's bridle; a third pulled the revolvers from the holsters; +a fourth snatched the rifle from across the saddle; while a fifth, +for a climax, dealt Will a blow on the head with a tomahawk that +nearly stunned him. + +Then the band started for the Arkansas River, lashing the mule, +singing, yelling, and whooping. For one supposed to be stolid +and taciturn, the Indian makes a good deal of noise at times. + +Across the river was a vast throng of warriors, who had finally decided +to go on the war-path. Will and his captors forded the shallow stream, +and the prisoner was conducted before the chiefs of the tribe, +with some of whom he was acquainted. + +His head throbbed from the tomahawking, but his wits were still +in working order, and when asked by Satanta where he had been, +he replied that he had been out searching for "whoa-haws." + +He knew that the Indians had been promised a herd of "whoa-haws," +as they termed cattle, and he knew, too, that the herd had not arrived, +and that the Indians had been out of meat for several weeks; +hence he hoped to enlist Satanta's sympathetic interest. + +He succeeded. Satanta was vastly interested. Where were the cattle? +Oh, a few miles back. Will had been sent forward to notify the Indians +that an army of sirloin steaks was advancing upon them. + +Satanta was much pleased, and the other chiefs were likewise interested. +Did General Hazen say the cattle were for them? Was there a chance +that the scout was mistaken? + +Not a chance; and with becoming dignity Will demanded a reason +for the rough treatment he had received. + +Oh, that was all a joke, Satanta explained. The Indians who had +captured the white chief were young and frisky. They wished +to see whether he was brave. They were simply testing him. +It was sport--just a joke. + +Will did not offer to argue the matter. No doubt an excellent test +of a man's courage is to hit him over the head with a tomahawk. +If he lives through it, he is brave as Agamemnon. But Will +insisted mildly that it was a rough way to treat friends; +whereupon Satanta read the riot act to his high-spirited young men, +and bade them return the captured weapons to the scout. + +The next question was, were there soldiers with the cattle? +Certainly, replied Will; a large party of soldiers were escorting the +succulent sirloins. This intelligence necessitated another consultation. +Evidently hostilities must be postponed until after the cattle had arrived. +Would Will drive the cattle to them? He would be delighted to. +Did he desire that the chief's young men should accompany him? +No, indeed. The soldiers, also, were high-spirited, and they might test +the bravery of the chief's young men by shooting large holes in them. +It would be much better if the scout returned alone. + +Satanta agreed with him, and Will recrossed the river +without molestation; but, glancing over his shoulder, he noted +a party of ten or fifteen young braves slowly following him. +Satanta was an extremely cautious chieftain. + +Will rode leisurely up the gentle slope of the river's bank, +but when he had put the ridge between him and the Indian camp +he pointed his mule westward, toward Fort Larned, and set it going +at its best pace. When the Indians reached the top of the ridge, +from where they could scan the valley, in which the advancing +cattle were supposed to be, there was not a horn to be seen, +and the scout was flying in an opposite direction. + +They gave chase, but the mule had a good start, and when it got its +second wind--always necessary in a mule--the Indian ponies gained but slowly. +When Ash Creek, six miles from Larned, was reached, the race was about even, +but two miles farther on, the Indians were uncomfortably close behind. +The sunset gun at the fort boomed a cynical welcome to the man four +miles away, flying toward it for his life. + +At Pawnee Fork, two miles from the fort, the Indians had crept up to within +five hundred yards. But here, on the farther bank of the stream, Will came +upon a government wagon containing half a dozen soldiers and Denver Jim, +a well-known scout. + +The team was driven among the trees, and the men hid themselves in +the bushes, and when the Indians came along they were warmly received. +Two of the reds were killed; the others wheeled and rode back in safety. + +In 1868 General Sheridan had taken command of all the troops in the field. +He arranged what is known as the winter expeditions against +the Kiowas, Comanches, Southern Cheyennes, and Arapahoes. He personally +commanded the expedition which left Fort Dodge, with General Custer +as chief of cavalry. General Penrose started for Fort Lyon, Colorado, +and General Eugene A. Carr was ordered from the Republican River country, +with the Fifth Cavalry, to Fort Wallace, Kansas. Will at this +time had a company of forty scouts with General Carr's command. +He was ordered by General Sheridan, when leaving Fort Lyon, to follow +the trail of General Penrose's command until it was overtaken. +General Carr was to proceed to Fort Lyon, and follow on the trail +of General Penrose, who had started from there three weeks before, when, +as Carr ranked Penrose, he would then take command of both expeditions. +It was the 21st of November when Carr's expedition left Fort Lyon. The second +day out they encountered a terrible snow-storm and blizzard in a place +they christened "Freeze Out Canon," by which name it is still known. +As Penrose had only a pack-train and no heavy wagons, and the ground was +covered with snow, it was a very difficult matter to follow his trail. +But taking his general course, they finally came up with him on the south +fork of the Canadian River, where they found him and his soldiers +in a sorry plight, subsisting wholly on buffalo-meat. Their animals +had all frozen to death. + +General Carr made what is known as a supply camp, leaving +Penrose's command and some of his own disabled stock therein. +Taking with him the Fifth Cavalry and the best horses and pack-mules, +he started south toward the main fork of the Canadian River, +looking for the Indians. He was gone from the supply camp +thirty days, but could not locate the main band of Indians, +as they were farther to the east, where General Sheridan had +located them, and had sent General Custer in to fight them, +which he did, in what is known as the great battle of Wichita. + +They had a very severe winter, and returned in March to Fort Lyon, Colorado. + +In the spring of 1869, the Fifth Cavalry, ordered to the Department +of the Platte, took up the line of march for Fort McPherson, Nebraska. + +It was a large command, including seventy-six wagons for stores, +ambulance wagons, and pack-mules. Those chief in authority were +Colonel Royal (afterward superseded by General Carr), Major Brown, +and Captain Sweetman. + +The average distance covered daily was only ten miles, and when +the troops reached the Solomon River there was no fresh meat in camp. +Colonel Royal asked Will to look up some game. + +"All right, sir," said Will. "Will you send a couple of wagons +along to fetch in the meat?" + +"We'll send for the game, Cody, when there's some game to send for," +curtly replied the colonel. + +That settled the matter, surely, and Will rode away, a trifle +ruffled in temper. + +He was not long in rounding up a herd of seven buffaloes, and he headed them +straight for camp. As he drew near the lines, he rode alongside his game, +and brought down one after another, until only an old bull remained. +This he killed in almost the center of the camp. + +The charge of the buffaloes had nearly stampeded the picketed horses, +and Colonel Royal, who, with the other officers, had watched +the hunt, demanded, somewhat angrily: + +"What does this mean, Cody?" + +"Why," said Will, "I thought, sir, I'd save you the trouble of sending +after the game." + +The colonel smiled, though perhaps the other officers enjoyed +the joke more than he. + +At the north fork of the Beaver, Will discovered a large and fresh +Indian trail. The tracks were scattered all over the valley, +showing that a large village had recently passed that way. +Will estimated that at least four hundred lodges were represented; +that would mean from twenty-five hundred to three thousand warriors, +squaws, and children. + +When General Carr (who had taken the command) got the news, he followed +down a ravine to Beaver Creek, and here the regiment went into camp. +Lieutenant Ward and a dozen men were detailed to accompany Will on +a reconnoissance. They followed Beaver Creek for twelve miles, and then +the lieutenant and the scout climbed a knoll for a survey of the country. +One glance took in a large Indian village some three miles distant. +Thousands of ponies were picketed out, and small bands of warriors +were seen returning from the hunt, laden with buffalo-meat. + +"I think, Lieutenant," said Will, "that we have important business at camp." + +"I agree with you," said Ward. "The quicker we get out of here, the better." + +When they rejoined the men at the foot of the hill, Ward dispatched +a courier to General Carr, the purpose of the lieutenant being to follow +slowly and meet the troops which he knew would be sent forward. + +The courier rode away at a gallop, but in a few moments +came riding back, with three Indians at his horse's heels. +The little company charged the warriors, who turned and fled +for the village. + +"Lieutenant," said Will, "give me that note." And as it was passed over, +he clapped spurs to his horse and started for the camp. + +He had proceeded but a short distance when he came upon another +party of Indians, returning to the village with buffalo-meat. +Without stopping, he fired a long-range shot at them, and while +they hesitated, puzzled by the action, he galloped past. +The warriors were not long in recovering from their surprise, +and cutting loose their meat, followed; but their ponies were tired +from a long hunt, and Will's fresh horse ran away from them. + +When General Carr received the lieutenant's dispatch, he ordered the bugler +to sound the inspiring "Boots and Saddles," and, while two companies remained +to guard the wagons, the rest of the troops hastened against the Indians. + +Three miles out they were joined by Lieutenant Ward's company, +and five miles more brought them within sight of a huge mass +of mounted Indians advancing up the creek. These warriors +were covering the retreat of their squaws, who were packing up +and getting ready for hasty flight. + +General Carr ordered a charge on the red line. If it were broken, +the cavalry was to continue, and surround the village. +The movement was successfully executed, but one officer misunderstood +the order, and, charging on the left wing of the hostiles, +was speedily hemmed in by some three hundred redskins. +Reinforcements were dispatched to his relief, but the plan +of battle was spoiled, and the remainder of the afternoon was +spent in contesting the ground with the Indians, who fought for +their lodges, squaws, and children with desperate and dogged courage. +When night came on, the wagon-trains, which had been ordered to follow, +had not put in an appearance, and, though the regiment went back +to look for them, it was nine o'clock before they were reached. + +Camp was broken at daybreak, and the pursuit began, but not +an Indian was in sight. All the day the trail was followed. +There was evidence that the Indians had abandoned everything +that might hinder their flight. That night the regiment camped +on the banks of the Republican, and the next morning caught +a distant glimpse of the foe. + +About eleven o'clock a charge was made by three hundred mounted warriors, +but they were repulsed with considerable loss, and when they discovered +that defeat was certain, they evaded further pursuit by breaking +up into companies and scattering to all points of the compass. +A large number of ponies were collected as trophies of this expedition. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +WILL MADE CHIEF OF SCOUTS. + +IN due time the Fifth Cavalry reached Fort McPherson, +which became its headquarters while they were fitting out +a new expedition to go into the Republican River country. +At this time General Carr recommended to General Augur, +who was in command of the Department, that Will be made chief +of scouts in the Department of the Platte. + +Will's fancy had been so taken by the scenery along the line of march +that he proceeded to explore the country around McPherson, the result +being a determination to make his future home in the Platte Valley. + +Shortly after reaching the fort, the scouts' division of +the Fifth Cavalry was reinforced by Major Frank North +and three companies of the celebrated Pawnee scouts. +These became the most interesting and amusing objects in camp, +partly on account of their race, but mainly because of the bizarre +dress fashions they affected. My brother, in his autobiography, +describes the appearance presented by these scouts during +a review of the command by Brigadier-General Duncan. + +The regiment made a fine showing, the men being well drilled +and thoroughly versed in tactics. The Pawnees also showed up well +on drill, but their full dress uniforms were calculated to excite +even the army horses to laughter. Regular cavalry suits had been +furnished them, but no two of the Pawnees seemed to agree as to +the correct manner in which the various articles should be worn. +As they lined up for dress parade, some of them wore heavy overcoats, +others discarded even pantaloons, content with a breech-clout. Some wore +large black hats, with brass accouterments, others were bareheaded. +Many wore the pantaloons, but declined the shirts, while a few of the more +original cut the seats from the pantaloons, leaving only leggings. +Half of them were without boots or moccasins, but wore the clinking +spurs with manifest pride. + +They were a quaint and curious lot, but drilled remarkably well for Indians, +and obeyed orders. They were devoted to their white chief, Major North, +who spoke Pawnee like a native, and they were very proud of their position +in the United States army. Good soldiers they made, too--hard riders, +crack shots, and desperate fighters. + +At the close of the parade and review referred to, the officers +and the ladies attended an Indian dance, given by the Pawnees, +which climaxed a rather exciting day. + +The following morning an expedition moved back to the Republican River, to +curb the high spirits of a band of Sioux, who had grown boldly troublesome. +This was the sort of service the Pawnees welcomed, as they and the Sioux +were hereditary enemies. + +At the journey's end, camp was made at the mouth of the Beaver, +and the Sioux were heard from within the hour. A party of them +raided the mules that had been taken to the river, and the alarm +was given by a herder, who dashed into camp with an arrow sticking +in his shoulder. + +Will did not wait to saddle his horse, but the Pawnees were as quick +as he, and both of them rather surprised the Sioux, who did not expect +such a swift response. Especially were they surprised to find +themselves confronted by their tribal foe, the Pawnee, and they +fell back hastily, closely pressed by Will and his red allies. +A running fight was kept up for fifteen miles, and when many of +the Sioux had been stretched upon the plain and the others scattered, +the pursuing party returned to camp. + +Will himself, on a fine horse, had been somewhat chagrined at being +passed in the chase by a Pawnee on an inferior-looking steed. +Upon inquiring of Major North, he found that the swifter horse was, +like his own, government property. The Pawnee was much attached +to his mount, but he was also fond of tobacco, and a few pieces +of that commodity, supplemented by some other articles, induced him +to exchange horses. Will named his new charge "Buckskin Joe," +and rode him for four years. Joe proved a worthy successor to Brigham +for speed, endurance, and intelligence. + +This was the first adventure that Will and the Pawnees had pursued +together, and they emerged with an increased esteem for each other. +Not long afterward, Will's skill as a buffalo-hunter raised the admiration +of the Indians to enthusiasm. + +Twenty Pawnees that circled around one herd of buffaloes killed only +twenty-two, and when the next herd came in view Will asked Major North +to keep the Indians in the background while he showed them a thing or two. +Buckskin Joe was a capital buffalo-hunter, and so well did he perform +his part that Will brought down thirty-six, about one at every shot. + +The Pawnees were delighted. They held it considerable of an achievement +to kill two or three of the monarchs of the plains at a single run, +and Will's feat dazzled them. He was at once pronounced a great chief, +and ever after occupied a high place in their regard. + +Moving up the Republican River, the troops went into camp on +Black Tail Deer Fork. Scarcely were the tents pitched when a +band of Indians were seen sweeping toward them at full speed, +singing, yelling, and waving lances. The camp was alive in +an instant, but the Pawnees, instead of preparing for defense, +began to sing and yell in unison with the advancing braves. +"Those are some of our own Indians," said Major North; +"they've had a fight, and are bringing in the scalps." + +And so it proved. The Pawnees reported a skirmish with the Sioux, +in which a few of the latter had been killed. + +The next day the regiment set forth upon the trail of +the Sioux. They traveled rapidly, and plainly gained ground. + +At every camp the print of a woman's shoe was noted among the tracks +of moccasined feet. The band evidently had a white captive in tow, +and General Carr, selecting the best horses, ordered a forced march, +the wagon-trains to follow as rapidly as possible. Will, with six Pawnees, +was to go ahead and locate the hostiles, and send back word, so that a plan +of attack might be arranged before the Indian village was reached. + +This village the scouts discovered among the sand-hills at Summit Springs, +a few miles from the South Platte River; and while the Pawnees remained +to watch, Will returned to General Carr with the news. + +There was suppressed excitement all along the line, as officers +and men prepared for what promised to be a lively scrimmage. +The troops moved forward by a circuitous route, and reached +a hill overlooking the hostile camp without their presence +being dreamed of by the red men. + +The bugler was ordered to sound the charge, but he was trembling +with excitement, and unable to blow a note. + +"Sound the charge, man!" ordered General Carr a second time; +but the unhappy wight could scarcely hold his horn, much less blow it. +Quartermaster Hays snatched the instrument from the flustered +man's hands, and as the call rang out loud and clear the troops +rushed to the attack. + +Taken wholly by surprise, the Indian village went to pieces in a twinkling. +A few of the Sioux mounted and rode forward to repel the assault, +but they turned back in half a minute, while those that were not mounted +scattered for the foothills hard by. The cavalry swept through the village +like a prairie fire, and pursued the flying Indians until darkness put +an end to the chase. + +By the next morning the bugler had grown calm enough to sound +"Boots and Saddles!" and General Carr split his force +into companies, as it was discovered that the Indians had divided. +Each company was to follow a separate trail. + +Will made one of a band of two hundred, and for two days they dogged +the red man's footsteps. At sunrise of the third day the trail ran +into another, showing that the Sioux had reunited their forces. +This was serious for the little company of regulars, but they went ahead, +eager for a meeting with the savages. + +They had not long to wait. The sun was scarcely an hour +high when some six hundred Sioux were espied riding in close +ranks along the bank of the Platte. The Indians discovered +the troops at the same moment, and at once gave battle. +The Indian is not a coward, though he frequently declines combat +if the odds are not largely in his favor. + +In this engagement the Sioux outnumbered the soldiers three to one, +and the latter fell back slowly until they reached a ravine. +Here they tethered their horses and waited the course +of Indian events, which, as usual, came in circular form. +The Sioux surrounded the regulars, and finding them comparatively +few in number, made a gallant charge. + +But bows and arrows are futile against powder and ball, and the warriors +reeled back from a scathing fire, leaving a score of their number dead. + +Another charge, another repulse; and then a council of war. +This lasted an hour, and evidently evolved a brilliant stratagem, +for the Sioux divided into two bands, and while one made a show +of withdrawing, the other circled around and around the position +where the soldiers lay. + +At a point in this revolving belt of redskins rode a well-mounted, +handsome warrior, plainly a chief. It had been Will's experience +that to lay low a chief was half the battle when fighting Indians, +but this particular mogul kept just out of rifle-shot. There are, +however, as many ways of killing an Indian as of killing a cat; +so Will crawled on hands and knees along the ravine to a point +which he thought would be within range of the chief when next he swung +around the circle. + +The calculation was close enough, and when the warrior came loping along, +slacking his pace to cross the ravine, Will rose and fired. + +It was a good four hundred yards, but the warrior pitched from his seat, +and his pony ran down the ravine into the ranks of the soldiers, +who were so elated over the success of the shot that they voted +the animal to Will as a trophy. + +The fallen warrior was Tall Bull, one of the ablest chiefs +the Sioux ever had. His death so disheartened his braves +that they at once retreated. + +A union of General Carr's scattered forces followed, +and a few days later an engagement took place in which three +hundred warriors and a large number of ponies were captured. +Some white captives were released, and several hundred +squaws made prisoners. + +Among these latter was the amiable widow of Tall Bull, who, far from +cherishing animosity against Will as the slayer of her spouse, +took pride in the fact that he had fallen under the fire of so great +a warrior as "Pahaska," Long-haired Chief, by which name our scout +was known among the Indians. + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +ARMY LIFE AT FORT M'PHERSON. + +IN the spring of 1870 Will proceeded to put into effect +the determination of the previous year--to establish a home +in the lovely country of the westerly Platte. After preparing +quarters wherein his family might be comfortable, he obtained +a leave of absence and departed for St. Louis to fetch his wife +and daughter Arta, now a beautiful child of three. + +The fame of "Buffalo Bill" had extended far beyond the plains, and during his +month's sojourn in St. Louis he was the object of a great deal of attention. +When the family prepared to depart for the frontier home, my sister-in-law +wrote to me to ask if I did not wish to accompany them. I should have +been delighted to accept the invitation, but at that especial time there +were strong attractions for me in my childhood's home; besides, I felt +that sister May, who had not enjoyed the pleasure of the St. Louis trip, +was entitled to the Western jaunt. + +So May made a visit to McPherson, and a delightful time she had, +though she was at first inclined to quarrel with the severe +discipline of army life. Will ranked with the officers, +and as a result May's social companions were limited to the two +daughters of General Augur, who were also on a visit to the fort. +To compensate for the shortage of feminine society, however, +there were a number of young unmarried officers. + +Every day had its curious or enlivening incident, and May's +letters to me were filled with accounts of the gayety of life +at an army post. After several months I was invited to join her. +She was enthusiastic over a proposed buffalo-hunt, as she +desired to take part in one before her return to Leavenworth, +and wished me to enjoy the sport with her. + +In accepting the invitation I fixed a certain day for my arrival +at McPherson, but I was delayed in my journey, and did not reach +the fort until three days after the date set. May was much disturbed. +She had allowed me three days for recuperation from the journey, +and I had arrived on the eve of the buffalo-hunt. Naturally, I was too +fatigued to rave over buffaloes, and I objected to joining the hunt; +and I was encouraged in my objecting by the discovery that my brother +was away on a scouting trip. + +"You don't think of going buffalo-hunting without Will, do you?" +I asked May. + +"Why," said she, "we can never tell when he will be in camp and when away; +he's off scouting nearly all the time. And we can't get up a buffalo-hunt +on five minutes' notice; we must plan ahead. Our party is all ready +to start, and there's a reporter here from an Omaha paper to write it up. +We can't put it off, and you must go." + +After that, of course, there was nothing more to be said, +and when the hunting-party set forth I made one of it. + +A gay party it was. For men, there were a number of officers, and the +newspaper man, Dr. Frank Powell, now of La Crosser for women, the wives +of two of the officers, the daughters of General Augur, May, and myself. +There was sunshine, laughter, and incessant chatter, and when one is young and +fond of horseback-riding, and a handsome young officer rides by one's side, +physical fatigue is apt to vanish for a time. + +The fort was soon nothing but a break in the sky-line, and +with a sense almost of awe I looked for the first time upon +the great American Desert. To our left, as we rode eastward, +ran the swift and shallow Platte, dotted with green-garbed islands. +This river Washington Irving called "the most magnificent +and the most useless of streams" "The islands," he wrote, +"have the appearance of a labyrinth of groves floating on the waters. +Their extraordinary position gives an air of youth and loveliness +to the whole scene. If to this be added the undulations of the river, +the waving of the verdure, the alternations of light and shade, +and the purity of the atmosphere, some idea may be formed +of the pleasing sensations which the traveler experiences on +beholding a scene that seems to have started fresh from the hands +of the Creator." + +In sharp contrast was the sandy plain over which we rode. +On this grew the short, stubby buffalo-grass, the dust-colored +sage-brush, and cactus in rank profusion. Over to the right, +perhaps a mile away, a long range of foothills ran down +to the horizon, with here and there the great canons, +through which entrance was effected to the upland country, +each canon bearing a historical or legendary name. + +To my eyes the picture was as beautiful as it was novel. +As far as one could see there was no sign of human habitation. +It was one vast, untenanted waste, with the touch of infinity +the ocean wears. + +As we began to get into the foothills, one of our equestriennes narrowly +escaped a fall. Her horse dropped a foot into a prairie-dog's hole, +and came to an abrupt stop. The foot was extricated, and I was instructed +in the dangers that beset the prairie voyager in these blind traps +of the plain. + +The trail had been ascending at a gentle grade, and we had +a slight change of scene--desert hill instead of desert plain. +The sand-hills rose in tiers before us, and I was informed +that they were formed ages ago by the action of water. +What was hard, dry ground to our horses' hoofs was once the bottom +of the sea. + +I was much interested in the geology of my environments; +much more so than I should have been had I been told that +those strange, weird hills were the haunt of the red man, +who was on the war-path, and looking constantly for scalps. +But these unpleasant facts were not touched upon by the officers, +and in blissful ignorance we pursued the tenor of our way. + +We were obliged to ride a great distance before we sighted +any game, and after twenty miles had been gone over, +my temporarily forgotten weariness began to reassert itself. +Dr. Powell proposed that the ladies should do the shooting, +but my interest in the hunt had waned. It had been several +years since I had ridden a horse, and after the first few +miles I was not in a suitable frame of mind or body to enjoy +the most