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+*** 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 ***