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diff --git a/42150-0.txt b/42150-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d56c74f --- /dev/null +++ b/42150-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8014 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42150 *** + +WITH SULLY INTO THE SIOUX LAND + + +BY THE SAME AUTHOR + +THE CONQUEST OF THE MISSOURI. Profusely illustrated. Large 8vo _net_, +$2.00. + +FRONTIER BALLADS. Cover, end-paper design, and illustrations by Maynard +Dixon. Novelty binding. $1.00 _net_ + +A. C. MCCLURG & CO., PUBLISHERS CHICAGO + +[Illustration: Catching up a heavy stick he hurled it at the head of one +of the warriors [CHAPTER III] ] + + +"AMONG THE SIOUX" SERIES + + + + +WITH SULLY INTO THE SIOUX LAND + +BY + +JOSEPH MILLS HANSON + +AUTHOR OF "THE CONQUEST OF THE MISSOURI," +"FRONTIER BALLADS," ETC. + +ILLUSTRATED BY +JOHN W. NORTON + +[Illustration: Logo] + +CHICAGO +A. C. MCCLURG & CO. + +1910 + + +COPYRIGHT +A. C. McCLURG & CO. +1910 + +Published, November 12, 1910 + +Entered at Stationers' Hall, London, England + +PRESS OF THE VAIL COMPANY +COSHOCTON, U. S. A. + + +TO MY FATHER +JOSEPH RANDALL HANSON, +WHO, AS A BOY AND YOUNG MAN ON +THE OLD DAKOTA FRONTIER, LIVED +THROUGH MORE ADVENTURES THAN A +VOLUME COULD DESCRIBE + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER PAGE + I THE SCOURGE OF THE BORDER 9 + + II THE FLIGHT THROUGH THE DARKNESS 35 + + III BESIEGED IN FORT RIDGELY 54 + + IV REFUGEES 77 + + V HOPE DEFERRED 95 + + VI ON GENERAL SULLY'S STAFF 119 + + VII UP THE MISSOURI 130 + + VIII PRAIRIE MARCHING 149 + + IX THE REVENGE OF THE COYOTES 167 + + X THE FORT ON THE RIVER 183 + + XI TRAILING THE HOSTILES 207 + + XII THE BATTLE OF TAHKAHOKUTY 224 + + XIII BESET IN THE BAD LANDS 253 + + XIV TE-O-KUN-KO 279 + + XV IN THE WAKE OF THE GRASSHOPPERS 302 + + XVI ADRIFT IN A BARGE 319 + + XVII CAPTURED BY GUERILLAS 345 + +XVIII THE DEFENCE OF GLASGOW 372 + + XIX REUNITED 394 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + PAGE +Catching up a heavy stick he hurled it at the +head of one of the warriors _Frontispiece_ + +She charged at him as he fired 159 + +The Indian raised his rifle to shoot Corporal Wright 179 + +He was just pulling himself up 247 + +Bill Cotton protects Al from the guerilla 355 + + + + +WITH SULLY INTO THE SIOUX LAND + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE SCOURGE OF THE BORDER + + +"Papa is coming, mama! Papa is coming!" + +Tommy Briscoe, brimming over with excitement, ran, shouting, across the +yard and darted into the kitchen, leaving a half emptied pail of milk +standing on the ground before the stable, where a small red calf he had +been feeding promptly upset it. In a moment he reappeared in the +doorway, his mother and little sister Annie behind him. Mrs. Briscoe, a +woman still evidently under middle age but whose sweet, serious face +showed plainly the lines which the patient endurance of hardships draw +upon the faces of most frontier women, looked down the faintly marked +road running away to the southward, surprise and perplexity in her +eyes. Along the road and still some distance away, a horseman was +galloping toward them furiously. The road led only to the Briscoe cabin, +which was distant a number of miles from its nearest neighbors. The +rider could hardly be any other than Mr. Briscoe; moreover, even at that +distance his wife could recognize the color and the short, jerking +gallop of the horse he was riding. + +"It is certainly Chick," she said, half to herself and half to the +children. "But what can bring Tom home so soon? He did not expect to be +back before four or five o'clock and now it is hardly past noon. He must +have left Fort Ridgely almost as soon as he reached there. I hope +nothing is wrong." + +"I hope he got the calico for my dolly's dress," exclaimed Annie, +dancing up and down in anticipation of the gift her father had promised +to bring her when he rode away in the morning. + +"And I hope he got my coyote trap," added Tommy. "The coyotes will carry +off all our chickens, first thing we know." + +He raised the short bow he was carrying and sent a little iron-tipped +arrow whizzing accurately into a tree-trunk fifty feet away. He had been +going out to the meadow in a few minutes, and he never went anywhere +without his bow and arrows, for he was sufficiently expert with them to +bring down now and then a squirrel or a quail and sometimes even a +prairie chicken. + +The two children, unconscious of any cause for uneasiness in their +father's early return, followed Mrs. Briscoe as she stepped from the +door and walked a few paces