exciting hunt. + +A herd of buffaloes finally came into view, and the party +was instantly alive. One old bull was a little apart from +the others of the herd, and was singled out for the first attack. +As we drew within range, a rifle was given to May, with explicit +directions as to its handling. The buffalo has but one vulnerable spot, +and it is next to impossible for a novice to make a fatal shot. +May fired, and perhaps her shot might be called a good one, +for the animal was struck: but it was only wounded and infuriated, +and dropping its shaggy head, it rushed toward us. The officers fusilladed +the mountain of flesh, succeeding only in rousing it to added fury. +Another rifle was handed to May, and Dr. Powell directed its aim; +but terrified by the near presence of the charging bull, +May discharged it at random. + +Although this is strictly a narrative of facts, exercising the privilege +of the novelist, we leave our present heroine in her perilous position, +and return, for a space, to the fort. + +Will returned from his scouting trip shortly after the departure +of the hunting party, and his first query was: + +"Is Nellie here?" + +"Come and gone," replied his wife; and she informed him of the manner +in which I had been carried off on the long-talked-of buffalo-hunt. +Whereupon Will gave way to one of his rare fits of passion. +The scouting trip had been long and arduous, he was tired and hungry, +but also keenly anxious for our safety. He knew what we were ignorant of-- +that should we come clear of the not insignificant dangers attendant upon +a buffalo-hunt, there remained the possibility of capture by Indians. + +"I must go after them at once," said he; and off he went, without thought +of rest or food. He did take time, however, to visit the officers' +quarters and pour a vial of wrath upon the bewildered head of the inferior +who occupied the place of the absent commandant. + +"Didn't you know," cried Will, "that my continued absence meant +danger in the air? Fine idea, to let a party of ladies go beyond +the fort on such a foolhardy expedition before I had assured you it +was safe to do so! Understand, if any harm comes to my sisters, +I'll hold the government responsible!" + +With which tremendous threat he mounted the swiftest horse in camp and rode +away before the astonished officer had recovered from his surprise. + +He was able to track us over the sand-hills, and reached us, +in accepted hero fashion, in the very nick of time. +The maddened bull buffalo was charging on May, +unchecked by a peppering fire from the guns of the officers. +All hands were so absorbed by the intense excitement of the +moment that the sound of approaching hoof-beats was unnoted. +But I heard, from behind us, the crack of a rifle, and saw +the buffalo fall dead almost at our feet. + +The ill-humor of our rescuer dampened the ardor of the welcome +we gave him. The long ride on an empty stomach had not smoothed +a ripple of his ruffled temper, and we were all properly lectured. +We were ordered back to the fort at once, and the command +was of such a nature that no one thought of disputing it. +The only question was, whether we could make the fort before +being cut off by Indians. There was no time to be wasted, +even in cutting meat from the tongue of the fallen buffalo. +Will showed us the shortest cut for home, and himself zigzagged +ahead of us, on the watch for a danger signal. + +For my part, I was so worn out that I would as soon be captured +by Indians, if they would agree to provide me with a wigwam +wherein I might lie down and rest; but no Indians appeared. +Five miles from the fort was the ranch of a wealthy bachelor, +and at May's request a halt was here called. It was thought that +the owner of the ranch might take pity upon my deplorable condition, +and provide some sort of vehicle to convey the ladies the remainder +of the journey. + +We were heartily welcomed, and our bachelor host made us extremely +comfortable in his cozy apartments, while he ordered supper for the party. +Will considered that we were within the safety zone, so he continued +on to the fort to obtain his postponed rest; and after supper the ladies +rode to the fort in a carriage. + +The next day's Omaha paper contained an account of the hunt +from Dr. Powell's graphic pen, and in it May Cody received +all the glory of the shot that laid the buffalo low. +Newspaper men are usually ready to sacrifice exact facts +to an innate sense of the picturesque. + +At this time the fort was somewhat concerned over numerous petty crimes +among the civilians, and General Emory, now chief in authority at the post, +requested the county commissioners to appoint Will a justice of the peace. +This was done, much to the dismay of the new Justice, who, as he phrased it, +"knew no more of law than a mule knows of singing." But he was compelled +to bear the blushing honors thrust upon him, and his sign was posted In +a conspicuous place: + -------------------------- + | WILLIAM F. CODY, | + | JUSTICE OF THE PEACE. | + -------------------------- + +Almost the first thing he was called upon to do in his new +capacity was to perform a wedding ceremony. Cold sweat stood upon +his brow as he implored our aid in this desperate emergency. +The big law book with which he had been equipped at his +installation was ransacked in vain for the needed information. +The Bible was examined more diligently, perhaps, than it had +ever been by him before, but the Good Book was as unresponsive +as the legal tome. "Remember your own wedding ceremony," +was our advice "Follow that as nearly as possible." +But he shook his head despondently The cool-headed scout +and Indian fighter was dismayed, and the dignity of the law +trembled in the balance. + +To put an edge on the crisis, nearly the entire fort attended +the wedding. All is well, said we, as we watched the justice take +his place before the bridal pair with not a sign of trepidation. +At the outset his conducting of the ceremony was irreproachable, +and we were secretly congratulating ourselves upon his success, +when our ears were startled by the announcement: + +"Whom God and Buffalo Bill hath joined together, let no man put asunder." + +So far as I am informed, no man has attempted it. + +Before May returned home, Will became the very proud father of a son. +He had now three children, a second daughter, Orra, having been born two +years before. The first boy of the family was the object of the undivided +interest of the post for a time, and names by the dozen were suggested. +Major North offered Kit Carson as an appropriate name for the son of a great +scout and buffalo-hunter, and this was finally settled on. + +My first touch of real anxiety came with an order to Will +to report at headquarters for assignment to duty. +The country was alive with Indians, the officer in command +informed him, and this intelligence filled me with dread. +My sister-in-law had grown accustomed to her husband's excursions +into danger-land, and accepted such sallies as incidents of +his position. Later, I, too, learned this stoical philosophy, +but at first my anxiety was so keen that Will laughed at me. + +"Don't worry," said he; "the Indians won't visit the fort to-night. +There's no danger of them scalping you." + +"But," said I, "it is for you, not for myself, that I am afraid. +It is horrible to think of you going out alone among those foothills, +which swarm with Indians." + +The fort was on the prairie, but the distant foothills stretched away +interminably, and these furnished favorite lurking-places for the redskins. +Will drew me to a window, and pointed out the third tier of hills, +some twelve or fifteen miles away. + +"I would advise you," said he, "to go to bed and sleep, +but if you insist on keeping awake and worrying, I will kindle +a blaze on top of that hill at midnight. Watch closely. +I can send up only one flash, for there will be Indian eyes +unclosed as well as yours." + +One may imagine with what a beating heart I stared into the darkness +when the hour of twelve drew on. The night was a veil that hid +a thousand terrors, but a gauzy veil, to my excited fancy, +behind which passed a host of shadowy horsemen with uptossing lances. +How could a man ride alone into such a gloomy, terror-haunted domain? +The knights of old, who sallied forth in search of dismal ogres +and noxious dragons, were not of stouter heart, and they breasted +only fancied perils. + +Twelve o'clock! The night had a thousand eyes, but they did not pierce +the darkness of the foothills. + +Ah! A thin ribbon of light curled upward for an instant, then vanished. +Will was safe thus far. But there were many hours--and the darkest-- +before the dawn, and I carried to my bed the larger share of my forebodings. + +Next day the scout came home to report the exact location +of the hostile-Sioux. The troops, ready for instant action, +were hurled against them, and the Indians were thoroughly thrashed. +A large number of chiefs were captured, among them "Red Shirt," +an interesting redskin, who afterward traveled with the "Wild West." + +Captive chiefs were always esteemed of great interest by the ladies +of the fort. To me the braves taken in the last raid were remarkable +mainly for economy of apparel and sulkiness of demeanor. + +This same fall the fort was visited by a gentleman introduced as +Colonel Judson, though the public knows him better as "Ned Buntline," +the story-writer. He desired to accompany the scouts on a certain +proposed trip, and Major Brown informed Will that the ulterior motive +of the author was to project Buffalo Bill into a novel as hero. + +"Now, I'd look pretty in a novel, wouldn't I?" said Will, +sarcastically and blushingly. + +"Yes, I think you would," returned the major, eying the other's +splendid proportions critically. + +Whereupon the scout blushed again, and doffed his sombrero in acknowledgment +of the compliment, for-- + + " 'Tis pleasant, sure, to see one's name in print; + A book's a book, although there's nothing in't." + +A retired naval officer, Ned Buntline wore a black undress military suit. +His face was bronzed and rugged, determined yet kindly; he walked +with a slight limp, and carried a cane. He shook Will's hand cordially +when they were introduced, and expressed great pleasure in the meeting. +This was the genesis of a friendship destined to work great changes +in Buffalo Bill's career. + +During the scouting expedition that followed, the party chanced upon +an enormous bone, which the surgeon pronounced the femur of a human body. +Will understood the Indian tongues well enough to be in part possession +of their traditions, and he related the Sioux legend of the flood. + +It was taught by the wise men of this tribe that the earth was originally +peopled by giants, who were fully three times the size of modern men. +They were so swift and powerful that they could run alongside a buffalo, +take the animal under one arm, and tear off a leg, and eat it as they ran. +So vainglorious were they because of their own size and strength that they +denied the existence of a Creator. When it lightened, they proclaimed +their superiority to the lightning; when it thundered, they laughed. + +This displeased the Great Spirit, and to rebuke their arrogance +he sent a great rain upon the earth. The valleys filled with water, +and the giants retreated to the hills. The water crept up +the hills, and the giants sought safety on the highest mountains. +Still the rain continued, the waters rose, and the giants, +having no other refuge, were drowned. + +The Great Spirit profited by his former mistake. When the waters subsided, +he made a new race of men, but he made them smaller and less strong. + +This tradition has been handed down from Sioux father to Sioux son +since earliest ages. It shows, at least, as the legends of all races do, +that the story of the Deluge is history common to all the world. + +Another interesting Indian tradition bears evidence of a later origin. +The Great Spirit, they say, once formed a man of clay, and he was +placed in the furnace to bake, but he was subjected to the heat +too long a time, and came out burnt. Of him came the negro race. +At another trial the Great Spirit feared the second clay man +might also burn, and he was not left in the furnace long enough. +Of him came the paleface man. The Great Spirit was now in a position +to do perfect work, and the third clay man was left in the furnace +neither too long nor too short a time; he emerged a masterpiece, +the _ne plus ultra_ of creation--the noble red man. + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +PA-HAS-KA, THE LONG-HAIRED CHIEF. + +ALTHOUGH the glory of killing the buffalo on our hunt was accredited +to sister May, to me the episode proved of much more moment. +In the spring of 1871 I was married to Mr. Jester, the bachelor ranchman +at whose place we had tarried on our hurried return to the fort. +His house had a rough exterior, but was substantial and commodious, +and before I entered it, a bride, it was refitted in a style +almost luxurious. I returned to Leavenworth to prepare for the wedding, +which took place at the home of an old friend, Thomas Plowman, +his daughter Emma having been my chum in girlhood. + +In our home near McPherson we were five miles "in the country." +Nature in primitive wildness encompassed us, but life's song never ran +into a monotone. The prairie is never dull when one watches it from day +to day for signs of Indians. Yet we were not especially concerned, +as we were near enough to the fort to reach it on short notice, +and besides our home there was another house where the ranchmen lived. +With these I had little to do. My especial factotum was a negro boy, +whose chief duty was to saddle my horse and bring it to the door, +attend me upon my rides, and minister to my comfort generally. +Poor little chap! He was one of the first of the Indians' victims. + +Early one morning John, as he was called, was sent out alone to look +after the cattle. During breakfast the clatter of hoofs was heard, +and Will rode up to inform us that the Indians were on the war-path +and massed in force just beyond our ranch. Back of Will were +the troops, and we were advised to ride at once to the fort. +Hastily packing a few valuables, we took refuge at McPherson, +and remained there until the troops returned with the news that all +danger was over. + +Upon our return to the ranch we found that the cattle had been driven away, +and poor little John was picked up dead on the skirts of the foothills. +The redskins had apparently started to scalp him, but had desisted. +Perhaps they thought his wool would not make a desirable trophy, perhaps they +were frightened away. At all events, the poor child's scalp was left to him, +though the mark of the knife was plain. + +Shortly after this episode, some capitalists from the East +visited my husband. One of them, Mr. Bent, owned a large +share in the cattle-ranches. He desired to visit this ranch, +and the whole party planned a hunt at the same time. +As there were no banking facilities on the frontier, drafts or +bills of exchange would have been of no use; so the money +designed for Western investment had been brought along in cash. +To carry this on the proposed trip was too great a risk, and I +was asked banteringly to act as banker. I consented readily, +but imagine my perturbation when twenty-five thousand +dollars in bank-notes were counted out and left in my care. +I had never had the responsibility of so large a sum of money before, +and compared to me the man with the elephant on his hands had +a tranquil time of it. After considering various methods for +secreting the money, I decided for the hair mattress on my bed. +This I ripped open, inserted the envelope containing the bank-notes, +and sewed up the slit. No one was aware of my trust, and I +regarded it safe. + +A few mornings later I ordered my pony and rode away to visit +my nearest neighbor, a Mrs. Erickson, purposing later to ride +to the fort and spend the day with Lou, my sister-in-law. +When I reached Mrs. Erickson's house, that good woman came +out in great excitement to greet me. + +"You must come right in, Mrs. Jester!" said she. +"The foothills are filled with Indians on the warpath." + +She handed me her field-glasses, and directed my gaze to the trail +below our ranch, over which buffaloes, cattle, and Indians passed +down to the Platte. I could plainly see the warriors tramping +along Indian-file, their head-feathers waving in the breeze +and their blankets flapping about them as they walked. +Instantly the thought of the twenty-five thousand dollars +intrusted to my care flashed across my mind. + +"Oh, Mrs. Erickson," I exclaimed, "I must return to the ranch immediately!" + +"You must not do so, Mrs. Jester; it's as much as your life is worth +to attempt it," said she. + +But I thought only of the money, and notwithstanding warning +and entreaty, mounted my horse and flew back on the homeward path, +not even daring to look once toward the foothills. +When I reached the house, I called to the overseer: + +"The Indians are on the war-path, and the foothills are full of them! +Have two or three men ready to escort me to the fort by the time I +have my valise packed." + +"Why, Mrs. Jester," was the reply, "there are no Indians in sight." + +"But there are," said I. "I saw them as plainly as I see you, +and the Ericksons saw them, too." + +"You have been the victim of a mirage," said the overseer. +"Look! there are no Indians now in view." + +I scanned the foothills closely, but there was no sign of a warrior. +With my field-glasses I searched the entire rim of the horizon; +it was tranquillity itself. I experienced a great relief, nevertheless. +My nerves were so shaken that I could not remain at home; +so I packed a valise, taking along the package of bank-notes, +and visited another neighbor, a Mrs. McDonald, a dear friend +of many years' standing, who lived nearer the fort. + +This excellent woman was an old resident of the frontier. After she +had heard my story, she related some of her own Indian experiences. +When she first settled in her present home, there was no fort to which +she could flee from Indian molestation, and she was often compelled +to rely upon her wits to extricate her from dangerous situations. +The story that especially impressed me was the following: + +"One evening when I was alone," said Mrs. McDonald, "I became conscious +that eyes were peering at me from the darkness outside my window. +Flight was impossible, and my husband would not likely reach +home for an hour or more. What should I do? A happy thought +came to me. You know, perhaps, that Indians, for some reason, +have a strange fear of a drunken woman, and will not molest one. +I took from a closet a bottle filled with a dark-colored liquid, +poured out a glassful and drank it. In a few minutes I +repeated the dose, and then seemingly it began to take effect. +I would try to walk across the room, staggering and nearly falling. +I became uproariously `happy.' I flung my arms above +my head, lurched from side to side, sang a maudlin song, +and laughed loudly and foolishly. The stratagem succeeded. +One by one the shadowy faces at the window disappeared, +and by the time my husband and the men returned there was not +an Indian in the neighborhood. I became sober immediately. +Molasses and water is not a very intoxicating beverage." + +I plucked up courage to return to the ranch that evening, +and shortly afterward the hunting-party rode up. +When I related the story of my fright, Mr. Bent complimented +me upon what he was pleased to call my courage. + +"You are your brother's own sister," said he. "We'll make +you banker again." + +"Thank you, but I do not believe you will," said I. "I have +had all the experience I wish for in the banking business +in this Indian country." + +Upon another occasion Indians were approaching the fort from the farther side, +but as we were not regarded as in danger, no warning was sent to us. +The troops sallied out after the redskins, and the cunning warriors +described a circle. To hide their trail they set fire to the prairie, +and the hills about us were soon ablaze. The flames spread swiftly, +and the smoke rolled upon us in suffocating volume. We retreated +to the river, and managed to exist by dashing water upon our faces. +Here we were found by soldiers sent from the fort to warn settlers +of their peril, and at their suggestion we returned to the ranch, +saddled horses, and rode through the dense smoke five miles to the fort. +It was the most unpleasant ride of my life. + +In the preceding chapter mention was made of the finding of a +remarkable bone. It became famous, and in the summer of 1871 Professor Marsh, +of Yale College, brought out a party of students to search for fossils. +They found a number, but were not rewarded by anything the most credulous +could torture into a human relic. + +This summer also witnessed an Indian campaign somewhat out of the common +in several of its details. More than one volume would be required to +record all the adventures Scout Cody had with the Children of the Plains, +most of which had so many points in common that it is necessary to touch +upon only those containing incidents out of the ordinary. + +An expedition, under command of General Duncan, was fitted out for the +Republican River country. Duncan was a jolly officer and a born fighter. +His brother officers had a story that once on a time he had been shot +in the head by a cannon-ball, and that while he was not hurt a particle, +the ball glanced off and killed one of the toughest mules in the army. + +Perhaps it was because the Pawnees spoke so little English, +and spoke that little so badly, that General Duncan insisted +upon their repeating the English call, which would be something +like this: "Post Number One. Nine o'clock. All's well." +The Pawnee effort to obey was so ludicrous, and provocative +of such profanity (which they could express passing well), +that the order was countermanded. + +One afternoon Major North and Will rode ahead of the command to select +a site for the night's camp. They ran into a band of some fifty Indians, +and were obliged to take the back track as fast as their horses could travel. +Will's whip was shot from his hand and a hole put through his hat. +As they sighted the advance-guard of the command, Major North rode +around in a circle--a signal to the Pawnees that hostiles were near. +Instantly the Pawnees broke ranks and dashed pell-mell to the relief +of their white chief. The hostiles now took a turn at retreating, +and kept it up for several miles. + +The troops took up the trail on the following day, and a stern chase set in. +In passing through a deserted camp the troops found an aged squaw, who had +been left to die. The soldiers built a lodge for her, and she was provided +with sufficient rations to last her until she reached the Indian heaven, +the happy hunting-grounds. She was in no haste, however, to get to her +destination, and on their return the troops took her to the fort with them. +Later she was sent to the Spotted Tail agency. + +In September of 1871 General Sheridan and a party of friends +arrived at the post for a grand hunt. Between him and Will existed +a warm friendship, which continued to the close of the general's life. +Great preparations were made for the hunt. General Emory, +now commander of the fort, sent a troop of cavalry to meet the +distinguished visitors at the station and escort them to the fort. +Besides General Sheridan, there were in the party Leonard +and Lawrence Jerome, Carroll Livingstone, James Gordon Bennett, +J. G. Heckscher, General Fitzhugh, Schuyler Crosby, Dr. Asch, Mr. McCarthy, +and other well-known men. When they reached the post they found +the regiment drawn up on dress parade; the band struck up a martial air, +the cavalry were reviewed by General Sheridan, and the formalities +of the occasion were regarded as over. + +It was Sheridan's request that Will should act as guide and scout +for the hunting-party. One hundred troopers under Major Brown were +detailed as escort, and the commissary department fairly bulged. +Several ambulances were also taken along, for the comfort of those +who might weary of the saddle. + +Game was abundant, and rare sport was had. Buffalo, elk, and deer +were everywhere, and to those of the party who were new to Western +life the prairie-dog villages were objects of much interest. +These villages are often of great extent. They are made up of +countless burrows, and so honeycombed is the country infested by +the little animals that travel after nightfall is perilous for horses. +The dirt is heaped around the entrance to the burrows a foot high, +and here the prairie-dogs, who are sociability itself, sit on their +hind legs and gossip with one another. Owls and rattlesnakes +share the underground homes with the rightful owners, and all get +along together famously. + +When the hunting-party returned to McPherson its members voted +Will a veritable Nimrod--a mighty hunter, and he was abundantly +thanked for his masterly guidance of the expedition. + +That winter a still more distinguished party visited the post-- +the Grand Duke Alexis and his friends. As many of my readers will recall, +the nobleman's visit aroused much enthusiasm in this country. +The East had wined and dined him to satiety, but wining and dining +are common to all nations, and the Grand Duke desired to see the wild +life of America--the Indian in his tepee and the prairie monarch +in his domain, as well as the hardy frontiersman, who feared neither +savage warrior nor savage beast. + +The Grand Duke had hunted big game in Eastern lands, and he was a +capital shot. General Sheridan engineered this expedition also, and, +as on the previous occasion, he relied upon Will to make it a success. +The latter received word to select a good camp on Red Willow Creek, +where game was plentiful, and to make all needed arrangements +for the comfort and entertainment of the noble party. A special +feature suggested by Sheridan for the amusement and instruction of +the continental guests was an Indian war-dance and Indian buffalo-hunt. +To procure this entertainment it was necessary to visit Spotted Tail, +chief of the Sioux, and persuade him to bring over a hundred warriors. +At this time there was peace between the Sioux and the government, +and the dance idea was feasible; nevertheless, a visit to the Sioux +camp was not without its dangers. Spotted Tail himself was seemingly +sincere in a desire to observe the terms of the ostensible peace +between his people and the authorities, but many of the other Indians +would rather have had the scalp of the Long-haired Chief than a +century of peace. + +Will so timed his trip as to reach the Indian camp at dusk, and hitching +his horse in the timber, he wrapped his blanket closely about him, +so that in the gathering darkness he might easily pass for a warrior. +Thus invested, he entered the village, and proceeded to the lodge +of Spotted Tail. + +The conference with the distinguished redskin was made smooth sailing by +Agent Todd Randall, who happened to be on hand, and who acted as interpreter. +The old chief felt honored by the invitation extended to him, and readily +promised that in "ten sleeps" from that night he, with a hundred warriors, +would be present at the white man's camp, which was to be pitched at the point +where the government trail crossed Red Willow Creek. + +As Spotted Tail did not repose a great amount of confidence in his +high-spirited young men, he kept Will in his own lodge through the night. +In the morning the chief assembled the camp, and presenting his guest, +asked if his warriors knew him. + +"It is Pa-has-ka, the Long-haired Chief!" they answered. + +Whereupon Spotted Tail informed them that he had eaten bread +with the Long-haired Chief, thus establishing a bond of friendship, +against violating which the warriors were properly warned. + +After that Will was entirely at his ease, although there were many +sullen faces about him. They had long yearned for his scalp, +and it was slightly irritating to find it so near and yet so far. + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +THE HUNT OF THE GRAND DUKE ALEXIS. + +A SPECIAL train brought the Grand Duke Alexis and party to North Platte +on January 12, 1872. Will was presented to the illustrious +visitor by General Sheridan, and was much interested in him. +He was also pleased to note that General Custer made one of the party. + +Will had made all the arrangements, and had everything complete +when the train pulled in. As soon as the Grand Duke and party +had breakfasted, they filed out to get their horses or to find +seats in the ambulances. All who were mounted were arranged +according to rank. Will had sent one of his guides ahead, +while he was to remain behind to see that nothing was left undone. +Just as they were to start, the conductor of the Grand Duke's train +came up to Will and said that Mr. Thompson had not received a horse. +"What Thompson?" asked Will. "Why, Mr. Frank Thompson, who has charge +of the Grand Duke's train." Will looked over the list of names sent +him by General Sheridan of those who would require saddle-horses, +but failed to find that of Mr. Thompson. However, he did not wish +to have Mr. Thompson or any one else left out. He had following him, +as he always did, his celebrated war-horse, "Buckskin Joe." This horse +was not a very prepossessing "insect." He was buckskin in color, +and rather a sorry-looking animal, but he was known all over the frontier +as the greatest long-distance and best buffalo-horse living. +Will had never allowed any one but himself to ride this horse, +but as he had no other there at the time, he got a saddle and bridle, +had it put on old Buckskin Joe, and told Mr. Thompson he could +ride him until he got where he could get him another. This horse +looked so different from the beautiful animals the rest of the party +were supplied with that Mr. Thompson thought it rather discourteous +to mount him in such fashion. However, he got on, and Will told him +to follow up, as he wanted to go ahead to where the general was. +As Mr. Thompson rode past the wagons and ambulances he noticed +the teamsters pointing at him, and thinking the men were guying him, +rode up to one of them, and said, "Am I not riding this horse all right?" +Mr. Thompson felt some personal pride in his horsemanship, +as he was a Pennsylvania fox-hunter. + +The driver replied, "Yes, sir; you ride all right." + +"Well, then," said Thompson, "it must be this horse you are guying." + +The teamster replied: + +"Guying that horse? Not in a thousand years!" + +"Well, then, why am I such a conspicuous object?" + +"Why, sir, are you not the king?" + +"The king? Why did you take me for the king?" + +"Because you are riding that horse. I guess you don't know what horse you +are riding, do you? Nobody gets to ride that horse but Buffalo Bill. So when +we all saw you riding him we supposed that of course you were the king, +for that horse, sir, is Buckskin Joe." + +Thompson had heard General Sheridan telling about Buckskin Joe +on the way out, and how Buffalo Bill had once run him eighty +miles when the Indians were after him. Thompson told Will +afterward that he grew about four feet when he found out +that he was riding that most celebrated horse of the plains. +He at once galloped ahead to overtake Will and thank him +most heartily for allowing him the honor of such a mount. +Will told him that he was going to let the Grand Duke kill his first +buffalo on Buckskin Joe. "Well," replied Thompson, "I want to ask +one favor of you. Let me also kill a buffalo on this horse." +Will replied that nothing would afford him greater pleasure. +Buckskin Joe was covered with glory on this memorable hunt, as both +the Grand Duke of Russia and Mr. Frank Thompson, later president +of the Pennsylvania Railroad, killed their first buffalo mounted +on his back, and my brother ascribes to old Joe the acquisition +of Mr. Frank Thompson's name to his list of life friendships. +This hunt was an unqualified success, nothing occurring to mar +one day of it. + +Spotted Tail was true to his promise. He and his hundred braves were on hand, +shining in the full glory of war paint and feathers, and the war-dance +they performed was of extraordinary interest to the Grand Duke +and his friends. The outlandish contortions and grimaces of the Indians, +their leaps and crouchings, their fiendish yells and whoops, made up +a barbaric jangle of picture and sound not soon to be forgotten. +To the European visitors the scene was picturesque rather than ghastly, +but it was not a pleasing spectacle to the old Indian fighters looking on. +There were too many suggestions of bloodshed and massacre in the past, +and of bloodshed and massacre yet to come. + +The Indian buffalo-hunt followed the Terpsichorean revelry, and all +could enjoy the skill and strength displayed by the red huntsmen. +One warrior, Two-Lance by name, performed a feat that no other living +Indian could do; he sent an arrow entirely through the body of a bull +running at full speed. + +General Sheridan desired that the Grand Duke should carry away +with him a knowledge of every phase of life on the frontier, +and when the visitors were ready to drive to the railroad station, +Will was requested to illustrate, for their edification, +the manner in which a stagecoach and six were driven over +the Rocky Mountains. + +Will was delighted at the idea; so was Alexis at the outset, +as he had little idea of what was in store for him. +The Grand Duke and the general were seated in a closed carriage +drawn by six horses, and were cautioned to fasten their hats +securely on their heads, and to hang onto the carriage; +then Will climbed to the driver's seat. + +"Just imagine," said he to his passengers, "that fifty Indians are after us." +And off went the horses, with a jump that nearly spilled the occupants +of the coach into the road. + +The three miles to the station were covered in just ten minutes, +and the Grand Duke had the ride of his life. The carriage tossed +like a ship in a gale, and no crew ever clung to a life-line with +more desperate grip than did Will's passengers to their seats. +Had the fifty Indians of the driver's fancy been whooping behind, +he would not have plied the whip more industriously, +or been deafer to the groans and ejaculations of his fares. +When the carriage finally drew up with another teeth-shaking jerk, +and Will, sombrero in hand, opened the coach door to inquire of +his Highness how he had enjoyed the ride, the Grand Duke replied, +with suspicious enthusiasm: + +"I would not have missed it for a large sum of money; but rather than +repeat it, I would return to Russia via Alaska, swim Bering Strait, +and finish my journey on one of your government mules." + +This ride completed a trip which the noble party pronounced satisfactory +in every detail. The Grand Duke invited Will into his private car, +where he received the thanks of the company for his zeal and skill as pilot +of a hunting-party. He was also invited by Alexis to visit him at his palace +should he ever make a journey to Russia, and was, moreover, the recipient +of a number of valuable souvenirs. + +At that time Will had very little thought of crossing the seas, +but he did decide to visit the East, whither he had more than +once journeyed in fancy. The Indians were comparatively quiet, +and he readily obtained a leave of absence. + +The first stopping-place was Chicago, where he was entertained by +General Sheridan; thence he went to New York, to be kindly received +by James Gordon Bennett, Leonard and Lawrence Jerome, J. G. Heckscher, +and others, who, it will be recalled, were members of the hunting-party +of the preceding year. Ned Buntline also rendered his sojourn in +the metropolis pleasant in many ways. The author had carried out his +intention of writing a story of Western life with Scout Cody for the hero, +and the result, having been dramatized, was doing a flourishing business +at one of the great city's theaters. Will made one of a party that attended +a performance of the play one evening, and it was shortly whispered +about the house that "Buffalo Bill" himself was in the audience. +It is customary to call for the author of a play, and no doubt +the author of this play had been summoned before the footlights +in due course, but on this night the audience demanded the hero. +To respond to the call was an ordeal for which Will was unprepared; +but there was no getting out of it, and he faced a storm of applause. +The manager of the performance, enterprising like all of his profession, +offered Will five hundred dollars a week to remain in New York and play +the part of "Buffalo Bill," but the offer was declined with thanks. + +During his stay in the city Will was made the guest of honor at +sundry luncheons and dinners given by his wealthy entertainers. +He found considerable trouble in keeping his appointments at first, +but soon caught on to the to him unreasonable hours at which +New Yorkers dined, supped, and breakfasted. The sense of his +social obligations lay so heavily on his mind that he resolved +to balance accounts with a dinner at which he should be the host. +An inventory of cash on hand discovered the sum of fifty dollars +that might be devoted to playing Lucullus. Surely that would more +than pay for all that ten or a dozen men could eat at one meal. +"However," he said to himself, "I don't care if it takes the whole fifty. +It's all in a lifetime, anyway." + +In all confidence he hied him to Delmonico's, at which famous +restaurant he had incurred a large share of his social obligations. +He ordered the finest dinner that could be prepared for a party +of twelve, and set as date the night preceding his departure for +the West. The guests were invited with genuine Western hospitality. +His friends had been kind to him, and he desired to show them +that a man of the West could not only appreciate such things, +but return them. + +The dinner was a thorough success. Not an invited guest was absent. +The conversation sparkled. Quip and repartee shot across the "festive board," +and all went merry as a dinner-bell. The host was satisfied, +and proud withal. The next morning he approached Delmonico's cashier +with an air of reckless prodigality. + +"My bill, please," said he, and when he got it, he looked +hard at it for several minutes. It dawned on him gradually +that his fifty dollars would about pay for one plate. +As he confided to us afterward, that little slip of paper +frightened him more than could the prospect of a combat +single-handed with a whole tribe of Sioux Indians. + +Unsophisticated Will! There was, as he discovered, a wonderful difference +between a dinner at Delmonico's and a dinner on the plains. For the one, +the four corners of the earth are drawn upon to provide the bill of fare; +for the other, all one needs is an ounce of lead and a charge of powder, +a bundle of fagots and a match. + +But it would never do to permit the restaurant cashier to suspect that +the royal entertainer of the night before was astonished at his bill; +so he requested that the account be forwarded to his hotel, and sought +the open air, where he might breathe more freely. + +There was but one man in New York to whom he felt he could turn +in his dilemma, and that was Ned Buntline. One who could invent +plots for stories, and extricate his characters from all sorts +of embarrassing situations, should be able to invent a method of +escape from so comparatively simple a perplexity as a tavern bill. +Will's confidence in the wits of his friend was not unfounded. +His first great financial panic was safely weathered, but how it +was done I do not know to this day. + +One of Will's main reasons for visiting the East was to look up our only +living relatives on mother's side--Colonel Henry R. Guss and family, +of Westchester, Pennsylvania. Mother's sister, who had married this +gentleman, was not living, and we had never met him or any of his family. +Ned Buntline accompanied Will on his trip to Westchester. + +To those who have passed through the experience of waiting +in a strange drawing-room for the coming of relatives +one has never seen, and of whose personality one has but +the vaguest idea, there is the uncertainty of the reception. +Will it be frank and hearty, or reserved and doubtful? +During the few minutes succeeding the giving of his and Buntline's +cards to the servant, Will rather wished that the elegant +reception-room might be metamorphosed into the Western prairie. +But presently the entrance to the parlor was brightened by +the loveliest girl he had ever looked upon, and following her +walked a courtly, elegant gentleman. These were Cousin Lizzie +and Uncle Henry. There was no doubt of the quality of the welcome; +it was most cordial, and Will enjoyed a delightful visit with +his relatives. For his cousin he conceived an instant affection. +The love he had held for his mother--the purest and strongest +of his affections--became the heritage of this beautiful girl. + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THEATRICAL EXPERIENCES. + +THE Fifth Cavalry at Fort McPherson had been ordered to Arizona, +and was replaced by the Third Cavalry under command of +General Reynolds. Upon Will's return to McPherson he was at once +obliged to take the field to look for Indians that had raided +the station during his absence and carried off a considerable +number of horses. Captain Meinhold and Lieutenant Lawson +commanded the company dispatched to recover the stolen property. +Will acted as guide, and had as an assistant T. B. Omohundro, +better known by his frontier name of "Texas Jack." + +Will was not long in finding Indian tracks, and accompanied +by six men, he went forward to locate the redskin camp. +They had proceeded but a short distance when they sighted a small party +of Indians, with horses grazing. There were just thirteen Indians-- +an unlucky number--and Will feared that they might discover +the scouting party should it attempt to return to the main command. +He had but to question his companions to find them ready to follow +wheresoever he might lead, and they moved cautiously toward +the Indian camp. + +At the proper moment the seven rushed upon the unsuspecting +warriors, who sprang for their horses and gave battle. +But the rattle of the rifles brought Captain Meinhold to the scene, +and when the Indians saw the reinforcements coming up they +turned and fled. Six of their number were dead on the plain, +and nearly all of the stolen horses were recovered. +One soldier was killed, and this was one of the few occasions +when Will received a wound. + +And now once more was the versatile plainsman called upon +to enact a new role. Returning from a long scout in the fall +of 1872, he found that his friends had made him a candidate +for the Nebraska legislature from the twenty-sixth district. +He had never thought seriously of politics, and had a +well-defined doubt of his fitness as a law-maker. He made +no campaign, but was elected by a flattering majority. +He was now privileged to prefix the title "Honorable" to his name, +and later this was supplanted by "Colonel"--a title won +in the Nebraska National Guard, and which he claims is much +better suited to his attainments. + +Will, unlike his father, had no taste for politics or for political honors. +I recall one answer--so characteristic of the man--to some friends +who were urging him to enter the political arena. "No," said he, +"politics are by far too deep for me. I think I can hold my own in any +fair and no foul fight; but politics seem to me all foul and no fair. +I thank you, my friends, but I must decline to set out on this trail, +which I know has more cactus burs to the square inch than any I ever +followed on the plains." + +Meantime Ned Buntline had been nurturing an ambitious project. +He had been much impressed by the fine appearance made by Will +in the New York theater, and was confident that a fortune awaited +the scout if he would consent to enter the theatrical profession. +He conceived the idea of writing a drama entitled "The Scout +of the Plains," in which Will was to assume the title role +and shine as a star of the first magnitude. The bait he dangled +was that the play should be made up entirely of frontier scenes, +which would not only entertain the public, but instruct it. + +The bait was nibbled at, and finally swallowed, but there was a proviso +that Wild Bill and Texas Jack must first be won over to act as "pards" +in the enterprise. He telegraphed his two friends that he needed their +aid in an important business matter, and went to Chicago to meet them. +He was well assured that if he had given them an inkling of the nature +of the "business matter," neither would put in an appearance; but he relied +on Ned Buntline's persuasive powers, which were well developed. + +There had never been a time when Wild Bill and Texas Jack declined to follow +Will's lead, and on a certain morning the trio presented themselves at +the Palmer House in Chicago for an interview with Colonel Judson. + +The author could scarcely restrain his delight. All three of +the scouts were men of fine physique and dashing appearance. +It was very possible that they had one or two things to learn +about acting, but their inexperience would be more than balanced +by their reputation and personal appearance, and the knowledge +that they were enacting on the stage mock scenes of what to them +had oft been stern reality. + +"Don't shoot, pards!" began Will, when the conference opened. +"I guess, Judson," he continued, after vainly trying to find +a diplomatic explanation, "you'd better tell them what we want." + +Buntline opened with enthusiasm, but he did not kindle +Wild Bill and Texas Jack, who looked as if they might at any +moment grab their sombreros and stampede for the frontier. +Will turned the scale. + +"We're bound to make a fortune at it," said he. "Try it for a while, anyway." + +The upshot of a long discussion was that the scouts gave a reluctant +consent to a much-dreaded venture. Will made one stipulation. + +"If the Indians get on the rampage," said he, "we must be allowed +leave of absence to go back and settle them." + +"All right, boys," said Buntline; "that shall be put in the contract. +And if you're called back into the army to fight redskins, +I'll go with you." + +This reply established the author firmly in the esteem of the scouts. +The play was written in four hours (most playwrights allow themselves +at least a week), and the actor-scouts received their "parts." +Buntline engaged a company to support the stellar trio, and the play +was widely advertised. + +When the critical "first night" arrived, none of the scouts +knew a line of his part, but each had acquired all +the varieties of stage fright known to the profession. +Buntline had hinted to them the possibility of something +of the sort, but they had not realized to what a condition +of abject dismay a man may be reduced by the sight of a few +hundred inoffensive people in front of a theater curtain. +It would have done them no good to have told them (as is the truth) +that many experienced actors have touches of stage fright, +as well as the unfortunate novice. All three declared +that they would rather face a band of war-painted Indians, +or undertake to check a herd of stampeding buffaloes, than face +the peaceful-looking audience that was waiting to criticise +their Thespian efforts. + +Like almost all amateurs, they insisted on peering through +the peep-holes in the curtain, which augmented their nervousness, +and if the persuasive Colonel Judson had not been at their elbows, +reminding them that he, also, was to take part in the play, +it is more than likely they would have slipped quietly out at +the stage door and bought railway passage to the West. + +Presently the curtain rolled up, and the audience applauded +encouragingly as three quaking six-footers, clad in buckskin, +made their first bow before the footlights. + +I have said that Will did not know a line of his part, +nor did he when the time to make his opening speech arrived. +It had been faithfully memorized, but oozed from his mind like the +courage from Bob Acres's finger-tips. "Evidently," thought Buntline, +who was on the stage with him, "he needs time to recover." +So he asked carelessly: + +"What have you been about lately, Bill?" + +This gave "The Scout of the Plains" an inspiration. +In glancing over the audience, he had recognized in one of +the boxes a wealthy gentleman named Milligan, whom he had once +guided on a big hunt near McPherson. The expedition had been +written up by the Chicago papers, and the incidents of it +were well known. + +"I've been out on a hunt with Milligan," replied Will, +and the house came down. Milligan was quite popular, +but had been the butt of innumerable jokes because of his +alleged scare over the Indians. The applause and laughter +that greeted the sally stocked the scout with confidence, +but confidence is of no use if one has forgotten his part. +It became manifest to the playwright-actor that he would have +to prepare another play in place of the one he had expected +to perform, and that he must prepare it on the spot. + +"Tell us about it, Bill," said he, and the prompter groaned. + +One of the pleasures of frontier life consists in telling stories +around the camp-fire. A man who ranks as a good frontiersman is +pretty sure to be a good raconteur. Will was at ease immediately, +and proceeded to relate the story of Milligan's hunt in his own words. +That it was amusing was attested by the frequent rounds of applause. +The prompter, with a commendable desire to get things running smoothly, +tried again and again to give Will his cue, but even cues had been forgotten. + +The dialogue of that performance must have been delightfully absurd. +Neither Texas Jack nor Wild Bill was able to utter a line of his part +during the entire evening. In the Indian scenes, however, they scored +a great success; here was work that did not need to be painfully memorized, +and the mock red men were slain at an astonishing rate. + +Financially the play proved all that its projectors could +ask for. Artistically--well, the critics had a great deal of fun +with the hapless dramatist. The professionals in the company +had played their parts acceptably, and, oddly enough, the scouts +were let down gently in the criticisms; but the critics had no +means of knowing that the stars of the piece had provided their +own dialogue, and poor Ned Buntline was plastered with ridicule. +It had got out that the play was written in four hours, +and in mentioning this fact, one paper wondered, with delicate +sarcasm, what the dramatist had been doing all that time. +Buntline had played the part of "Gale Durg," who met death +in the second act, and a second paper, commenting on this, +suggested that it would have been a happy consummation +had the death occurred before the play was written. +A third critic pronounced it a drama that might be begun +in the middle and played both ways, or played backward, +quite as well as the way in which it had been written. + +However, nothing succeeds like success. A number of managers +offered to take hold of the company, and others asked for entrance +to the enterprise as partners. Ned Buntline took his medicine +from the critics with a smiling face, for "let him laugh who wins." + +The scouts soon got over their stage fright, in the course of time were +able to remember their parts, and did fully their share toward making +the play as much of a success artistically as it was financially. +From Chicago the company went to St. Louis, thence to Cincinnati and +other large cities, and everywhere drew large and appreciative houses. + +When the season closed, in Boston, and Will had made his preparations +to return to Nebraska, an English gentleman named Medley, +presented himself, with a request that the scout act as guide +on a big hunt and camping trip through Western territory. +The pay offered was liberal--a thousand dollars a month and expenses-- +and Will accepted the offer. He spent that summer in his old occupation, +and the ensuing winter continued his tour as a star of the drama. +Wild Bill and Texas Jack consented again to "support" him, +but the second season proved too much for the patience of the former, +and he attempted to break through the contract he had signed +for the season. The manager, of course, refused to release him, +but Wild Bill conceived the notion that under certain circumstances +the company would be glad to get rid of him. + +That night he put his plan into execution by discharging his blank cartridges +so near the legs of the dead Indians on the stage that the startled "supers" +came to life with more realistic yells than had accompanied their deaths. +This was a bit of "business" not called for in the play-book, and while +the audience was vastly entertained, the management withheld its approval. + +Will was delegated to expostulate with the reckless Indian-slayer; +but Wild Bill remarked calmly that he "hadn't hurt the fellows any," +and he continued to indulge in his innocent pastime. + +Severe measures were next resorted to. He was informed that he must +stop shooting the Indians after they were dead, or leave the company. +This was what Wild Bill had hoped for, and when the curtain went up on +the next performance he was to be seen in the audience, enjoying the play +for the first time since he had been mixed up with it. + +Will sympathized with his former "support," but he had a duty to perform, +and faithfully endeavored to persuade the recreant actor to return to +the company. Persuasion went for nothing, so the contract was annulled, +and Wild Bill returned to his beloved plains. + +The next season Will removed his family to Rochester, and organized +a theatrical company of his own. There was too much artificiality +about stage life to suit one that had been accustomed to stern reality, +and he sought to do away with this as much as possible by introducing +into his own company a band of real Indians. The season of 1875-76 +opened brilliantly; the company played to crowded houses, and Will +made a large financial success. + +One night in April, when the season was nearing its close, a telegram +was handed to him, just as he was about to step upon the stage. +It was from his wife, and summoned him to Rochester, to the bedside +of his only son, Kit Carson Cody. He consulted with his manager, +and it was arranged that after the first act he should be excused, +that he might catch the train. + +That first act was a miserable experience, though the audience did not +suspect that the actor's heart was almost stopped by fear and anxiety. +He caught his train, and the manager, John Burke, an actor of much experience, +played out the part. + +It was, too, a miserable ride to Rochester, filled up with the gloomiest +of forebodings, heightened by memories of every incident in the precious +little life now in danger. + +Kit was a handsome child, with striking features and curly hair. +His mother always dressed him in the finest clothes, and tempted by these +combined attractions, gypsies had carried him away the previous summer. +But Kit was the son of a scout, and his young eyes were sharp. +He marked the trail followed by his captors, and at the first opportunity +gave them the slip and got safely home, exclaiming as he toddled into +the sobbing family circle, "I tumed back adain, mama; don't cry." +Despite his anxiety, Will smiled at the recollection of the season +when his little son had been a regular visitor at the theater. +The little fellow knew that the most important feature of a dramatic +performance, from a management's point of view, is a large audience. +He watched the seats fill in keen anxiety, and the moment the curtain +rose and his father appeared on the stage, he would make a trumpet of his +little hands, and shout from his box, "Good house, papa!" The audience +learned to expect and enjoy this bit of by-play between father and son. +His duty performed, Kit settled himself in his seat, and gave himself +up to undisturbed enjoyment of the play. + +When Will reached Rochester he found his son still alive, though beyond +the reach of medical aid. He was burning up with fever, but still conscious, +and the little arms were joyfully lifted to clasp around his father's neck. +He lingered during the next day and into the night, but the end came, and Will +faced a great sorrow of his life. He had built fond hopes for his son, +and in a breath they had been swept away. His boyhood musings over the +prophecy of the fortune-teller had taken a turn when his own boy was born. +It might be Kit's destiny to become President of the United States; +it was not his own. Now, hope and fear had vanished together, the fabric +of the dream had dissolved, and left "not a rack behind." + +Little Kit was laid to rest in Mount Hope Cemetery, April 24, 1876. +He is not dead, but sleeping; not lost, but gone before. +He has joined the innumerable company of the white-souled throng +in the regions of the blest. He has gone to aid my mother +in her mission unfulfilled--that of turning heavenward the eyes +of those that loved them so dearly here on earth. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +THE GOVERNMENT'S INDIAN POLICY. + +VERY glad was the sad-hearted father that the theatrical season was so +nearly over. The mummeries of stage life were more distasteful to him than +ever when he returned to his company with his crushing grief fresh upon him. +He played nightly to crowded houses, but it was plain that his heart +was not in his work. A letter from Colonel Mills, informing him +that his services were needed in the army, came as a welcome relief. +He canceled his few remaining dates, and disbanded his company with +a substantial remuneration. + +This was the spring of the Centennial year. It has also been +called the "Custer year," for during that summer the gallant +general and his heroic Three Hundred fell in their unequal +contest with Sitting Bull and his warriors. + +Sitting Bull was one of the ablest chiefs and fighters the Sioux nation +ever produced. He got his name from the fact that once when he had shot +a buffalo he sprang astride of it to skin it, and the wounded bull rose +on its haunches with the Indian on its back. He combined native Indian +cunning with the strategy and finesse needed to make a great general, +and his ability as a leader was conceded alike by red and white man. +A dangerous man at best, the wrongs his people had suffered roused all +his Indian cruelty, vindictiveness, hatred, and thirst for revenge. + +The Sioux war of 1876 had its origin, like most of its predecessors +and successors, in an act of injustice on the part of the United States +government and a violation of treaty rights. + +In 1868 a treaty had been made with the Sioux, by which the Black Hills +country was reserved for their exclusive use, no settling by white +men to be allowed. In 1874 gold was discovered, and the usual gold +fever was followed by a rush of whites into the Indian country. +The Sioux naturally resented the intrusion, and instead of attempting +to placate them, to the end that the treaty might be revised, +the government sent General Custer into the Black Hills with instructions +to intimidate the Indians into submission. But Custer was too wise, +too familiar with Indian nature, to adhere to his instructions +to the letter. Under cover of a flag of truce a council was arranged. +At this gathering coffee, sugar, and bacon were distributed among the Indians, +and along with those commodities Custer handed around some advice. +This was to the effect that it would be to the advantage of the +Sioux if they permitted the miners to occupy the gold country. +The coffee, sugar, and bacon were accepted thankfully by Lo, but no nation, +tribe, or individual since the world began has ever welcomed advice. +It was thrown away on Lo. He received it with such an air of indifference +and in such a stoical silence that General Custer had no hope his +mission had succeeded. + +In 1875 General Crook was sent into the Hills to make a farcical +demonstration of the government's desire to maintain good faith, +but no one was deceived, the Indians least of all. In August Custer City +was laid out, and in two weeks its population numbered six hundred. +General Crook drove out the inhabitants, and as he marched triumphantly +out of one end of the village the people marched in again at the other. + +The result of this continued bad faith was inevitable; +everywhere the Sioux rose in arms. Strange as it might seem to one +who has not followed the government's remarkable Indian policy, +it had dispensed firearms to the Indians with a generous hand. +The government's Indian policy, condensed, was to stock +the red man with rifles and cartridges, and then provide him +with a first-class reason for using them against the whites. +During May, June, and July of that year the Sioux had received 1,120 +Remington and Winchester rifles and 13,000 rounds of patent ammunition. +During that year they received several thousand stands of arms +and more than a million rounds of ammunition, and for three years +before that they had been regularly supplied with weapons. +The Sioux uprising of 1876 was expensive for the government. +One does not have to go far to find the explanation. + +Will expected to join General Crook, but on reaching Chicago he found +that General Carr was still in command of the Fifth Cavalry, +and had sent a request that Will return to his old regiment. +Carr was at Cheyenne; thither Will hastened at once. He was met +at the station by Captain Charles King, the well-known author, +and later serving as brigadier-general at Manila, then adjutant +of the regiment. As the pair rode into camp the cry went up, +"Here comes Buffalo Bill!" Three ringing cheers expressed +the delight of the troopers over his return to his old command, +and Will was equally delighted to meet his quondam companions. +He was appointed guide and chief of scouts, and the regiment proceeded +to Laramie. From there they were ordered into the Black Hills country, +and Colonel Merritt replaced General Carr. + +The incidents of Custer's fight and fall are so well known +that it is not necessary to repeat them here. It was a better +fight than the famous charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava, +for not one of the three hundred came forth from the "jaws of death." +As at Balaklava, "some one had blundered," not once, but many times, +and Custer's command discharged the entire debt with their lifeblood. + +When the news of the tragedy reached the main army, +preparations were made to move against the Indians in force. +The Fifth Cavalry was instructed to cut off, if possible, +eight hundred Cheyenne warriors on their way to join the Sioux, +and Colonel Wesley Merritt, with five hundred men, hastened to Hat, +or War-Bonnet, Creek, purposing to reach the trail before +the Indians could do so. The creek was reached on the 17th +of July, and at daylight the following morning Will rode forth +to ascertain whether the Cheyennes had crossed the trail. +They had not, but that very day the scout discerned the warriors +coming up from the south. + +Colonel Merritt ordered his men to mount their horses, but to remain +out of sight, while he, with his adjutant, Charles King, accompanied Will +on a tour of observation. The Cheyennes came directly toward the troops, +and presently fifteen or twenty of them dashed off to the west along +the trail the army had followed the night before. Through his glass +Colonel Merritt remarked two soldiers on the trail, doubtless couriers +with dispatches, and these the Indians manifestly designed to cut off. +Will suggested that it would be well to wait until the warriors were on +the point of charging the couriers, when, if the colonel were willing, +he would take a party of picked men and cut off the hostile delegation +from the main body, which was just coming over the divide. + +The colonel acquiesced, and Will, galloping back to camp, +returned with fifteen men. The couriers were some four hundred +yards away, and their Indian pursuers two hundred behind them. +Colonel Merritt gave the word to charge, and Will and his men +skurried toward the redskins. + +In the skirmish that ensued three Indians were killed. +The rest started for the main band of warriors, who had halted +to watch the fight, but they were so hotly pursued by the soldiers +that they turned at a point half a mile distant from Colonel Merritt, +and another skirmish took place. + +Here something a little out of the usual occurred--a challenge to a duel. +A warrior, whose decorations and war-bonnet proclaimed him a chief, +rode out in front of his men, and called out in his own tongue, +which Will could understand: + +"I know you, Pa-has-ka! Come and fight me, if you want to fight!" + +Will rode forward fifty yards, and the warrior advanced a like distance. +The two rifles spoke, and the Indian's horse fell; but at the same +moment Will's horse stumbled into a gopher-hole and threw its rider. +Both duelists were instantly on their feet, confronting each other across +a space of not more than twenty paces. They fired again simultaneously, +and though Will was unhurt, the Indian fell dead. + +The duel over, some two hundred warriors dashed up to recover the chieftain's +body and to avenge his death. It was now Colonel Merritt's turn to move. +He dispatched a company of soldiers to Will's aid, and then ordered +the whole regiment to the charge. As the soldiers advanced, Will swung +the Indian's topknot and war-bonnet which he had secured, and shouted, +"The first scalp for Custer!" + +The Indians made a stubborn resistance, but as they found this useless, +began a retreat toward Red Cloud agency, whence they had come. +The retreat continued for thirty-five miles, the troops following +into the agency. The fighting blood of the Fifth was at fever heat, +and they were ready to encounter the thousands of warriors +at the agency should they exhibit a desire for battle. +But they manifested no such desire. + +Will learned that the name of the chief he had killed that morning +was "Yellow Hand." He was the son of "Cut Nose," a leading spirit +among the Cheyennes. This old chieftain offered Will four mules +if he would return the war-bonnet and accouterments worn by the young +warrior and captured in the fight, but Will did not grant the request, +much as he pitied Cut Nose in his grief. + +The Fifth Cavalry on the following morning started on its march to join +General Crook's command in the Big Horn Mountains. The two commands +united forces on the 3d of August, and marched to the confluence +of the Powder River with the Yellowstone. Here General Miles met them, +to report that no Indians had crossed the stream. + +No other fight occurred; but Will made himself useful +in his capacity of scout. There were many long, hard rides, +carrying dispatches that no one else would volunteer to bear. +When he was assured that the fighting was all over, +he took passage, in September, on the steamer "Far West," +and sailed down the Missouri. + +People in the Eastern States were wonderfully interested in +the stirring events on the frontier, and Will conceived the idea +of putting the incidents of the Sioux war upon the stage. +Upon his return to Rochester he had a play written for +his purpose, organized a company, and opened his season. +Previously he had paid a flying visit to Red Cloud agency, +and induced a number of Sioux Indians to take part in his drama. + +The red men had no such painful experience as Wild Bill and +Texas Jack. All they were expected to do in the way of acting +was what came natural to them. Their part was to introduce a bit +of "local color," to give a war-dance, take part in a skirmish, +or exhibit themselves in some typical Indian fashion. + +At the close of this season Will bought a large tract of land +near North Platte, and started a cattle-ranch. He already +owned one some distance to the northward, in partnership +with Major North, the leader of the Pawnee scouts. +Their friendship had strengthened since their first meeting, +ten years before. + +In this new ranch Will takes great pride. He has added to its area +until it now covers seven thousand acres, and he has developed +its resources to the utmost. Twenty-five hundred acres are devoted +to alfalfa and twenty-five hundred sown to corn. One of the features +of interest to visitors is a wooded park, containing a number +of deer and young buffaloes. Near the park is a beautiful lake. +In the center of the broad tract of land stands the picturesque +building known as "Scout's Rest Ranch," which, seen from the foothills, +has the appearance of an old castle. + +The ranch is one of the most beautiful spots that one can imagine, +and is, besides, an object-lesson in the value of scientific +investigation and experiment joined with persistence and perseverance. +When Will bought the property he was an enthusiastic believer +in the possibilities of Nebraska development. His brother-in-law, +Mr. Goodman, was put in charge of the place. + +The whole Platte Valley formed part of the district once miscalled +the Great American Desert. It was an idea commonly accepted, but, +as the sequel proved, erroneous, that lack of moisture was the cause +of lack of vegetation. An irrigating ditch was constructed on +the ranch, trees were planted, and it was hoped that with such an +abundance of moisture they would spring up like weeds. Vain hope! +There was "water, water everywhere," but not a tree would grow. + +Will visited his old Kansas home, and the sight of tall and stately +trees filled him with a desire to transport some of this beauty +to his Nebraska ranch. + +"I'd give five hundred dollars," said he, "for every tree I +had like that in Nebraska!" + +Impressed by the proprietor's enthusiasm for arboreal development, +Mr. Goodman began investigation and experiment. It took him but a +short time to acquire a knowledge of the deficiencies of the soil, +and this done, the bigger half of the problem was solved. + +Indian legend tells us that this part of our country was once an inland sea. +There is authority for the statement that to-day it is a vast +subterranean reservoir, and the conditions warrant the assertion. +The soil in all the region has a depth only of from one to three feet, +while underlying the shallow arable deposit is one immense bedrock, +varying in thickness, the average being from three to six feet. +Everywhere water may be tapped by digging through the thin soil and +boring through the rock formation. The country gained its reputation +as a desert, not from lack of moisture, but from lack of soil. +In the pockets of the foothills, where a greater depth of soil had accumulated +from the washings of the slopes above, beautiful little groves of trees +might be found, and the islands of the Platte River were heavily wooded. +Everywhere else was a treeless waste. + +The philosophy of the transformation from sea to plain +is not fully understood. The most tenable theory yet +advanced is that the bedrock is an alkaline deposit, left by +the waters in a gradually widening and deepening margin. +On this the prairie wind sifted its accumulation of dust, +and the rain washed down its quota from the bank above. +In the slow process of countless years the rock formation +extended over the whole sea; the alluvial deposit deepened; +seeds lodged in it, and the buffalo-grass and sage-brush began +to grow, their yearly decay adding to the ever-thickening +layer of soil. + +Having learned the secret of the earth, Mr. Goodman devoted himself +to the study of the trees. He investigated those varieties +having lateral roots, to determine which would flourish best in a +shallow soil. He experimented, he failed, and he tried again. +All things come round to him who will but work. Many experiments +succeeded the first, and many failures followed in their train. +But at last, like Archimedes, he could cry "Eureka! I have found it!" +In a very short time he had the ranch charmingly laid out with rows +of cottonwoods, box-elder, and other members of the tree family. +The ranch looked like an oasis in the desert, and neighbors inquired into +the secret of the magic that had worked so marvelous a transformation. +The streets of North Platte are now beautiful with trees, and adjoining +farms grow many more. It is "Scout's Rest Ranch," however, that is +pointed out with pride to travelers on the Union Pacific Railroad. + +Mindful of his resolve to one day have a residence in North Platte, Will +purchased the site on which his first residence was erected. +His family had sojourned in Rochester for several years, +and when they returned to the West the new home was built according +to the wishes and under the supervision of the wife and mother. +To the dwelling was given the name "Welcome Wigwam." + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +LITERARY WORK. + +IT was during this period of his life that my brother's first literary venture +was made. As the reader has seen, his school-days were few in number, +and as he told Mr. Majors, in signing his first contract with him, +he could use a rifle better than a pen. A life of constant action on +the frontier does not leave a man much time for acquiring an education; +so it is no great wonder that the first sketch Will wrote for publication +was destitute of punctuation and short of capitals in many places. +His attention was directed to these shortcomings, but Western life had +cultivated a disdain for petty things. + +"Life is too short," said he, "to make big letters when small ones will do; +and as for punctuation, if my readers don't know enough to take their breath +without those little marks, they'll have to lose it, that's all." + +But in spite of his jesting, it was characteristic of him +that when he undertook anything he wished to do it well. +He now had leisure for study, and he used it to such good advantage +that he was soon able to send to the publishers a clean manuscript, +grammatical, and well spelled, capitalized, and punctuated. +The publishers appreciated the improvement, though they had sought +after his work in its crude state, and paid good prices for it. + +Our author would never consent to write anything except actual scenes +from border life. As a sop to the Cerberus of sensationalism, +he did occasionally condescend to heighten his effects by exaggeration. +In sending one story to the publisher he wrote: + +"I am sorry to have to lie so outrageously in this yarn. My hero has +killed more Indians on one war-trail than I have killed in all my life. +But I understand this is what is expected in border tales. +If you think the revolver and bowie-knife are used too freely, +you may cut out a fatal shot or stab wherever you deem it wise." + +Even this story, which one accustomed to border life confessed +to be exaggerated, fell far short of the sensational and +blood-curdling tales usually written, and was published exactly +as the author wrote it. + +During the summer of 1877 I paid a visit to our relatives +in Westchester, Pennsylvania. My husband had lost all his wealth +before his death, and I was obliged to rely upon my brother for support. +To meet a widespread demand, Will this summer wrote his autobiography. +It was published at Hartford, Connecticut, and I, anxious to do something +for myself, took the general agency of the book for the state of Ohio, +spending a part of the summer there in pushing its sale. But I soon +tired of a business life, and turning over the agency to other hands, +went from Cleveland to visit Will at his new home in North Platte, +where there were a number of other guests at the time. + +Besides his cattle-ranch in the vicinity of North Platte, Will had another +ranch on the Dismal River, sixty-five miles north, touching the Dakota line. +One day he remarked to us: + +"I'm sorry to leave you to your own resources for a few days, +but I must take a run up to my ranch on Dismal River." + +Not since our early Kansas trip had I had an experience in camping out, +and in those days I was almost too young to appreciate it; but it had left +me with a keen desire to try it again. + +"Let us all go with you, Will," I exclaimed. "We can camp out on the road." + +Our friends added their approval, and Will fell in with the +suggestion at once. + +"There's no reason why you can't go if you wish to," said he. +Will owned numerous conveyances, and was able to provide ways and +means to carry us all comfortably. Lou and the two little girls, +Arta and Orra, rode in an open phaeton. There were covered carriages, +surreys, and a variety of turn-outs to transport the invited guests. +Several prominent citizens of North Platte were invited to join the party, +and when our arrangements were completed we numbered twenty-five. + +Will took a caterer along, and made ample provisions for the inner +man and woman. We knew, from long experience, that a camping trip +without an abundance of food is rather a dreary affair. + +All of us except Will were out for pleasure solely, and we found time +to enjoy ourselves even during the first day's ride of twenty-five miles. +As we looked around at the new and wild scenes while the tents were pitched +for the night, Will led the ladies of the party to a tree, saying: + +"You are the first white women whose feet have trod this region. +Carve your names here, and celebrate the event." + +After a good night's rest and a bounteous breakfast, we set +out in high spirits, and were soon far out in the foothills. + +One who has never seen these peculiar formations can have but +little idea of them. On every side, as far as the eye can see, +undulations of earth stretch away like the waves of the ocean, +and on them no vegetation flourishes save buffalo-grass, +sage-brush, and the cactus, blooming but thorny. + +The second day I rode horseback, in company with Will and one or two +others of the party, over a constant succession of hill and vale; +we mounted an elevation and descended its farther side, only to be +confronted by another hill. The horseback party was somewhat +in advance of those in carriages. + +From the top of one hill Will scanned the country with his +field-glass, and remarked that some deer were headed our way, +and that we should have fresh venison for dinner. +He directed us to ride down into the valley and tarry there, +so that we might not startle the timid animals, while he +continued part way up the hill and halted in position to get +a good shot at the first one that came over the knoll. +A fawn presently bounded into view, and Will brought his rifle +to his shoulder; but much to our surprise, instead of firing, +dropped the weapon to his side. Another fawn passed him before +he fired, and as the little creature fell we rode up to Will +and began chaffing him unmercifully, one gentleman remarking: + +"It is difficult to believe we are in the presence of the crack +shot of America, when we see him allow two deer to pass by before +he brings one down." + +But to the laughing and chaffing Will answered not a word, and recalling +the childish story I had heard of his buck fever, I wondered if, at this +late date, it were possible for him to have another attack of that kind. +The deer was handed over to the commissary department, and we rode on. + +"Will, what was the matter with you just now?" I asked him, privately. +"Why didn't you shoot that first deer; did you have another attack like you +had when you were a little boy?" + +He rode along in silence for a few moments, and then turned to me +with the query: + +"Did you ever look into a deer's eyes?" And as I replied that I +had not, he continued: + +"Every one has his little weakness; mine is a deer's eye. +I don't want you to say anything about it to your friends, +for they would laugh more than ever, but the fact is I have +never yet been able to shoot a deer if it looked me in the eye. +With a buffalo, or a bear, or an Indian, it is different. +But a deer has the eye of a trusting child, soft, gentle, and confiding. +No one but a brute could shoot a deer if he caught that look. +The first that came over the knoll looked straight at me; +I let it go by, and did not look at the second until I was sure +it had passed me." + +He seemed somewhat ashamed of his soft-heartedness; yet to me +it was but one of many little incidents that revealed a side +of his nature the rough life of the frontier had not corrupted. + +Will expected to reach the Dismal River on the third day, and at noon of it +he remarked that he had better ride ahead and give notice of our coming, +for the man who looked after the ranch had his wife with him, and she would +likely be dismayed at the thought of preparing supper for so large a crowd +on a minute's notice. + +Sister Julia's son, Will Goodman, a lad of fifteen, was of our party, +and he offered to be the courier. + +"Are you sure you know the way?" asked his uncle. + +"Oh, yes," was the confident response; "you know I have been +over the road with you before, and I know just how to go." + +"Well, tell me how you would go." + +Young Will described the trail so accurately that his uncle concluded +it would be safe for him to undertake the trip, and the lad rode ahead, +happy and important. + +It was late in the afternoon when we reached the ranch; +and the greeting of the overseer was: + +"Well, well; what's all this?" + +"Didn't you know we were coming?" asked Will, quickly. +"Hasn't Will Goodman been here?" The ranchman shook his head. + +"Haven't seen him, sir," he replied, "since he was here with you before." + +"Well, he'll be along," said Will, quietly; but I detected +a ring of anxiety in his voice. "Go into the house and make +yourselves comfortable," he added. "It will be some time +before a meal can be prepared for such a supper party." +We entered the house, but he remained outside, and mounting the stile +that served as a gate, examined the nearer hills with his glass. +There was no sign of Will, Jr.; so the ranchman was directed to +dispatch five or six men in as many directions to search for the boy, +and as they hastened away on their mission Will remained on the stile, +running his fingers every few minutes through the hair over +his forehead--a characteristic action with him when worried. +Thinking I might reassure him, I came out and chided him gently +for what I was pleased to regard as his needless anxiety. +It was impossible for Willie to lose his way very long, +I explained, without knowing anything about my subject. +"See how far you can look over these hills. It is not as if +he were in the woods," said I. + +Will looked at me steadily and pityingly for a moment. +"Go back in the house, Nell," said he, with a touch of impatience; +"you don't know what you are talking about." + +That was true enough, but when I returned obediently to the house +I repeated my opinion that worry over the absent boy was needless, +for it would be difficult, I declared, for one to lose himself +where the range of vision was so extensive as it was from the top +of one of these foothills. + +"But suppose," said one of the party, "that you were in the valley behind +one of the foothills--what then?" + +This led to an animated discussion as to the danger of getting lost +in this long-range locality, and in the midst of it Will walked in, +his equanimity quite restored. + +"It's all right," said he; "I can see the youngster coming along." + +We flocked to the stile, and discovered a moving speck in the distance. +Looked at through the field-glasses, it proved to be the belated courier. +Then we appealed to Will to settle the question that had +been under discussion. + +"Ladies and gentlemen," he answered, impressively, "if one of you were lost +among these foothills, and a whole regiment started out in search of you, +the chances are ten to one that you would starve to death, to say the least, +before you could be found." + +To find the way with ease and locate the trail unerringly +over an endless and monotonous succession of hills +identical in appearance is an ability the Indian possesses, +but few are the white men that can imitate the aborigine. +I learned afterward that it was accounted one of Will's great +accomplishments as a scout that he was perfectly at home among +the frozen waves of the prairie ocean. + +When the laggard arrived, and was pressed for particulars, he declared +he had traveled eight or ten miles when he found that he was off the trail. +"I thought I was lost," said he; "but after considering the matter I +decided that I had one chance--that was to go back over my own tracks. +The marks of my horse's hoofs led me out on the main trail, and your tracks +were so fresh that I had no further trouble." + +"Pretty good," said Will, patting the boy's shoulder. "Pretty good. +You have some of the Cody blood in you, that's plain." + +The next day was passed in looking over the ranch, and the day +following we visited, at Will's solicitation, a spot that +he had named "The Garden of the Gods." Our thoughtful host +had sent ranchmen ahead to prepare the place for our reception, +and we were as surprised and delighted as he could desire. +A patch on the river's brink was filled with tall and stately +trees and luxuriant shrubs, laden with fruits and flowers, +while birds of every hue nested and sang about us. +It was a miniature paradise in the midst of a desert of sage-brush +and buffalo-grass. The interspaces of the grove were covered +with rich green grass, and in one of these nature-carpeted +nooks the workmen, under Will's direction, had put up an arbor, +with rustic seats and table. Herein we ate our luncheon, +and every sense was pleasured. + +As it was not likely that the women of the party would ever +see the place again, so remote was it from civilization, +belonging to the as yet uninhabited part of the Western plains, +we decided to explore it, in the hope of finding something +that would serve as a souvenir. We had not gone far when we +found ourselves out of Eden and in the desert that surrounded it, +but it was the desert that held our great discovery. +On an isolated elevation stood a lone, tall tree, in the topmost +branches of which reposed what seemed to be a large package. +As soon as our imaginations got fairly to work the package +became the hidden treasure of some prairie bandit, +and while two of the party returned for our masculine forces +the rest of us kept guard over the cachet in the treetop. +Will came up with the others, and when we pointed out to him +the supposed chest of gold he smiled, saying that he was sorry +to dissipate the hopes which the ladies had built in the tree, +but that they were not gazing upon anything of intrinsic value, +but on the open sepulcher of some departed brave. +"It is a wonder," he remarked, laughingly, "you women didn't +catch on to the skeleton in that closet." + +As we retraced our steps, somewhat crestfallen, we listened to the tale +of another of the red man's superstitions. + +When some great chief, who particularly distinguishes himself on the +war-path, loses his life on the battle-field without losing his scalp, +he is regarded as especially favored by the Great Spirit. A more exalted +sepulcher than mother earth is deemed fitting for such a warrior. +Accordingly he is wrapped in his blanket-shroud, and, in his war paint +and feathers and with his weapons by his side, he is placed in the top +of the highest tree in the neighborhood, the spot thenceforth being sacred +against intrusion for a certain number of moons. At the end of that period +messengers are dispatched to ascertain if the remains have been disturbed. +If they have not, the departed is esteemed a spirit chief, who, in the happy +hunting-grounds, intercedes for and leads on to sure victory the warriors +who trusted to his leadership in the material world. + +We bade a reluctant adieu to the idyllic retreat, and threw it many a backward +glance as we took our way over the desert that stretched between us and +the ranch. Here another night was passed, and then we set out for home. +The brief sojourn "near to Nature's heart" had been a delightful experience, +holding for many of us the charm of novelty, and for all recreation +and pleasant comradeship. + +With the opening of the theatrical season Will returned to the stage, +and his histrionic career continued for five years longer. +As an actor he achieved a certain kind of success. +He played in every large city of the United States, always to +crowded houses, and was everywhere received with enthusiasm. +There was no doubt of his financial success, whatever criticisms +might be passed on the artistic side of his performance. +It was his personality and reputation that interested his audiences. +They did not expect the art of Sir Henry Irving, and you may +be sure that they did not receive it. + +Will never enjoyed this part of his career; he endured it simply because +it was the means to an end. He had not forgotten his boyish dream-- +his resolve that he would one day present to the world an exhibition +that would give a realistic picture of life in the Far West, +depicting its dangers and privations, as well as its picturesque phases. +His first theatrical season had shown him how favorably such an exhibition +would be received, and his long-cherished ambition began to take shape. +He knew that an enormous amount of money would be needed, and to acquire +such a sum he lived for many years behind the footlights. + +I was present in a Leavenworth theater during one of his last performances-- +one in which he played the part of a loving swain to a would-be +charming lassie. When the curtain fell on the last act I went behind +the scenes, in company with a party of friends, and congratulated +the star upon his excellent acting. + +"Oh, Nellie," he groaned, "don't say anything about it. +If heaven will forgive me this foolishness, I promise to quit +it forever when this season is over." + +That was the way he felt about the stage, so far as his part +in it was concerned. He was a fish out of water The feeble +pretensions to a stern reality, and the mock dangers exploited, +could not but fail to seem trivial to one who had lived +the very scenes depicted. + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +FIRST VISIT TO THE VALLEY OF THE BIG HORN. + +MY brother was again bereaved in 1880 by the death of his little +daughter Orra. At her own request, Orra's body was interred in Rochester, +in beautiful Mount Hope Cemetery, by the side of little Kit Carson. + +But joy follows upon sadness, and the summer before Will spent his last +season on the stage was a memorable one for him. It marked the birth +of another daughter, who was christened Irma. This daughter is the very +apple of her father's eye; to her he gives the affection that is her due, +and round her clings the halo of the tender memories of the other two +that have departed this life. + +This year, 1882, was also the one in which Will paid his first visit +to the valley of the Big Horn. He had often traversed the outskirts +of that region, and heard incredible tales from Indians and trappers +of its wonders and beauties, but he had yet to explore it himself. +In his early experience as Pony Express rider, California Joe had +related to him the first story he had heard of the enchanted basin, +and in 1875, when he was in charge of a large body of Arapahoe Indians +that had been permitted to leave their reservation for a big hunt, +he obtained more details. + +The agent warned Will that some of the Indians were dissatisfied, +and might attempt to escape, but to all appearances, +though he watched them sharply, they were entirely content. +Game was plentiful, the weather fine, and nothing seemed omitted +from the red man's happiness. + +One night about twelve o'clock Will was aroused by an Indian guide, +who informed him that a party of some two hundred Arapahoes had +started away some two hours before, and were on a journey northward. +The red man does not wear his heart upon his sleeve for government daws +to peck at. One knows what he proposes to do after he has done it. +The red man is conspicuously among the things that are not always +what they seem. + +Pursuit was immediately set on foot, and the entire body +of truant warriors were brought back without bloodshed. +One of them, a young warrior, came to Will's tent to beg for tobacco. +The Indian--as all know who have made his acquaintance-- +has no difficulty in reconciling begging with his native dignity. +To work may be beneath him, to beg is a different matter, +and there is frequently a delightful hauteur about his mendicancy. +In this respect he is not unlike some of his white brothers. +Will gave the young chief the desired tobacco, and then questioned +him closely concerning the attempted escape. + +"Surely," said he, "you cannot find a more beautiful spot than this. +The streams are full of fish, the grazing is good, the game is plentiful, +and the weather is fine. What more could you desire?" + +The Indian drew himself up. His face grew eager, and his eyes +were full of longing as he answered, by the interpreter: + +"The land to the north and west is the land of plenty. +There the buffalo grows larger; and his coat is darker. +There the bu-yu (antelope) comes in droves, while here there +are but few. There the whole region is covered with the short, +curly grass our ponies like. There grow the wild plums that are +good for my people in summer and winter. There are the springs +of the Great Medicine Man, Tel-ya-ki-y. To bathe in them gives +new life; to drink them cures every bodily ill. + +"In the mountains beyond the river of the blue water there +is gold and silver, the metals that the white man loves. +There lives the eagle, whose feathers the Indian must have +to make his war-bonnet. There, too, the sun shines always. + +"It is the Ijis (heaven) of the red man. My heart cries for it. +The hearts of my people are not happy when away from the Eithity Tugala." + +The Indian folded his arms across his breast, and his eyes looked +yearningly toward the country whose delights he had so vividly pictured; +then he turned and walked sorrowfully away. The white man's +government shut him out from the possession of his earthly paradise. +Will learned upon further inquiry that Eithity Tugala was the Indian +name of the Big Horn Basin. + +In the summer of 1882 Will's party of exploration left the cars +at Cheyenne, and struck out from this point with horses and pack-mules. +Will's eyes becoming inflamed, he was obliged to bandage them, and turn +the guidance of the party over to a man known as "Ready." For days +he traveled in a blinded state, and though his eyes slowly bettered, +he did not remove the bandage until the Big Horn Basin was reached. +They had paused for the midday siesta, and Reddy inquired whether it +would not be safe to uncover the afflicted eyes, adding that he thought +Will "would enjoy looking around a bit." + +Off came the bandage, and I shall quote Will's own words to describe +the scene that met his delighted gaze: + +"To my right stretched a towering range of snow-capped mountains, +broken here and there into minarets, obelisks, and spires. +Between me and this range of lofty peaks a long irregular line +of stately cottonwoods told me a stream wound its way beneath. +The rainbow-tinted carpet under me was formed of innumerable +brilliant-hued wild flowers; it spread about me in every direction, +and sloped gracefully to the stream. Game of every kind +played on the turf, and bright-hued birds flitted over it. +It was a scene no mortal can satisfactorily describe. +At such a moment a man, no matter what his creed, sees the hand +of the mighty Maker of the universe majestically displayed +in the beauty of nature; he becomes sensibly conscious, too, +of his own littleness. I uttered no word for very awe; +I looked upon one of nature's masterpieces. + +"Instantly my heart went out to my sorrowful Arapahoe friend of 1875. +He had not exaggerated; he had scarcely done the scene justice. +He spoke of it as the Ijis, the heaven of the red man. I regarded it then, +and still regard it, as the Mecca of all appreciative humanity." + +To the west of the Big Horn Basin, Hart Mountain rises abruptly +from the Shoshone River. It is covered with grassy slopes and +deep ravines; perpendicular rocks of every hue rise in various +places and are fringed with evergreens. Beyond this mountain, +in the distance, towers the hoary head of Table Mountain. Five miles +to the southwest the mountains recede some distance from the river, +and from its bank Castle Rock rises in solitary grandeur. +As its name indicates, it has the appearance of a castle, +with towers, turrets, bastions, and balconies. + +Grand as is the western view, the chief beauty lies in the south. +Here the Carter Mountain lies along the entire distance, and the grassy +spaces on its side furnish pasturage for the deer, antelope, and mountain +sheep that abound in this favored region. Fine timber, too, grows on its +rugged slopes; jagged, picturesque rock-forms are seen in all directions, +and numerous cold springs send up their welcome nectar. + +It is among the foothills nestling at the base of this mountain +that Will has chosen the site of his future permanent residence. +Here there are many little lakes, two of which are named Irma +and Arta, in honor of his daughters. Here he owns a ranch of forty +thousand acres, but the home proper will comprise a tract of four +hundred and eighty acres. The two lakes referred to are in this tract, +and near them Will proposes to erect a palatial residence. +To him, as he has said, it is the Mecca of earth, and thither +he hastens the moment he is free from duty and obligation. +In that enchanted region he forgets for a little season the cares +and responsibilities of life. + +A curious legend is told of one of the lakes that lie on the border +of this valley. It is small--half a mile long and a quarter wide-- +but its depth is fathomless. It is bordered and shadowed +by tall and stately pines, quaking-asp and birch trees, +and its waters are pure and ice-cold the year round. +They are medicinal, too, and as yet almost unknown to white men. +Will heard the legend of the lake from the lips of an +old Cheyenne warrior. + +"It was the custom of my tribe," said the Indian, "to assemble around this +lake once every month, at the hour of midnight, when the moon is at its full. +Soon after midnight a canoe filled with the specters of departed Cheyenne +warriors shot out from the eastern side of the lake and crossed rapidly +to the western border; there it suddenly disappeared. + +"Never a word or sound escaped from the specters in the canoe. +They sat rigid and silent, and swiftly plied their oars. +All attempts to get a word from them were in vain. + +"So plainly were the canoe and its occupants seen that the features +of the warriors were readily distinguished, and relatives and +friends were recognized." + +For years, according to the legend, the regular monthly trip was made, +and always from the eastern to the western border of the lake. +In 1876 it suddenly ceased, and the Indians were much alarmed. +A party of them camped on the bank of the lake, and watchers +were appointed for every night. It was fancied that the +ghostly boatmen had changed the date of their excursion. +But in three months there was no sign of canoe or canoeists, +and this was regarded as an omen of evil. + +At a council of the medicine men, chiefs, and wiseacres of the tribe it +was decided that the canoeing trip had been a signal from the Great Spirit-- +the canoe had proceeded from east to west, the course always followed +by the red man. The specters had been sent from the Happy Hunting-Grounds +to indicate that the tribe should move farther west, and the sudden +disappearance of the monthly signal was augured to mean the extinction +of the race. + +Once when Will was standing on the border of this lake a Sioux +warrior came up to him. This man was unusually intelligent, +and desired that his children should be educated. +He sent his two sons to Carlisle, and himself took great pains +to learn the white man's religious beliefs, though he still +clung to his old savage customs and superstitions. +A short time before he talked with Will large companies of Indians +had made pilgrimages to join one large conclave, for the purpose +of celebrating the Messiah, or "Ghost Dance." Like all +religious celebrations among savage people, it was accompanied +by the grossest excesses and most revolting immoralities. +As it was not known what serious happening these large gatherings +might portend, the President, at the request of many people, +sent troops to disperse the Indians. The Indians resisted, +and blood was spilled, among the slain being the sons of the Indian +who stood by the side of the haunted lake. + +"It is written in the Great Book of the white man," said the old chief +to Will, "that the Great Spirit--the Nan-tan-in-chor--is to come to him again +on earth. The white men in the big villages go to their council-lodges +(churches) and talk about the time of his coming. Some say one time, +some say another, but they all know the time will come, for it is written +in the Great Book. It is the great and good among the white men that go +to these council-lodges, and those that do not go say, `It is well; +we believe as they believe; He will come.' It is written in the Great Book +of the white man that all the human beings on earth are the children +of the one Great Spirit. He provides and cares for them. All he asks +in return is that his children obey him, that they be good to one another, +that they judge not one another, and that they do not kill or steal. +Have I spoken truly the words of the white man's Book?" + +Will bowed his head, somewhat surprised at the tone of the old +chief's conversation. The other continued: + +"The red man, too, has a Great Book. You have never seen it; +no white man has ever seen it; it is hidden here." He pressed his hand +against his heart. "The teachings of the two books are the same. +What the Great Spirit says to the white man, the Nan-tan-in-chor +says to the red man. We, too, go to our council-lodges to talk of +the second coming. We have our ceremony, as the white man has his. +The white man is solemn, sorrowful; the red man is happy and glad. +We dance and are joyful, and the white man sends soldiers to shoot us down. +Does their Great Spirit tell them to do this? + +"In the big city (Washington) where I have been, there is another +big book (the Federal Constitution), which says the white man +shall not interfere with the religious liberty of another. +And yet they come out to our country and kill us when we show +our joy to Nan-tan-in-chor. + +"We rejoice over his second coming; the white man mourns, but he sends +his soldiers to kill us in our rejoicing. Bah! The white man is false. +I return to my people, and to the customs and habits of my forefathers. +I am an Indian!" + +The old chief strode away with the dignity of a red Caesar, and Will, +alone by the lake, reflected that every question has two sides to it. +The one the red man has held in the case of the commonwealth versus +the Indian has ever been the tragic side. + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +TOUR OF GREAT BRITAIN. + +IT was not until the spring of 1883 that Will was able to put into execution +his long-cherished plan--to present to the public an exhibition which should +delineate in throbbing and realistic color, not only the wild life of America, +but the actual history of the West, as it was lived for, fought for, died for, +by Indians, pioneers, and soldiers. + +The wigwam village; the Indian war-dance; the chant to the Great Spirit +as it was sung over the plains; the rise and fall of the famous tribes; +the "Forward, march!" of soldiers, and the building of frontier posts; +the life of scouts and trappers; the hunt of the buffalo; the coming of +the first settlers; their slow, perilous progress in the prairie schooners +over the vast and desolate plains; the period of the Deadwood stage and +the Pony Express; the making of homes in the face of fire and Indian massacre; +United States cavalry on the firing-line, "Death to the Sioux!"--these are +the great historic pictures of the Wild West, stirring, genuine, heroic. + +It was a magnificent plan on a magnificent scale, and it achieved +instant success. The adventurous phases of Western life never fail +to quicken the pulse of the East. + +An exhibition which embodied so much of the historic and picturesque, +which resurrected a whole half-century of dead and dying events, +events the most thrilling and dramatic in American history, +naturally stirred up the interest of the entire country. +The actors, too, were historic characters--no weakling imitators, +but men of sand and grit, who had lived every inch of the +life they pictured. + +The first presentation was given in May, 1883, at Omaha, Nebraska, +the state Will had chosen for his home. Since then it has visited +nearly every large city on the civilized globe, and has been viewed +by countless thousands--men, women, and children of every nationality. +It will long hold a place in history. + +The "grand entrance" alone has never failed to chain the interest +of the onlooker. The furious galloping of the Indian braves-- +Sioux, Arapahoe, Brule, and Cheyenne, all in war paint +and feathers; the free dash of the Mexicans and cowboys, +as they follow the Indians into line at break-neck speed; +the black-bearded Cossacks of the Czar's light cavalry; +the Riffian Arabs on their desert thoroughbreds; a cohort from the +"Queen's Own" Lancers; troopers from the German Emperor's bodyguard; +chasseurs and cuirassiers from the crack cavalry regiments +of European standing armies; detachments from the United States +cavalry and artillery; South American gauchos; Cuban veterans; +Porto Ricans; Hawaiians; again frontiersmen, rough riders, +Texas rangers--all plunging with dash and spirit into the open, +each company followed by its chieftain and its flag; forming into a +solid square, tremulous with color; then a quicker note to the music; +the galloping hoofs of another horse, the finest of them all, +and "Buffalo Bill," riding with the wonderful ease and stately +grace which only he who is "born to the saddle" can ever attain, +enters under the flash of the lime-light, and sweeping off +his sombrero, holds his head high, and with a ring of pride +in his voice, advances before his great audience and exclaims: + +"Ladies and gentlemen, permit me to introduce to you a congress +of the rough riders of the world." + +As a child I wept over his disregard of the larger sphere predicted by +the soothsayer; as a woman, I rejoice that he was true to his own ideals, +for he sits his horse with a natural grace much better suited to the saddle +than to the Presidential chair. + +From the very beginning the "Wild West" was an immense success. +Three years were spent in traveling over the United States; +then Will conceived the idea of visiting England, and exhibiting +to the mother race the wild side of the child's life. This plan +entailed enormous expense, but it was carried out successfully. + +Still true to the state of his adoption, Will chartered the steamer "State +of Nebraska," and on March 31, 1886 a living freight from the picturesque +New World began its voyage to the Old. + +At Gravesend, England, the first sight to meet the eyes of +the watchers on the steamer was a tug flying American colors. +Three ringing cheers saluted the beautiful emblem, and the band +on the tug responded with "The Star-Spangled Banner." Not to +be outdone, the cowboy band on the "State of Nebraska" +struck up "Yankee Doodle." The tug had been chartered by a +company of Englishmen for the purpose of welcoming the novel +American combination to British soil. + +When the landing was made, the members of the Wild West company +entered special coaches and were whirled toward London. Then even +the stolidity of the Indians was not proof against sights +so little resembling those to which they had been accustomed, +and they showed their pleasure and appreciation by frequent +repetition of the red man's characteristic grunt. + +Major John M. Burke had made the needed arrangements for +housing the big show, and preparations on a gigantic scale +were rapidly pushed to please an impatient London public. +More effort was made to produce spectacular effects +in the London amphitheater than is possible where a merely +temporary staging is erected for one day's exhibition. +The arena was a third of a mile in circumference, and provided +accommodation for forty thousand spectators. Here, as at Manchester, +where another great amphitheater was erected in the fall, +to serve as winter quarters, the artist's brush was called +on to furnish illusions. + +The English exhibited an eager interest in every feature +of the exhibition--the Indian war-dances, the bucking broncho, +speedily subjected by the valorous cowboy, and the stagecoach +attacked by Indians and rescued by United States troops. +The Indian village on the plains was also an object of dramatic +interest to the English public. The artist had counterfeited +the plains successfully. + +It is the hour of dawn. Scattered about the plains are various +wild animals. Within their tents the Indians are sleeping. +Sunrise, and a friendly Indian tribe comes to visit the wakening warriors. +A friendly dance is executed, at the close of which a courier +rushes in to announce the approach of a hostile tribe. +These follow almost at the courier's heels, and a sham battle occurs, +which affords a good idea of the barbarity of Indian warfare. +The victors celebrate their triumph with a wild war-dance. + +A Puritan scene follows. The landing of the Pilgrims is shown, +and the rescue of John Smith by Pocahontas. This affords opportunity +for delineating many interesting Indian customs on festive celebrations, +such as weddings and feast-days. + +Again the prairie. A buffalo-lick is shown. The shaggy monsters +come down to drink, and in pursuit of them is "Buffalo Bill," +mounted on his good horse "Charlie." He has been acting +as guide for an emigrant party, which soon appears. +Camp-fires are lighted, supper is eaten, and the camp sinks +into slumber with the dwindling of the fires. Then comes a fine +bit of stage illusion. A red glow is seen in the distance, +faint at first, but slowly deepening and broadening. +It creeps along the whole horizon, and the camp is awakened +by the alarming intelligence that the prairie is on fire. +The emigrants rush out, and heroically seek to fight back +the rushing, roaring flames. Wild animals, driven by +the flames, dash through the camp, and a stampede follows. +This scene was extremely realistic. + +A cyclone was also simulated, and a whole village blown out of existence. + +The "Wild West" was received with enthusiasm, not only by the +general public, but by royalty. Gladstone made a call upon Will, +in company with the Marquis of Lorne, and in return a lunch +was tendered to the "Grand Old Man" by the American visitors. +In an after-dinner speech, the English statesman spoke in the +warmest terms of America. He thanked Will for the good he was +doing in presenting to the English public a picture of the wild +life of the Western continent, which served to illustrate +the difficulties encountered by a sister nation in its onward +march of civilization. + +The initial performance was before a royal party comprising the Prince and +Princess of Wales and suite. At the close of the exhibition the royal guests, +at their own request, were presented to the members of the company. +Unprepared for this contingency, Will had forgotten to coach the performers +in the correct method of saluting royalty, and when the girl shots of +the company were presented to the Princess of Wales, they stepped forward +in true democratic fashion and cordially offered their hands to the lovely +woman who had honored them. + +According to English usage, the Princess extends the hand, palm down, +to favored guests, and these reverently touch the finger-tips and lift +the hand to their lips. Perhaps the spontaneity of the American girls' +welcome was esteemed a pleasing variety to the established custom. +At all events, her Highness, true to her breeding, appeared not +to notice any breach of etiquette, but took the proffered hands +and shook them cordially. + +The Indian camp was also visited, and Red Shirt, the great chief, was, +like every one else, delighted with the Princess. Through an interpreter +the Prince expressed his pleasure over the performance of the braves, +headed by their great chief, and the Princess bade him welcome +to England. Red Shirt had the Indian gift of oratory, and he replied, +in the unimpassioned speech for which the race is noted, that it made +his heart glad to hear such kind words from the Great White Chief +and his beautiful squaw. + +During the round the Prince stopped in at Will's private quarters, +and took much interest in his souvenirs, being especially pleased +with a magnificent gold-hilted sword, presented to Will by officers +of the United States army in recognition of his services as scout. + +This was not the only time the exhibition was honored by the visit +of royalty. That the Prince of Wales was sincere in his expression +of enjoyment of the exhibition was evidenced by the report +that he carried to his mother, and shortly afterward a command +came from Queen Victoria that the big show appear before her. +It was plainly impossible to take the "Wild West" to court; +the next best thing was to construct a special box for the use +of her Majesty. This box was placed upon a dais covered +with crimson velvet trimmings, and was superbly decorated. +When the Queen arrived and was driven around to the royal box, +Will stepped forward as she dismounted, and doffing his sombrero, +made a low courtesy to the sovereign lady of Great Britain. +"Welcome, your Majesty," said he, "to the Wild West of America!" + +One of the first acts in the performance is to carry the flag to the front. +This is done by a soldier, and is introduced to the spectators as an +emblem of a nation desirous of peace and friendship with all the world. +On this occasion it was borne directly before the Queen's box, +and dipped three times in honor of her Majesty. The action of +the Queen surprised the company and the vast throng of spectators. +Rising, she saluted the American flag with a bow, and her suite +followed her example, the gentlemen removing their hats. +Will acknowledged the courtesy by waving his sombrero about his head, +and his delighted company with one accord gave three ringing cheers +that made the arena echo, assuring the spectators of the healthy +condition of the lungs of the American visitors. + +The Queen's complaisance put the entire company on their mettle, +and the performance was given magnificently. At the close +Queen Victoria asked to have Will presented to her, and paid him +so many compliments as almost to bring a blush to his bronzed cheek. +Red Shirt was also presented, and informed her Majesty that he had come +across the Great Water solely to see her, and his heart was glad. +This polite speech discovered a streak in Indian nature that, +properly cultivated, would fit the red man to shine as a courtier +or politician. Red Shirt walked away with the insouciance +of a king dismissing an audience, and some of the squaws came +to display papooses to the Great White Lady. These children +of nature were not the least awed by the honor done them. +They blinked at her Majesty as if the presence of queens was +an incident of their everyday existence. + +A second command from the Queen resulted in another exhibition before a number +of her royal guests. The kings of Saxony, Denmark, and Greece, the Queen +of the Belgians, and the Crown Prince of Austria, with others of lesser rank, +illumined this occasion. + +The Deadwood coach was peculiarly honored. This is a coach +with a history. It was built in Concord, New Hampshire, and sent +to the Pacific Coast to run over a trail infested by road agents. +A number of times was it held up and the passengers robbed, and finally +both driver and passengers were killed and the coach abandoned on +the trail, as no one could be found who would undertake to drive it. +It remained derelict for a long time, but was at last brought into +San Francisco by an old stage-driver and placed on the Overland trail. +It gradually worked its way eastward to the Deadwood route, and on +this line figured in a number of encounters with Indians. Again were +driver and passengers massacred, and again was the coach abandoned. +Will ran across it on one of his scouting expeditions, and recognizing +its value as an adjunct to his exhibition, purchased it. +Thereafter the tragedies it figured in were of the mock variety. + +One of the incidents of the Wild West, as all remember, is an Indian +attack on the Deadwood coach. The royal visitors wished to put themselves +in the place of the traveling public in the Western regions of America; +so the four potentates of Denmark, Saxony, Greece, and Austria became +the passengers, and the Prince of Wales sat on the box with Will. The Indians +had been secretly instructed to "whoop 'em up" on this interesting occasion, +and they followed energetically the letter of their instructions. +The coach was surrounded by a demoniac band, and the blank cartridges +were discharged in such close proximity to the coach windows that the +passengers could easily imagine themselves to be actual Western travelers. +Rumor hath it that they sought refuge under the seats, and probably no +one would blame them if they did; but it is only rumor, and not history. + +When the wild ride was over, the Prince of Wales, who admires the American +national game of poker, turned to the driver with the remark: + +"Colonel, did you ever hold four kings like that before?" + +"I have held four kings more than once," was the prompt reply; +"but, your Highness, I never held four kings and the royal joker before." + +The Prince laughed heartily; but Will's sympathy went out to him +when he found that he was obliged to explain his joke in four +different languages to the passengers. + +In recognition of this performance, the Prince of Wales sent +Will a handsome souvenir. It consisted of his feathered crest, +outlined in diamonds, and bearing the motto "_Ich dien_," +worked in jewels underneath. An accompanying note expressed +the pleasure of the royal visitors over the novel exhibition. + +Upon another occasion the Princess of Wales visited the show incognito, +first advising Will of her intention; and at the close of the performance +assured him that she had spent a delightful evening. + +The set performances of the "Wild West" were punctuated by +social entertainments. James G. Blaine, Chauncey M. Depew, Murat Halstead, +and other prominent Americans were in London at the time, and in their honor +Will issued invitations to a rib-roast breakfast prepared in Indian style. +Fully one hundred guests gathered in the "Wild West's" dining-tent at nine +o'clock of June 10, 1887. Besides the novel decorations of the tent, +it was interesting to watch the Indian cooks putting the finishing +touches to their roasts. A hole had been dug in the ground, a large +tripod erected over it, and upon this the ribs of beef were suspended. +The fire was of logs, burned down to a bed of glowing coals, and over these +the meat was turned around and around until it was cooked to a nicety. +This method of open-air cooking over wood imparts to the meat a flavor +that can be given to it in no other way. + +The breakfast was unconventional. Part of the bill of fare +was hominy, "Wild West" pudding, popcorn, and peanuts. +The Indians squatted on the straw at the end of the dining-tables, +and ate from their fingers or speared the meat with long white sticks. +The striking contrast of table manners was an interesting +object-lesson in the progress of civilization. + +The breakfast was a novelty to the Americans who partook of it, +and they enjoyed it thoroughly. + +Will was made a social lion during his stay in London, being dined +and feted upon various occasions. Only a man of the most rugged +health could have endured the strain of his daily performances +united with his social obligations. + +The London season was triumphantly closed with a meeting for the establishing +of a court of arbitration to settle disputes between America and England. + +After leaving the English metropolis the exhibition visited Birmingham, +and thence proceeded to its winter headquarters in Manchester. Arta, Will's +elder daughter, accompanied him to England, and made a Continental tour +during the winter. + +The sojourn in Manchester was another ovation. The prominent +men of the city proposed to present to Will a fine rifle, +and when the news of the plan was carried to London, a company +of noblemen, statesmen, and journalists ran down to Manchester +by special car. In acknowledgment of the honor done him, Will issued +invitations for another of his unique American entertainments. +Boston pork and beans, Maryland fried chicken, hominy, and popcorn +were served, and there were other distinctly American dishes. +An Indian rib-roast was served on tin plates, and the distinguished +guests enjoyed--or said they did--the novelty of eating it from +their fingers, in true aboriginal fashion. This remarkable meal +evoked the heartiest of toasts to the American flag, and a poem, +a parody on "Hiawatha," added luster to the occasion. + +The Prince of Wales was Grand Master of the Free Masons of England, +which order presented a gold watch to Will during his stay +in Manchester. The last performance in this city was given +on May 1, 1887, and as a good by to Will the spectators united +in a rousing chorus of "For he's a jolly good fellow!" +The closing exhibition of the English season occurred at Hull, +and immediately afterward the company sailed for home on +the "Persian Monarch." An immense crowd gathered on the quay, +and shouted a cordial "bon voyage." + +One sad event occurred on the homeward voyage, the death +of "Old Charlie," Will's gallant and faithful horse. + +He was a half-blood Kentucky horse, and had been Will's constant and unfailing +companion for many years on the plains and in the "Wild West." + +He was an animal of almost human intelligence, extraordinary speed, +endurance, and fidelity. When he was quite young Will rode him on a hunt +for wild horses, which he ran down after a chase of fifteen miles. +At another time, on a wager of five hundred dollars that he could ride +him over the prairie one hundred miles in ten hours, he went the distance +in nine hours and forty-five minutes. + +When the "Wild West" was opened at Omaha, Charlie was the star horse, +and held that position at all the exhibitions in this country and +in Europe. In London the horse attracted a full share of attention, +and many scions of royalty solicited the favor of riding him. +Grand Duke Michael of Russia rode Charlie several times in chase +of the herd of buffaloes in the "Wild West," and became quite +attached to him. + +On the morning of the 14th Will made his usual visit to Charlie, +between decks. Shortly after the groom reported him sick. +He grew rapidly worse, in spite of all the care he received, +and at two o'clock on the morning of the 17th he died. +His death cast an air of sadness over the whole ship, and no human +being could have had more sincere mourners than the faithful +and sagacious old horse. He was brought on deck wrapped in canvas +and covered with the American flag. When the hour for the ocean +burial arrived, the members of the company and others assembled +on deck. Standing alone with uncovered head beside the dead +was the one whose life the noble animal had shared so long. +At length, with choking utterance, Will spoke, and Charlie +for the first time failed to hear the familiar voice he had +always been so prompt to obey: + +"Old fellow, your journeys are over. Here in the ocean you must rest. +Would that I could take you back and lay you down beneath the billows +of that prairie you and I have loved so well and roamed so freely; +but it cannot be. How often at break of day, the glorious sun +rising on the horizon has found us far from human habitation! +Yet, obedient to my call, gladly you bore your burden on, little heeding +what the day might bring, so that you and I but shared its sorrows +and pleasures alike. You have never failed me. Ah, Charlie, old fellow, +I have had many friends, but few of whom I could say that. +Rest entombed in the deep bosom of the ocean! I'll never forget you. +I loved you as you loved me, my dear old Charlie. Men tell me you +have no soul; but if there be a heaven, and scouts can enter there, +I'll wait at the gate for you, old friend." + +On this homeward trip Will made the acquaintance of a clergyman returning +from a vacation spent in Europe. When they neared the American coast this +gentleman prepared a telegram to send to his congregation. It read simply: +"2 John i. 12." Chancing to see it, Will's interest was aroused, +and he asked the clergyman to explain the significance of the reference, +and when this was done he said: "I have a religious sister at home who knows +the Bible so well that I will wire her that message and she will not need +to look up the meaning." + +He duplicated to me, as his return greeting, the minister's +telegram to his congregation, but I did not justify his high +opinion of my Biblical knowledge. I was obliged to search +the Scriptures to unravel the enigma. As there may be others +like me, but who have not the incentive I had to look up +the reference, I quote from God's word the message I received: +"Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper +and ink; but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, +that our joy may be full." + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +RETURN OF THE "WILD WEST" TO AMERICA. + +WHEN the "Wild West" returned to America from its first venture +across seas, the sail up the harbor was described by the New York _World_ +in the following words: + + +"The harbor probably has never witnessed a more picturesque scene than +that of yesterday, when the `Persian Monarch' steamed up from quarantine. +Buffalo Bill stood on the captain's bridge, his tall and striking +figure clearly outlined, and his long hair waving in the wind; +the gayly painted and blanketed Indians leaned over the ship's rail; +the flags of all nations fluttered from the masts and connecting cables. +The cowboy band played `Yankee Doodle' with a vim and enthusiasm which +faintly indicated the joy felt by everybody connected with the `Wild West' +over the sight of home." + + +Will had been cordially welcomed by our English cousins, and had been +the recipient of many social favors, but no amount of foreign flattery could +change him one hair from an "American of the Americans," and he experienced +a thrill of delight as he again stepped foot upon his native land. +Shortly afterward he was much pleased by a letter from William T. Sherman-- +so greatly prized that it was framed, and now hangs on the wall of his +Nebraska home. Following is a copy: + +"FIFTH AVENUE HOTEL, NEW YORK. "COLONEL WM. F. CODY: + +"_Dear Sir_: In common with all your countrymen, I want to let you know +that I am not only gratified but proud of your management and success. +So far as I can make out, you have been modest, graceful, and dignified +in all you have done to illustrate the history of civilization on this +continent during the past century. I am especially pleased with the +compliment paid you by the Prince of Wales, who rode with you in the +Deadwood coach while it was attacked by Indians and rescued by cowboys. +Such things did occur in our days, but they never will again. + +"As nearly as I can estimate, there were in 1865 about nine +and one-half million of buffaloes on the plains between +the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains; all are now gone, +killed for their meat, their skins, and their bones. +This seems like desecration, cruelty, and murder, yet they +have been replaced by twice as many cattle. At that date there +were about 165,000 Pawnees, Sioux, Cheyennes, and Arapahoes, +who depended upon these buffaloes for their yearly food. +They, too, have gone, but they have been replaced by twice +or thrice as many white men and women, who have made +the earth to blossom as the rose, and who can be counted, +taxed, and governed by the laws of nature and civilization. +This change has been salutary, and will go on to the end. +You have caught one epoch of this country's history, +and have illustrated it in the very heart of the modern world-- +London, and I want you to feel that on this side of the water +we appreciate it. + +"This drama must end; days, years, and centuries follow fast; +even the drama of civilization must have an end. All I aim to accomplish +on this sheet of paper is to assure you that I fully recognize your work. +The presence of the Queen, the beautiful Princess of Wales, the Prince, +and the British public are marks of favor which reflect back on America sparks +of light which illuminate many a house and cabin in the land where once you +guided me honestly and faithfully, in 1865-66, from Fort Riley to Kearny, +in Kansas and Nebraska. + Sincerely your friend, + W. T. SHERMAN." + + +Having demonstrated to his satisfaction that the largest +measure of success lay in a stationary exhibition of his show, +where the population was large enough to warrant it, +Will purchased a tract of land on Staten Island, and here +he landed on his return from England. Teamsters for miles +around had been engaged to transport the outfit across +the island to Erastina, the site chosen for the exhibition. +And you may be certain that Cut Meat, American Bear, Flat Iron, +and the other Indians furnished unlimited joy to the ubiquitous +small boy, who was present by the hundreds to watch +the unloading scenes. + +The summer season at this point was a great success. +One incident connected with it may be worth the relating. + +Teachers everywhere have recognized the value of the "Wild West" +exhibition as an educator, and in a number of instances public schools +have been dismissed to afford the children an opportunity of attending +the entertainment. It has not, however, been generally recognized +as a spur to religious progress, yet, while at Staten Island, Will was +invited to exhibit a band of his Indians at a missionary meeting given +under the auspices of a large mission Sunday-school. He appeared +with his warriors, who were expected to give one of their religious +dances as an object-lesson in devotional ceremonials. + +The meeting was largely attended, and every one, children especially, +waited for the exercises in excited curiosity and interest. +Will sat on the platform with the superintendent, pastor, and others +in authority, and close by sat the band of stolid-faced Indians. + +The service began with a hymn and the reading of the Scriptures; +then, to Will's horror, the superintendent requested him to lead +the meeting in prayer. Perhaps the good man fancied that Will +for a score of years had fought Indians with a rifle in one hand and +a prayer-book in the other, and was as prepared to pray as to shoot. +At least he surely did not make his request with the thought +of embarrassing Will, though that was the natural result. +However, Will held holy things in deepest reverence; he had the spirit +of Gospel if not the letter; so, rising, he quietly and simply, +with bowed head, repeated the Lord's Prayer. + +A winter exhibition under roof was given in New York, after which the show +made a tour of the principal cities of the United States. Thus passed +several years, and then arrangements were made for a grand Continental trip. +A plan had been maturing in Will's mind ever since the British season, +and in the spring of 1889 it was carried into effect. + +The steamer "Persian Monarch" was again chartered, and this time +its prow was turned toward the shores of France. Paris was +the destination, and seven months were passed in the gay capital. +The Parisians received the show with as much enthusiasm +as did the Londoners, and in Paris as well as in the English +metropolis everything American became a fad during the stay +of the "Wild West." Even American books were read--a crucial test +of faddism; and American curios were displayed in all the shops. +Relics from American plain and mountain--buffalo-robes, bearskins, +buckskin suits embroidered with porcupine quills, Indian blankets, +woven mats, bows and arrows, bead-mats, Mexican bridles and saddles-- +sold like the proverbial hot cakes. + +In Paris, also, Will became a social favorite, and had he accepted a tenth +of the invitations to receptions, dinners, and balls showered upon him, +he would have been obliged to close his show. + +While in this city Will accepted an invitation from Rosa Bonheur +to visit her at her superb chateau, and in return for the honor +he extended to her the freedom of his stables, which contained +magnificent horses used for transportation purposes, and which +never appeared in the public performance--Percherons, of the breed +depicted by the famous artist in her well-known painting +of "The Horse Fair." Day upon day she visited the camp and +made studies, and as a token of her appreciation of the courtesy, +painted a picture of Will mounted on his favorite horse, +both horse and rider bedecked with frontier paraphernalia. +This souvenir, which holds the place of honor in his collection, +he immediately shipped home. + +The wife of a London embassy attache relates the following story: + +"During the time that Colonel Cody was making his triumphant +tour of Europe, I was one night seated at a banquet next to the +Belgian Consul. Early in the course of the conversation he asked: + +" `Madame, you haf undoubted been to see ze gr-rand Bouf-falo Beel?' + +"Puzzled by the apparently unfamiliar name, I asked: + +" `Pardon me, but whom did you say?' + +" `Vy, Bouf-falo Beel, ze famous Bouf-falo Beel, zat gr-reat countryman +of yours. You must know him.' + +"After a moment's thought, I recognized the well-known showman's +name in its disguise. I comprehended that the good Belgian thought +his to be one of America's most eminent names, to be mentioned +in the same breath with Washington and Lincoln." + +After leaving Paris, a short tour of Southern France was made, +and at Marseilles a vessel was chartered to transport the company +to Spain. The Spanish grandees eschewed their favorite amusement-- +the bull-fight--long enough to give a hearty welcome to the +"Wild West." Next followed a tour of Italy; and the visit to Rome +was the most interesting of the experiences in this country. + +The Americans reached the Eternal City at the time of Pope Leo's +anniversary celebration, and, on the Pope's invitation, +Will visited the Vatican. Its historic walls have rarely, +if ever, looked upon a more curious sight than was presented +when Will walked in, followed by the cowboys in their buckskins +and sombreros and the Indians in war paint and feathers. +Around them crowded a motley throng of Italians, clad in +the brilliant colors so loved by these children of the South, +and nearly every nationality was represented in the assemblage. + +Some of the cowboys and Indians had been reared in the Catholic faith, +and when the Pope appeared they knelt for his blessing. +He seemed touched by this action on the part of those whom +he might be disposed to regard as savages, and bending forward, +extended his hands and pronounced a benediction; then he passed on, +and it was with the greatest difficulty that the Indians were +restrained from expressing their emotions in a wild whoop. +This, no doubt, would have relieved them, but it would, +in all probability, have stampeded the crowd. + +When the Pope reached Will he looked admiringly upon the frontiersman. +The world-known scout bent his head before the aged "Medicine Man," +as the Indians call his reverence, the Papal blessing was again bestowed, +and the procession passed on. The Thanksgiving Mass, with its fine +choral accompaniment, was given, and the vast concourse of people poured +out of the building. + +This visit attracted much attention. + + "I'll take my stalwart Indian braves + Down to the Coliseum + And the old Romans from their graves + Will all arise to see 'em. + Praetors and censors will return + And hasten through the Forum + The ghostly Senate will adjourn + Because it lacks a quorum. + + "And up the ancient Appian Way + Will flock the ghostly legions + From Gaul unto Calabria, + And from remoter regions; + From British bay and wild lagoon, + And Libyan desert sandy, + They'll all come marching to the tune + Of `Yankee Doodle Dandy.' + + "Prepare triumphal cars for me, + And purple thrones to sit on, + For I've done more than Julius C.-- + He could not down the Briton! + Caesar and Cicero shall bow + And ancient warriors famous, + Before the myrtle-wreathed brow + Of Buffalo Williamus. + + "We march, unwhipped, through history-- + No bulwark can detain us-- + And link the age of Grover C. + And Scipio Africanus. + I'll take my stalwart Indian braves + Down to the Coliseum, + And the old Romans from their graves + Will all arise to see 'em." + + + +It may be mentioned in passing that Will had visited the Coliseum +with an eye to securing it as an amphitheater for the "Wild West" +exhibition, but the historic ruin was too dilapidated to be a safe +arena for such a purpose, and the idea was abandoned. + +The sojourn in Rome was enlivened by an incident that created +much interest among the natives. The Italians were somewhat +skeptical as to the abilities of the cowboys to tame wild horses, +believing the bronchos in the show were specially trained for +their work, and that the horse-breaking was a mock exhibition. + +The Prince of Sermonetta declared that he had some wild +horses in his stud which no cowboys in the world could ride. +The challenge was promptly taken up by the daring riders +of the plains, and the Prince sent for his wild steeds. +That they might not run amuck and injure the spectators, +specially prepared booths of great strength were erected. + +The greatest interest and enthusiasm were manifested by the populace, +and the death of two or three members of the company was as confidently +looked for as was the demise of sundry gladiators in the "brave +days of old." + +But the cowboys laughed at so great a fuss over so small a matter, +and when the horses were driven into the arena, and the spectators +held their breath, the cowboys, lassos in hand, awaited the work +with the utmost nonchalance. + +The wild equines sprang into the air, darted hither and thither, +and fought hard against their certain fate, but in less time +than would be required to give the details, the cowboys had flung +their lassos, caught the horses, and saddled and mounted them. +The spirited beasts still resisted, and sought in every way +to throw their riders, but the experienced plainsmen had them +under control in a very short time; and as they rode them +around the arena, the spectators rose and howled with delight. +The display of horsemanship effectually silenced the skeptics; +it captured the Roman heart, and the remainder of the stay +in the city was attended by unusual enthusiasm. + +Beautiful Florence, practical Bologna, and stately Milan, with its +many-spired cathedral, were next on the list for the triumphal march. +For the Venetian public the exhibition had to be given at Verona, +in the historic amphitheater built by Diocletian, A. D. '90. +This is the largest building in the world, and within the walls +of this representative of Old World civilization the difficulties +over which New World civilization had triumphed were portrayed. +Here met the old and new; hoary antiquity and bounding youth kissed +each other under the sunny Italian skies. + +The "Wild West" now moved northward, through the Tyrol, to Munich, +and from here the Americans digressed for an excursion on the "beautiful +blue Danube." Then followed a successful tour of Germany. + +During this Continental circuit Will's elder daughter, Arta, +who had accompanied him on his British expedition, was married. +It was impossible for the father to be present, but by cablegram +he sent his congratulations and check. + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +A TRIBUTE TO GENERAL MILES. + +IN view of the success achieved by my brother, it is remarkable +that he excited so little envy. Now for the first time in his life +he felt the breath of slander on his cheek, and it flushed hotly. +From an idle remark that the Indians in the "Wild West" +exhibition were not properly treated, the idle gossip grew +to the proportion of malicious and insistent slander. +The Indians being government wards, such a charge might easily +become a serious matter; for, like the man who beat his wife, +the government believes it has the right to maltreat the red man +to the top of its bent, but that no one else shall be allowed +to do so. + +A winter campaign of the "Wild West" had been contemplated, +but the project was abandoned and winter quarters decided on. +In the quaint little village of Benfield was an ancient nunnery +and a castle, with good stables. Here Will left the company in charge +of his partner, Mr. Nate Salisbury, and, accompanied by the Indians +for whose welfare he was responsible, set sail for America, +to silence his calumniators. + +The testimony of the red men themselves was all that was required to refute +the notorious untruths. Few had placed any belief in the reports, +and friendly commenters were also active. + +As the sequel proved, Will came home very opportunely. +The Sioux in Dakota were again on the war-path, and his help was needed +to subdue the uprising. He disbanded the warriors he had brought +back from Europe, and each returned to his own tribe and people, +to narrate around the camp-fire the wonders of the life abroad, +while Will reported at headquarters to offer his services for the war. +Two years previously he had been honored by the commission +of Brigadier-General of the Nebraska National Guard, which rank +and title were given to him by Governor Thayer. + +The officer in command of the Indian campaign was General Nelson A. Miles, +who has rendered so many important services to his country, +and who, as Commander-in-Chief of our army, played so large a part +in the recent war with Spain. At the time of the Indian uprising +he held the rank of Brigadier-General. + +This brilliant and able officer was much pleased when he learned that +he would have Will's assistance in conducting the campaign, for he knew +the value of his good judgment, cool head, and executive ability, +and of his large experience in dealing with Indians. + +The "Wild West," which had served as an educator to the people +of Europe in presenting the frontier life of America, +had quietly worked as important educational influences +in the minds of the Indians connected with the exhibition. +They had seen for themselves the wonders of the world's civilization; +they realized how futile were the efforts of the children of the +plains to stem the resistless tide of progress flowing westward. +Potentates had delighted to do honor to Pa-has-ka, the Long-haired Chief, +and in the eyes of the simple savage he was as powerful +as any of the great ones of earth. To him his word was law; +it seemed worse than folly for their brethren to attempt to cope +with so mighty a chief, therefore their influence was all for peace; +and the fact that so many tribes did not join in the uprising +may be attributed, in part, to their good counsel and advice. + +General Miles was both able and energetic, and managed +the campaign in masterly fashion. There were one or two +hard-fought battles, in one of which the great Sioux warrior, +Sitting Bull, the ablest that nation ever produced, was slain. +This Indian had traveled with Will for a time, but could not be +weaned from his loyalty to his own tribe and a desire to avenge +upon the white man the wrongs inflicted on his people. + +What promised at the outset to be a long and cruel frontier +war was speedily quelled. The death of Sitting Bull +had something to do with the termination of hostilities. +Arrangements for peace were soon perfected, and Will attributed +the government's success to the energy of its officer +in command, for whom he has a most enthusiastic admiration. +He paid this tribute to him recently: + +"I have been in many campaigns with General Miles, and a +better general and more gifted warrior I have never seen. +I served in the Civil War, and in any number of Indian wars; +I have been under at least a dozen generals, with whom I +have been thrown in close contact because of the nature +of the services which I was called upon to render. +General Miles is the superior of them all. + +"I have known Phil Sheridan, Tecumseh Sherman, Hancock, and all +of our noted Indian fighters. For cool judgment and thorough +knowledge of all that pertains to military affairs, none of them, +in my opinion, can be said to excel General Nelson A. Miles. + +"Ah, what a man he is! I know. We have been shoulder to shoulder +in many a hard march. We have been together when men find out +what their comrades really are. He is a man, every inch of him, +and the best general I ever served under." + +After Miles was put in command of the forces, a dinner was given +in his honor by John Chamberlin. Will was a guest and one of +the speakers, and took the opportunity to eulogize his old friend. +He dwelt at length on the respect in which the red men held the general, +and in closing said: + +"No foreign invader will ever set foot on these shores as long +as General Miles is at the head of the army. If they should-- +just call on me!" + +The speaker sat down amid laughter and applause. + +While Will was away at the seat of war, his beautiful home +in North Platte, "Welcome Wigwam," burned to the ground. +The little city is not equipped with much of a fire department, +but a volunteer brigade held the flames in check long enough +to save almost the entire contents of the house, among which were +many valuable and costly souvenirs that could never be replaced. + +Will received a telegram announcing that his house was ablaze, +and his reply was characteristic: + +"Save Rosa Bonheur's picture, and the house may go to blazes." + +When the frontier war was ended and the troops disbanded, +Will made application for another company of Indians to take +back to Europe with him. Permission was obtained from +the government, and the contingent from the friendly tribes +was headed by chiefs named Long Wolf, No Neck, Yankton Charlie, +and Black Heart. In addition to these a company was recruited +from among the Indians held as hostages by General Miles at +Fort Sheridan, and the leaders of these hostile braves were such +noted chiefs as Short Bull, Kicking Bear, Lone Bull, Scatter, +and Revenge. To these the trip to Alsace-Lorraine was a revelation, +a fairy-tale more wonderful than anything in their legendary lore. +The ocean voyage, with its seasickness, put them in an +ugly mood, but the sight of the encampment and the cowboys +dissipated their sullenness, and they shortly felt at home. +The hospitality extended to all the members of the company +by the inhabitants of the village in which they wintered was +most cordial, and left them the pleasantest of memories. + +An extended tour of Europe was fittingly closed by a brief +visit to England. The Britons gave the "Wild West" +as hearty a welcome as if it were native to their heath. +A number of the larger cities were visited, London being reserved +for the last. + +Royalty again honored the "Wild West" by its attendance, the Queen requesting +a special performance on the grounds of Windsor Castle. The requests of +the Queen are equivalent to commands, and the entertainment was duly given. +As a token of her appreciation the Queen bestowed upon Will a costly +and beautiful souvenir. + +Not the least-esteemed remembrance of this London visit was an illuminated +address presented by the English Workingman's Convention. In it the American +plainsman was congratulated upon the honors he had won, the success +he had achieved, and the educational worth of his great exhibition. +A banquet followed, at which Will presented an autograph photograph +to each member of the association. + +Notwithstanding tender thoughts of home, English soil was left regretfully. +To the "Wild West" the complacent Briton had extended a cordial welcome, +and manifested an enthusiasm that contrasted strangely with his usual disdain +for things American. + +A singular coincidence of the homeward voyage was the death of Billy, +another favorite horse of Will's. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +THE "WILD WEST" AT THE WORLD'S FAIR. + +EUROPEAN army officers of all nationalities regarded my brother +with admiring interest. To German, French, Italian, or British +eyes he was a commanding personality, and also the representative +of a peculiar and interesting phase of New World life. +Recalling their interest in his scenes from his native land, +so unlike anything to be found in Europe to-day, Will invited +a number of these officers to accompany him on an extended +hunting-trip through Western America. + +All that could possibly do so accepted the invitation. +A date was set for them to reach Chicago, and from there arrangements +were made for a special train to convey them to Nebraska. + +When the party gathered, several prominent Americans were of the number. +By General Miles's order a military escort attended them from Chicago, +and the native soldiery remained with them until North Platte was reached. + +Then the party proceeded to "Scout's Rest Ranch," where they were hospitably +entertained for a couple of days before starting out on their long trail. + +At Denver ammunition and supplies were taken on board the train. +A French chef was also engaged, as Will feared his distinguished +guests might not enjoy camp-fare. But a hen in water is no +more out of place than a French cook on a "roughing-it" trip. +Frontier cooks, who understand primitive methods, make no attempt +at a fashionable cuisine, and the appetites developed by open-air +life are equal to the rudest, most substantial fare. + +Colorado Springs, the Garden of the Gods, and other places in Colorado +were visited. The foreign visitors had heard stories of this wonderland +of America, but, like all of nature's masterpieces, the rugged +beauties of this magnificent region defy an adequate description. +Only one who has seen a sunrise on the Alps can appreciate it. +The storied Rhine is naught but a story to him who has never looked upon it. +Niagara is only a waterfall until seen from various view-points, and +its tremendous force and transcendent beauty are strikingly revealed. +The same is true of the glorious wildness of our Western scenery; +it must be seen to be appreciated. + +The most beautiful thing about the Garden of the Gods is +the entrance known as the Gateway. Color here runs riot. +The mass of rock in the foreground is white, and stands out in +sharp contrast to the rich red of the sandstone of the portals, +which rise on either side to a height of three hundred feet. +Through these giant portals, which in the sunlight glow +with ruddy fire, is seen mass upon mass of gorgeous color, +rendered more striking by the dazzling whiteness of Pike's Peak, +which soars upward in the distance, a hoary sentinel of the skies. +The whole picture is limned against the brilliant blue of +the Colorado sky, and stands out sharp and clear, one vivid +block of color distinctly defined against the other. + +The name "Garden of the Gods" was doubtless applied because +of the peculiar shape of the spires, needles, and basilicas +of rock that rise in every direction. These have been +corroded by storms and worn smooth by time, until they present +the appearance of half-baked images of clay molded by human hands, +instead of sandstone rocks fashioned by wind and weather. +Each grotesque and fantastic shape has received a name. +One is here introduced to the "Washerwoman," the "Lady of +the Garden," the "Siamese Twins," and the "Ute God," and besides +these may be seen the "Wreck," the "Baggage Room," the "Eagle," +and the "Mushroom." The predominating tone is everywhere red, +but black, brown, drab, white, yellow, buff, and pink rocks add +their quota to make up a harmonious and striking color scheme, +to which the gray and green of clinging mosses add a final +touch of picturesqueness. + +At Flagstaff, Arizona, the train was discarded for the saddle +and the buckboard. And now Will felt himself quite in his element; +it was a never-failing pleasure to him to guide a large party +of guests over plain and mountain. From long experience +he knew how to make ample provision for their comfort. +There were a number of wagons filled with supplies, three buckboards, +three ambulances, and a drove of ponies. Those who wished to ride +horseback could do so; if they grew tired of a bucking broncho, +opportunity for rest awaited them in ambulance or buckboard. +The French chef found his occupation gone when it was a question +of cooking over a camp-fire; so he spent his time picking himself +up when dislodged by his broncho. The daintiness of his menu +was not a correct gauge for the daintiness of his language on +these numerous occasions. + +Through the Grand Canon of the Colorado Will led the party, +and the dwellers of the Old World beheld some of the rugged magnificence +of the New. Across rushing rivers, through quiet valleys, and over lofty +mountains they proceeded, pausing on the borders of peaceful lakes, +or looking over dizzy precipices into yawning chasms. + +There was no lack of game to furnish variety to their table; +mountain sheep, mountain lions, wildcats, deer, elk, antelope, +and even coyotes and porcupines, were shot, while the rivers +furnished an abundance of fish. + +It seemed likely at one time that there might be a hunt of bigger game than +any here mentioned, for in crossing the country of the Navajos the party +was watched and followed by mounted Indians. An attack was feared, and had +the red men opened fire, there would have been a very animated defense; +but the suspicious Indians were merely on the alert to see that no trespass +was committed, and when the orderly company passed out of their territory +the warriors disappeared. + +The visitors were much impressed with the vastness and the undeveloped +resources of our country. They were also impressed with the climate, +as the thermometer went down to forty degrees below zero while they were +on Buckskin Mountain. Nature seemed to wish to aid Will in the effort +to exhibit novelties to his foreign guests, for she tried her hand +at some spectacular effects, and succeeded beyond mortal expectation. +She treated them to a few blizzards; and shut in by the mass of whirling, +blinding snowflakes, it is possible their thoughts reverted with a homesick +longing to the sunny slopes of France, the placid vales of Germany, +or the foggy mildness of Great Britain. + +On the summit of San Francisco Mountain, the horse of +Major St. John Mildmay lost its footing, and began to slip on the ice +toward a precipice which looked down a couple of thousand feet. +Will saw the danger, brought out his ever-ready lasso, +and dexterously caught the animal in time to save it and its rider-- +a feat considered remarkable by the onlookers. + +Accidents happened occasionally, many adventures were met with, +Indian alarms were given, and narrow were some of the escapes. +On the whole, it was a remarkable trail, and was written about under +the heading, "A Thousand Miles in the Saddle with Buffalo Bill." + +At Salt Lake City the party broke up, each going his separate way. +All expressed great pleasure in the trip, and united in the opinion +that Buffalo Bill's reputation as guide and scout was a well-deserved one. + +Will's knowledge of Indian nature stands him in good +stead when he desires to select the quota of Indians for +the summer season of the "Wild West." He sends word ahead +to the tribe or reservation which he intends to visit. +The red men have all heard of the wonders of the great show; +they are more than ready to share in the delights of travel, +and they gather at the appointed place in great numbers. + +Will stands on a temporary platform in the center of the group. +He looks around upon the swarthy faces, glowing with all the eagerness +which the stolid Indian nature will permit them to display. +It is not always the tallest nor the most comely men who are selected. +The unerring judgment of the scout, trained in Indian warfare, +tells him who may be relied upon and who are untrustworthy. +A face arrests his attention--with a motion of his hand +he indicates the brave whom he has selected; another wave +of the hand and the fate of a second warrior is settled. +Hardly a word is spoken, and it is only a matter of a few moments' +time before he is ready to step down from his exalted position +and walk off with his full contingent of warriors following +happily in his wake. + +The "Wild West" had already engaged space just outside the +World's Fair grounds for an exhibit in 1893, and Will was desirous +of introducing some new and striking feature. He had succeeded +in presenting to the people of Europe some new ideas, and, in return, +the European trip had furnished to him the much-desired novelty. +He had performed the work of an educator in showing to Old World +residents the conditions of a new civilization, and the idea +was now conceived of showing to the world gathered at the arena +in Chicago a representation of the cosmopolitan military force. +He called it "A Congress of the Rough Riders of the World." It is +a combination at once ethnological and military. + +To the Indians and cowboys were added Mexicans, Cossacks, and South Americans, +with regular trained cavalry from Germany, France, England, and the +United States. This aggregation showed for the first time in 1893, +and was an instantaneous success. Of it Opie Read gives a fine description: + + +"Morse made the two worlds touch the tips of their fingers together. +Cody has made the warriors of all nations join hands. + +"In one act we see the Indian, with his origin shrouded in history's +mysterious fog; the cowboy--nerve-strung product of the New World; +the American soldier, the dark Mexican, the glittering soldier of Germany, +the dashing cavalryman of France, the impulsive Irish dragoon, +and that strange, swift spirit from the plains of Russia, the Cossack. + +"Marvelous theatric display, a drama with scarcely a word-- +Europe, Asia, Africa, America in panoramic whirl, and yet +as individualized as if they had never left their own country." + + +In 1893 the horizon of my brother's interests enlarged. +In July of that year I was married to Mr. Hugh A. Wetmore, +editor of the Duluth _Press_. My steps now turned to the North, +and the enterprising young city on the shore of Lake Superior +became my home. During the long years of my widowhood my brother +always bore toward me the attitude of guardian and protector; +I could rely upon his support in any venture I deemed a promising one, +and his considerate thoughtfulness did not fail when I remarried. +He wished to see me well established in my new home; he desired +to insure my happiness and prosperity, and with this end in view +he purchased the Duluth _Press_ plant, erected a fine brick +building to serve as headquarters for the newspaper venture, +and we became business partners in the untried field of press work. + +My brother had not yet seen the Zenith City. So in January of 1894 +he arranged to make a short visit to Duluth. We issued invitations +for a general reception, and the response was of the genuine Western kind-- +eighteen hundred guests assembling in the new Duluth _Press_ Building +to bid welcome and do honor to the world-famed Buffalo Bill. + +His name is a household word, and there is a growing demand for +anecdotes concerning him. As he does not like to talk about himself, +chroniclers have been compelled to interview his associates, +or are left to their own resources. Like many of the stories told +about Abraham Lincoln, some of the current yarns about Buffalo Bill +are of doubtful authority. Nevertheless, a collection of those +that are authentic would fill a volume. Almost every plainsman +or soldier who met my brother during the Indian campaigns can tell +some interesting tale about him that has never been printed. +During the youthful season of redundant hope and happiness many +of his ebullitions of wit were lost, but he was always beloved +for his good humor, which no amount of carnage could suppress. +He was not averse to church-going, though he was liable even in church +to be carried away by the rollicking spirit that was in him. +Instance his visit to the little temple which he had helped to build +at North Platte. + +His wife and sister were in the congregation, and this ought not +only to have kept him awake, but it should have insured perfect +decorum on his part. The opening hymn commenced with the words, +"Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing," etc. The organist, +who played "by ear," started the tune in too high a key to be +followed by the choir and congregation, and had to try again. +A second attempt ended, like the first, in failure. +"Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing, my blest--" +came the opening words for the third time, followed by a +squeak from the organ, and a relapse into painful silence. +Will could contain himself no longer, and blurted out: +"Start it at five hundred, and mebbe some of the rest of us +can get in." + + +Another church episode occurred during the visit of the "Wild West" +to the Atlanta Exposition. A locally celebrated colored preacher +had announced that he would deliver a sermon on the subject of +Abraham Lincoln. A party of white people, including my brother, +was made up, and repaired to the church to listen to the eloquent address. +Not wishing to make themselves conspicuous, the white visitors took +a pew in the extreme rear, but one of the ushers, wishing to honor them, +insisted on conducting them to a front seat. When the contribution +platter came around, our hero scooped a lot of silver dollars +from his pocket and deposited them upon the plate with such force +that the receptacle was tilted and its contents poured in a jingling +shower upon the floor. The preacher left his pulpit to assist +in gathering up the scattered treasure, requesting the congregation +to sing a hymn of thanksgiving while the task was being performed. +At the conclusion of the hymn the sable divine returned to the pulpit +and supplemented his sermon with the following remarks: + + +"Brudderen an' sisters: I obsahve dat Co'nel and Gen'l Buflo Bill +am present. [A roar of "Amens" and "Bless God's" arose from the +audience.] You will wifhold yuh Amens till I git froo. You all owes +yuh freedom to Abraham's bosom, but he couldn't hab went an' gone an' +done it widout Buflo Bill, who he'ped him wid de sinnoose ob wah! +Abraham Lincum was de brack man's fren'--Buflo Bill am de fren' +ob us all. ["Amen!" screamed a sister.] Yes, sistah, he am yo' +fren', moreova, an' de fren' ob every daughtah ob Jakup likewise. +De chu'ch debt am a cross to us, an' to dat cross he bends his +back as was prefigu'd in de scriptu's ob ol', De sun may move, +aw de sun mought stan' still, but Buflo Bill nebba stan's still-- +he's ma'ching froo Geo'gia wid his Christian cowboys to sto'm de +Lookout Mountain ob Zion. Deacon Green Henry Turner will lead us +in prayah fo' Buflo Bill." + + +The following is one of Will's own stories: During the first years +of his career as an actor Will had in one of his theatrical companies +a Westerner named Broncho Bill. There were Indians in the troupe, +and a certain missionary had joined the aggregation to look after +the morals of the Indians. Thinking that Broncho Bill would bear +a little looking after also, the good man secured a seat by his side +at the dinner-table, and remarked pleasantly: + +"This is Mr. Broncho Bill, is it not?" + +"Yaas." + +"Where were you born?" + +"Near Kit Bullard's mill, on Big Pigeon." + +"Religious parents, I suppose?" + +"Yaas." + +"What is your denomination?" + +"My what?" + +"Your denomination?" + +"O--ah--yaas. Smith & Wesson." + + +While on his European tour Will was entertained by a great many potentates. +At a certain dinner given in his honor by a wealthy English lord, Will met +for the first time socially a number of blustering British officers, +fresh from India. One of them addressed himself to the scout as follows: +"I understand you are a colonel. You Americans are blawsted fond +of military titles, don't cherneow. By gad, sir, we'll have to come +over and give you fellows a good licking!" + +"What, again?" said the scout, so meekly that for an instant +his assailant did not know how hard he was hit, but he realized +it when the retort was wildly applauded by the company. + + +Before closing these pages I will give an account of an episode which +occurred during the Black Hills gold excitement, and which illustrates +the faculty my hero possesses of adapting himself to all emergencies. +Mr. Mahan, of West Superior, Wisconsin, and a party of adventurous +gold-seekers were being chased by a band of Indians, which they +had succeeded in temporarily eluding. They met Buffalo Bill at +the head of a squad of soldiers who were looking for redskins. +The situation was explained to the scout, whereupon he said: + +"I am looking for that identical crowd. Now, you draw up in line, +and I will look you over and pick out the men that I want to go +back with me." + +Without any questioning he was able to select the men +who really wanted to return and fight the Indians. He left +but two behind, but they were the ones who would have been +of no assistance had they been allowed to go to the front. +Will rode some distance in advance of his party, and when the Indians +sighted him, they thought he was alone, and made a dash for him. +Will whirled about and made his horse go as if fleeing +for his life. His men had been carefully ambushed. +The Indians kept up a constant firing, and when he reached +a certain point Will pretended to be hit, and fell from his horse. +On came the Indians, howling like a choir of maniacs. +The next moment they were in a trap, and Will and his men +opened fire on them, literally annihilating the entire squad. +It was the Indian style of warfare, and the ten "good Indians" +left upon the field, had they been able to complain, would have +had no right to do so. + +Will continued the march, and as the day was well advanced, +began looking for a good place to camp. Arriving at the top +of a ridge overlooking a little river, Will saw a spot where he had +camped on a previous expedition; but, to his great disappointment, +the place was in possession of a large village of hostiles, +who were putting up their tepees, building camp fires, and making +themselves comfortable for the coming night. + +Quick as a flash Will decided what to do. "There are too many of them +for us to whip in the tired condition of ourselves and horses," +said our hero. Then he posted his men along the top of the ridge, +with instructions to show themselves at a signal from him, and descended +at once, solitary and alone, to the encampment of hostiles. +Gliding rapidly up to the chief, Will addressed him in his own +dialect as follows: + +"I want you to leave here right away, quick! I don't want to kill +your women and children. A big lot of soldiers are following me, +and they will destroy your whole village if you are here when they come." + +As he waved his hand in the direction of the hilltop, brass buttons +and polished gun-barrels began to glitter in the rays of the setting sun, +and the chief ordered his braves to fold their tents and move on. + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +CODY DAY AT THE OMAHA EXPOSITION. + +SINCE 1893 the "Wild West" exhibitions have been restricted to the +various cities of our own land. Life in "Buffalo Bill's Tented City," +as it is called, is like life in a small village. +There are some six hundred persons in the various departments. +Many of the men have their families with them; the Indians have +their squaws and papooses, and the variety of nationalities, +dialects, and costumes makes the miniature city an interesting +and entertaining one. + +The Indians may be seen eating bundles of meat from their +fingers and drinking tankards of iced buttermilk. The Mexicans, +a shade more civilized, shovel with their knives great quantities +of the same food into the capacious receptacles provided by nature. +The Americans, despite what is said of their rapid eating, +take time to laugh and crack jokes, and finish their repast +with a product only known to the highest civilization--ice-cream. + +When the "Wild West" visited Boston, one hot June day the parade +passed a children's hospital on the way to the show-grounds. +Many of the little invalids were unable to leave their couches. +All who could do so ran to the open windows and gazed eagerly +at the passing procession, and the greatest excitement prevailed. +These more fortunate little ones described, as best they could, +to the little sufferers who could not leave their beds the wonderful +things they saw. The Indians were the special admiration +of the children. After the procession passed, one wee lad, +bedridden by spinal trouble, cried bitterly because he had not seen it. +A kind-hearted nurse endeavored to soothe the child, but words +proved unavailing. Then a bright idea struck the patient woman; +she told him he might write a letter to the great "Buffalo Bill" +himself and ask him for an Indian's picture. + +The idea was taken up with delight, and the child spent an eager +hour in penning the letter. It was pathetic in its simplicity. +The little sufferer told the great exhibitor that he was sick in bed, +was unable to see the Indians when they passed the hospital, +and that he longed to see a photograph of one. + +The important missive was mailed, and even the impatient little +invalid knew it was useless to expect an answer that day. +The morning had hardly dawned before a child's bright eyes were open. +Every noise was listened to, and he wondered when the postman would +bring him a letter. The nurse hardly dared to hope that a busy +man like Buffalo Bill would take time to respond to the wish +of a sick child. + +"Colonel Cody is a very busy man," she said. "We must be patient." + +At perhaps the twentieth repetition of this remark +the door opened noiselessly. In came a six-foot Indian, +clad in leather trousers and wrapped in a scarlet blanket. +He wore a head-dress of tall, waving feathers, and carried +his bow in his hand. + +The little invalids gasped in wonder; then they shrieked with delight. +One by one, silent and noiseless, but smiling, six splendid warriors +followed the first. The visitors had evidently been well trained, +and had received explicit directions as to their actions. + +So unusual a sight in the orderly hospital so startled the nurse that she +could not even speak. The warriors drew up in a line and saluted her. +The happy children were shouting in such glee that the poor woman's +fright was unnoticed. + +The Indians ranged themselves in the narrow space between the cots, +laid aside their gay blankets, placed their bows upon the floor, +and waving their arms to and fro, executed a quiet war-dance. +A sham battle was fought, followed by a song of victory. +After this the blankets were again donned, the kindly red men went away, +still smiling as benignly as their war paint would allow them to do. +A cheer of gratitude and delight followed them down the broad corridors. +The happy children talked about Buffalo Bill and the "Wild West" +for weeks after this visit. + +North Platte had long urged my brother to bring the exhibition there. +The citizens wished to see the mammoth tents spread over the ground where +the scout once followed the trail on the actual war-path; they desired +that their famous fellow-citizen should thus honor his home town. +A performance was finally given there on October 12, 1896, the special car +bearing Will and his party arriving the preceding day, Sunday. The writer +of these chronicles joined the party in Omaha, and we left that city +after the Saturday night performance. + +The Union Pacific Railroad had offered my brother every inducement to make +this trip; among other things, the officials promised to make special time +in running from Omaha to North Platte. + +When we awoke Sunday morning, we found that in some way the train had +been delayed, that instead of making special time we were several hours late. +Will telegraphed this fact to the officials. At the next station +double-headers were put on, and the gain became at once perceptible. +At Grand Island a congratulatory telegram was sent, noting the gain in time. +At the next station we passed the Lightning Express, the "flyer," +to which usually everything gives way, and the good faith of the company +was evidenced by the fact that this train was side-tracked to make way +for Buffalo Bill's "Wild West" train. Another message was sent over +the wires to the officials; it read as follows: + + +"Have just noticed that Lightning Express is side-tracked to make way +for Wild west. I herewith promote you to top seat in heaven." + + +The trip was a continued ovation. Every station was thronged, and Will was +obliged to step out on the platform and make a bow to the assembled crowds, +his appearance being invariably greeted with a round of cheers. +When we reached the station at North Platte, we found that the entire +population had turned out to receive their fellow-townsman. The "Cody Guards," +a band to which Will presented beautiful uniforms of white +broadcloth trimmed with gold braid, struck up the strains of "See, +the Conquering Hero Comes." The mayor attempted to do the welcoming +honors of the city, but it was impossible for him to make himself heard. +Cheer followed cheer from the enthusiastic crowd. + +We had expected to reach the place some hours earlier, but our late +arrival encroached upon the hour of church service. The ministers +discovered that it was impossible to hold their congregations; +so they were dismissed, and the pastors accompanied them to the station, +one reverend gentleman humorously remarking: + +"We shall be obliged to take for our text this morning `Buffalo Bill and his +Wild West,' and will now proceed to the station for the discourse." + +Will's tally-ho coach, drawn by six horses, was in waiting +for the incoming party. The members of his family seated +themselves in that conveyance, and we passed through the town, +preceded and followed by a band. As we arrived at the home residence, +both bands united in a welcoming strain of martial music. + +My oldest sister, Julia, whose husband is manager of "Scout's Rest Ranch," +when informed that the "Wild West" was to visit North Platte, +conceived the idea of making this visit the occasion of a family reunion. +We had never met in an unbroken circle since the days of our first separation, +but as a result of her efforts we sat thus that evening in my brother's home. +The next day our mother-sister, as she had always been regarded, +entertained us at "Scout's Rest Ranch." + +The "Wild West" exhibition had visited Duluth for the first time that +same year. This city has a population of 65,000. North Platte numbers +3,500. When he wrote to me of his intention to take the exhibition +to Duluth, Will offered to make a wager that his own little town +would furnish a bigger crowd than would the city of my residence. +I could not accept any such inferred slur upon the Zenith City, +so accepted the wager, a silk hat against a fur cloak. + +October 12th, the date of the North Platte performance, dawned bright +and cloudless. "To-day decides our wager," said Will. "I expect +there will be two or three dozen people out on this prairie. +Duluth turned out a good many thousands, so I suppose you think +your wager as good as won." + +The manager of the tents evidently thought the outlook a forlorn one. +I shared his opinion, and was, in fancy, already the possessor +of a fine fur cloak. + +"Colonel, shall we stretch the full canvas?" asked the tentman. + +"Every inch of it," was the prompt response. "We want to show North Platte +the capacity of the `Wild West,' at any rate." + +As we started for the grounds Will was evidently uncertain over the outcome, +in spite of his previous boast of the reception North Platte would give him. +"We'll have a big tent and plenty of room to spare in it," he observed. + +But as we drove to the grounds we soon began to see indications +of a coming crowd. The people were pouring in from all directions; +the very atmosphere seemed populated; as the dust was nearly a foot +deep on the roads, the moving populace made the air almost too +thick for breathing. It was during the time of the county fair, +and managers of the Union Pacific road announced that excursion +trains would be run from every town and hamlet, the officials +and their families coming up from Omaha on a special car. +Where the crowds came from it was impossible to say. It looked +as if a feat of magic had been performed, and that the stones +were turned into men, or, perchance, that, as in olden tales, +they came up out of the earth. + +Accustomed though he is to the success of the show, Will was dumfounded +by this attendance. As the crowds poured in I became alarmed about my wager. +I visited the ticket-seller and asked how the matter stood. + +"It's pretty close," he answered. "Duluth seems to be dwindling away +before the mightiness of the Great American Desert." + +This section of the country, which was a wilderness only a few years ago, +assembled over ten thousand people to attend a performance of the "Wild West." + +Omaha, where the opening performance of this exhibition was given, +honored Will last year by setting apart one day as "Cody Day." August 31st +was devoted to his reception, and a large and enthusiastic crowd gathered +to do the Nebraska pioneer honor. The parade reached the fair-grounds +at eleven o'clock, where it was fittingly received by one hundred and fifty +mounted Indians from the encampment. A large square space had been +reserved for the reception of the party in front of the Sherman gate. +As it filed through, great applause was sent up by the waiting multitude, +and the noise became deafening when my brother made his appearance on a +magnificent chestnut horse, the gift of General Miles. He was accompanied +by a large party of officials and Nebraska pioneers, who dismounted to seat +themselves on the grand-stand. Prominent among these were the governor +of the state, Senator Thurston, and Will's old friend and first employer, +Mr. Alexander Majors. As Will ascended the platform he was met by +General Manager Clarkson, who welcomed him in the name of the president +of the exposition, whose official duties precluded his presence. +Governor Holcomb was then introduced, and his speech was a brief +review of the evolution of Nebraska from a wilderness of a generation +ago to the great state which produced this marvelous exposition. +Manager Clarkson remarked, as he introduced Mr. Majors: "Here is the father +of them all, Alexander Majors, a man connected with the very earliest +history of Nebraska, and the business father of Colonel Cody." + +This old pioneer was accorded a reception only a shade less enthusiastic +than that which greeted the hero of the day. He said: + +"_Gentlemen, and My Boy, Colonel Cody_: [Laughter.] Can I say +a few words of welcome? Friend Creighton and I came down here +together to-day, and he thought I was not equal to the occasion. +Gentlemen, I do not know whether I am equal to the occasion +at this time, but I am going to do the best for you that I can. +Give me your hand, Colonel. Gentlemen, forty-three years +ago this day, this fine-looking physical specimen of manhood +was brought to me by his mother--a little boy nine years old-- +and little did I think at that time that the boy that was standing +before me, asking for employment of some kind by which I could +afford to pay his mother a little money for his services, +was going to be a boy of such destiny as he has turned out to be. +In this country we have great men, we have great men in Washington, +we have men who are famous as politicians in this country; we have +great statesmen, we have had Jackson and Grant, and we had Lincoln; +we have men great in agriculture and in stock-growing, and in the +manufacturing business men who have made great names for themselves, +who have stood high in the nation. Next, and even greater, +we have a Cody. He, gentlemen, stands before you now, +known the wide world over as the last of the great scouts. +When the boy Cody came to me, standing straight as an arrow, +and looked me in the face, I said to my partner, Mr. Russell, +who was standing by my side, `We will take this little boy, +and we will pay him a man's wages, because he can ride a pony +just as well as a man can.' He was lighter and could do service +of that kind when he was nine years old. I remember when we +paid him twenty-five dollars for the first month's work. +He was paid in half-dollars, and he got fifty of them. +He tied them up in his little handkerchief, and when he got +home he untied the handkerchief and spread the money all +over the table." + + +Colonel Cody--"I have been spreading it ever since." + +A few remarks followed indicative of Mr. Majors's appreciation of +the exhibition, and he closed with the remark, "Bless your precious heart, +Colonel Cody!" and sat down, amid great applause. + +Senator Thurston's remarks were equally happy. He said: + + +"Colonel Cody, this is your day. This is your exposition. +This is your city. And we all rejoice that Nebraska is your state. +You have carried the fame of our country and of our state +all over the civilized world; you have been received and +honored by princes, by emperors and by kings; the titled +women in the courts of the nations of the world have been +captivated by your charm of manner and your splendid manhood. +You are known wherever you go, abroad or in the United States, +as Colonel Cody, the best representative of the great and +progressive West. You stand here to-day in the midst of a +wonderful assembly. Here are representatives of the heroic +and daring characters of most of the nations of the world. +You are entitled to the honor paid you to-day, and especially entitled +to it here. This people know you as a man who has carried this +demonstration of yours to foreign lands, and exhibited it at home. +You have not been a showman in the common sense of the word. +You have been a great national and international educator of men. +You have furnished a demonstration of the possibilities of our +country that has advanced us in the opinion of all the world. +But we who have been with you a third, or more than a third, +of a century, we remember you more dearly and tenderly than others do. +We remember that when this whole Western land was a wilderness, +when these representatives of the aborigines were attempting +to hold their own against the onward tide of civilization, +the settler and the hardy pioneer, the women and the children, +felt safe whenever Cody rode along the frontier; he was their +protector and defender. + +"Cody, this is your home. You live in the hearts of the people of our state. +God bless you and keep you and prosper you in your splendid work." + + +Will was deeply touched by these strong expressions from his friends. +As he moved to the front of the platform to respond, his appearance +was the signal for a prolonged burst of cheers. He said: + + +"You cannot expect me to make adequate response for the honor which you +have bestowed upon me to-day. You have overwhelmed my speaking faculties. +I cannot corral enough ideas to attempt a coherent reply in response +to the honor which you have accorded me. How little I dreamed in the long +ago that the lonely path of the scout and the pony-express rider would +lead me to the place you have assigned me to-day. Here, near the banks +of the mighty Missouri, which flows unvexed to the sea, my thoughts revert +to the early days of my manhood. I looked eastward across this rushing +tide to the Atlantic, and dreamed that in that long-settled region all men +were rich and all women happy. My friends, that day has come and gone. +I stand among you a witness that nowhere in the broad universe are men +richer in manly integrity, and women happier in their domestic kingdom, +than here in our own Nebraska. + +"I have sought fortune in many lands, but wherever I have wandered, +the flag of our beloved state has been unfurled to every breeze: +from the Platte to the Danube, from the Tiber to the Clyde, the emblem +of our sovereign state has always floated over the `Wild West.' Time goes +on and brings with it new duties and responsibilities, but we `old men,' +we who are called old-timers, cannot forget the trials and tribulations +which we had to encounter while paving the path for civilization +and national prosperity. + +"The whistle of the locomotive has drowned the howl of the coyote; +the barb-wire fence has narrowed the range of the cow-puncher; +but no material evidence of prosperity can obliterate our contribution +to Nebraska's imperial progress. + +"Through your kindness to-day I have tasted the sweetest fruit +that grows on ambition's tree. If you extend your kindness +and permit me to fall back into the ranks as a high private, +my cup will be full. + +"In closing, let me call upon the `Wild West, the Congress +of Rough Riders of the World,' to voice their appreciation +of the kindness you have shown them to-day." + + +At a given signal the "Wild West" gave three ringing cheers +for Nebraska and the Trans-Mississippi Exposition. The cowboy +band followed with the "Red, White, and Blue," and an exposition +band responded with the "Star-Spangled Banner." The company fell +into line for a parade around the grounds, Colonel Cody following +on his chestnut horse, Duke. After him came the officials and +invited guests in carriages; then came the Cossacks, the Cubans, +the German cavalry, the United States cavalry, the Mexicans, +and representatives of twenty-five countries. + +As the parade neared its end, my brother turned to his friends and suggested +that as they had been detained long past the dinner-hour in doing him honor, +he would like to compensate them by giving an informal spread. +This invitation was promptly accepted, and the company adjourned +to a cafe, where a tempting luncheon was spread before them. +Never before had such a party of pioneers met around a banquet-table, +and many were the reminiscences of early days brought out. +Mr. Majors, the originator of the Pony Express line, was there. +The two Creighton brothers, who put through the first telegraph line, +and took the occupation of the express riders from them, had seats +of honor. A. D. Jones was introduced as the man who carried the first +postoffice of Omaha around in his hat, and who still wore the hat. +Numbers of other pioneers were there, and each contributed his share +of racy anecdotes and pleasant reminiscences. + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +THE LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS. + +THE story of frontier days is a tale that is told. +The "Wild West" has vanished like mist in the sun before +the touch of the two great magicians of the nineteenth century-- +steam and electricity. + +The route of the old historic Santa Fe trail is nearly followed by +the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, which was completed in 1880. +The silence of the prairie was once broken by the wild war-whoop of the Indian +as he struggled to maintain his supremacy over some adjoining tribe; +the muffled roar caused by the heavy hoof-beats of thousands of +buffaloes was almost the only other sound that broke the stillness. +To-day the shriek of the engine, the clang of the bell, and the clatter +of the car-wheels form a ceaseless accompaniment to the cheerful hum +of busy life which everywhere pervades the wilderness of thirty years ago. +Almost the only memorials of the struggles and privations of the hardy +trappers and explorers, whose daring courage made the achievements +of the present possible, are the historic landmarks which bear the names +of some of these brave men. But these are very few in number. +Pike's Peak lifts its snowy head to heaven in silent commemoration of +the early traveler whose name it bears. Simpson's Rest, a lofty obelisk, +commemorates the mountaineer whose life was for the most part passed +upon its rugged slopes, and whose last request was that he should + + +{illust. caption = {signature of} W. F. Cody} be buried on its summit. +Another cloud-capped mountain-height bears the name of Fisher's Peak, +and thereby hangs a tale. + +Captain Fisher commanded a battery in the army engaged in the conquest +of New Mexico. His command encamped near the base of the mountain which +now bears his name. Deceived by the illusive effect of the atmosphere, +he started out for a morning stroll to the supposed near-by elevation, +announcing that he would return in time for breakfast. The day passed +with no sign of Captain Fisher, and night lengthened into a new day. +When the second day passed without his return, his command was +forced to believe that he had fallen a prey to lurking Indians, +and the soldiers were sadly taking their seats for their evening +meal when the haggard and wearied captain put in an appearance. +His morning stroll had occupied two days and a night; but he set +out to visit the mountain, and he did it. + +The transcontinental line which supplanted the Old Salt Lake +trail, and is now known as the Union Pacific Railroad, +antedated the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe by eleven years. +The story of the difficulties encountered, and the obstacles +overcome in the building of this road, furnishes greater marvels +than any narrated in the Arabian Nights' Tales. + +This railroad superseded the Pony Express line, the reeking, +panting horses of which used their utmost endeavor and carried +their tireless riders fifteen miles an hour, covering their +circuit in eight days' time at their swiftest rate of speed. +The iron horse gives a sniff of disdain, and easily traverses +the same distance, from the Missouri line to the Pacific Coast, +in three days. + +Travelers who step aboard the swiftly moving, luxurious cars +of to-day give little thought to their predecessors; for the +dangers the early voyagers encountered they have no sympathy. +The traveler in the stagecoach was beset by perils without +from the Indians and the outlaws; he faced the equally +unpleasant companionship of fatigue and discomfort within. +The jolting, swinging coach bounced and jounced the unhappy +passengers as the reckless driver lashed the flying horses. +Away they galloped over mountains and through ravines, +with no cessation of speed. Even the shipper pays the low rate +of transportation asked to-day with reluctance, and forgets +the great debt he owes this adjunct of our civilization. + +But great as are the practical benefits derived from the railways, we cannot +repress a sigh as we meditate on the picturesque phases of the vanished era. +Gone are the bullwhackers and the prairie-schooners! Gone are the +stagecoaches and their drivers! Gone are the Pony Express riders! +Gone are the trappers, the hardy pioneers, the explorers, and the scouts! +Gone is the prairie monarch, the shaggy, unkempt buffalo! + +In 1869, only thirty years ago, the train on the Kansas Pacific-road +was delayed eight hours in consequence of the passage of an +enormous herd of buffaloes over the track in front of it. +But the easy mode of travel introduced by the railroad brought +hundreds of sportsmen to the plains, who wantonly killed this +noble animal solely for sport, and thousands of buffaloes were +sacrificed for their skins, for which there was a widespread demand. +From 1868 to 1881, in Kansas alone, there was paid out +$2,500,000 for the bones of this animal, which were gathered up +on the prairie and used in the carbon works of the country. +This represents a total death-rate of 31,000,000 buffaloes +in one state. As far as I am able to ascertain, there remains +at this writing only one herd, of less than twenty animals, +out of all the countless thousands that roamed the prairie so short +a time ago, and this herd is carefully preserved in a private park. +There may be a few isolated specimens in menageries and shows, +but this wholesale slaughter has resulted in the practical +extermination of the species. + +As with the animal native to our prairies, so has it been with the race +native to our land. We may deplore the wrongs of the Indian, and sympathize +with his efforts to wrest justice from his so-called protectors. +We may admire his poetic nature, as evidenced in the myths and +legends of the race. We may be impressed by the stately dignity +and innate ability as orator and statesman which he displays. +We may preserve the different articles of his picturesque garb as relics. +But the old, old drama of history is repeating itself before the eyes of +this generation; the inferior must give way to the superior civilization. +The poetic, picturesque, primitive red man must inevitably succumb +before the all-conquering tread of his pitiless, practical, +progressive white brother. + +Cooper has immortalized for us the extinction of a people in +the "Last of the Mohicans." Many another tribe has passed away, +unhonored and unsung. Westward the "Star of Empire" takes its way; +the great domain west of the Mississippi is now peopled by +the white race, while the Indians are shut up in reservations. +Their doom is sealed; their sun is set. "Kismet" has been spoken +of them; the total extinction of the race is only a question of time. +In the words of Rudyard Kipling: + + "Take up the White Man's burden-- + Ye dare not stoop to less-- + Nor call too loud on freedom + To cloke your weariness. + By all ye will or whisper, + By all ye leave or do, + The silent, sullen peoples + Shall weigh your God and you." + + +Of this past epoch of our national life there remains +but one well-known representative. That one is my brother. +He occupies a unique place in the portrait gallery of famous +Americans to-day. It is not alone his commanding personality, +nor the success he has achieved along various lines, which gives +him the strong hold he has on the hearts of the American people, +or the absorbing interest he possesses in the eyes of foreigners. +The fact that in his own person he condenses a period +of national history is a large factor in the fascination +he exercises over others. He may fitly be named the "Last +of the Great Scouts." He has had great predecessors. +The mantle of Kit Carson has fallen upon his shoulders, and he wears +it worthily. He has not, and never can have, a successor. +He is the vanishing-point between the rugged wilderness of the past +in Western life and the vast achievement in the present. + +When the "Wild West" disbands, the last vestige of our frontier life passes +from the scene of active realities, and becomes a matter of history. + +"Life is real, life is earnest," sings the poet, and real and earnest it +has been for my brother. It has been spent in others' service. I cannot +recall a time when he has not thus been laden with heavy burdens. +Yet for himself he has won a reputation, national and international. +A naval officer visiting in China relates that as he stepped ashore +he was offered two books for purchase--one the Bible, the other a "Life +of Buffalo Bill." + +For nearly half a century, which comprises his childhood, +youth, and manhood, my brother has been before the public. +He can scarcely be said to have had a childhood, so early was +he thrust among the rough scenes of frontier life, therein to play +a man's part at an age when most boys think of nothing more +than marbles and tops. He enlisted in the Union army before +he was of age, and did his share in upholding the flag during +the Civil War as ably as many a veteran of forty, and since then +he has remained, for the most part, in his country's service, +always ready to go to the front in any time of danger. +He has achieved distinction in many and various ways. +He is president of the largest irrigation enterprise in the world, +president of a colonization company, of a town-site company, +and of two transportation companies. He is the foremost scout +and champion buffalo-hunter of America, one of the crack +shots of the world, and its greatest popular entertainer. +He is broad-minded and progressive in his views, inheriting from +both father and mother a hatred of oppression in any form. +Taking his mother as a standard, he believes the franchise is +a birthright which should appertain to intelligence and education, +rather than to sex. It is his public career that lends an +interest to his private life, in which he has been a devoted +and faithful son and brother, a kind and considerate husband, +a loving and generous father. "Only the names of them +that are upright, brave, and true can be honorably known," +were the mother's dying words; and honorably known has his +name become, in his own country and across the sea. + +With the fondest expectation he looks forward to the hour when he shall +make his final bow to the public and retire to private life. +It is his long-cherished desire to devote his remaining years to the +development of the Big Horn Basin, in Wyoming. He has visited every country +in Europe, and has looked upon the most beautiful of Old World scenes. +He is familiar with all the most splendid regions of his own land, +but to him this new El Dorado of the West is the fairest spot on earth. + +He has already invested thousands of dollars and given much thought +and attention toward the accomplishment of his pet scheme. +An irrigating ditch costing nearly a million dollars now +waters this fertile region, and various other improvements +are under way, to prepare a land flowing with milk and honey +for the reception of thousands of homeless wanderers. +Like the children of Israel, these would never reach the promised +land but for the untiring efforts of a Moses to go on before; +but unlike the ancient guide and scout of sacred history, +my brother has been privileged to penetrate the remotest +corner of this primitive land of Canaan. The log cabin he has +erected there is not unlike the one of our childhood days. +Here he finds his haven of rest, his health-resort, to which he hastens +when the show season is over and he is free again for a space. +He finds refreshment in the healthful, invigorating atmosphere +of his chosen retreat; he enjoys sweet solace from the cares +of life under the influence of its magnificent scenery. + +And here, in the shadow of the Rockies, yet in the very "light of things," +it is his wish to finish his days as he began them, in opening up for +those who come after him the great regions of the still undeveloped West, +and in poring over the lesson learned as a boy on the plains: + +"That nature never did betray +The heart that loved her." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Etext of Last of the Great Scouts by Wetmore + diff --git a/old/old/bbill10.zip b/old/old/bbill10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2d37935 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/bbill10.zip |