down the road to meet the approaching rider, +who came on without slacking pace until he drew up beside them. His +horse, a small animal, was dripping with sweat and trembling with +exertion, for it was a hot August day and his rider was a large man. Mr. +Briscoe, for he it was, stepped down from the saddle rather stiffly. His +face was very grave as he kissed his wife and children. + +"Did you get my coyote trap, papa?" cried the little boy, almost before +his father's foot had touched the ground. + +"Did you bring my calico, papa?" chimed in Annie. + +"No, my dears, I hadn't time. You had better run away a minute." He +glanced at his wife significantly. + +"Oh, I'm sorry!" exclaimed Tommy. "But let me unsaddle Chick." He caught +the stirrup leather and swung himself nimbly into the saddle. + +"Go and finish feeding the calf, Annie," said Mrs. Briscoe. + +The little girl, with disappointed face, walked obediently toward the +stable, into which Tommy had already ridden. + +"What has happened, Thomas?" exclaimed Mrs. Briscoe, her voice quivering +with anxiety, as soon as the children were beyond hearing. + +Her husband laid his strong hand reassuringly on her arm. + +"Don't be frightened, Mary," he said, "we shall doubtless get out of it +all right, but we must hurry. The Indians broke out at the Lower Agency +this morning; you know they have been becoming more and more restless +for a good while past. When I reached Fort Ridgely, about eleven, +Captain Marsh had already started for the Agency with about fifty men. +He may have the disturbance crushed by this time. I saw Lieutenant Geer, +who is left in command with forty men. Lieutenant Sheehan marched for +Fort Ripley yesterday with fifty men. Geer would have sent an escort +with me while I came for you but of course he could not spare a man from +the handful he has. I think it would not be really dangerous to stay +here, but to be on the safe side and not expose you and the children to +any risk we had perhaps better pack what we can on the wagon and go to +the fort for a few days till the trouble blows over. Where is Al?" + +Mr. Briscoe was slapping the dust from his coat and hat as he talked. He +tried to speak in as reassuring terms and as confident a tone as +possible, but his wife intuitively knew that he was not telling her all +that was in his mind. + +"Al just went up to the meadow to turn the wind-rows," she said. "Tommy +was going to help him as soon as he finished feeding the calf. Shall he +go for Al?" + +"Yes." + +Mrs. Briscoe called to the boy, who dashed away toward the meadow, +which lay only a short distance north, beyond a thicket of bushes and +small trees. Then she turned to her husband, who was walking into the +stable. + +"You have had no dinner, Tom," she said. + +"No, but I want none." + +"Were any white people killed at the Agency?" she asked, as Mr. Briscoe +came out with a halter and started toward the pasture lot where their +other horse was grazing. He seemed to want to avoid questions, but he +answered: + +"They say there were." + +"Many?" + +Her husband paused. He was not accustomed to conceal things from his +wife. + +"Why," he replied, hesitatingly, "it is reported that all of them were +killed; but that is probably exaggerated, and very likely it will prove +there were none." + +Mrs. Briscoe's face paled a little but she retained her composure. She +asked no more questions, for now she knew all that was necessary for the +present of the gravity of the situation. Moreover, she had supreme +confidence in her husband's judgment. He started again toward the +pasture, saying, as he glanced toward the lumber wagon standing near the +kitchen door: + +"You had better begin putting things in the wagon, Mary. You know what +to take; only the most necessary and valuable things, for we shall +doubtless be back in a few days." + +Indeed, Mrs. Briscoe knew well by hard experience what to take. Once +before during the brief year they had spent in the wild valley of the +Minnesota River, they had fled to Fort Ridgely, about twenty miles south +of their claim, at the alarm of an Indian uprising, which, however, in +that instance had fortunately proved false. That was in the Spring of +1862; it was now August of the same year. When they moved into the +country during the previous August, bringing the few possessions which +remained to them from the wreck of their fortunes in Missouri, their +nearest neighbor lived fourteen miles away. Now there were three pioneer +families within a radius of ten miles of them, and, in comparison with +the earlier isolation of their new home, they felt that the country was +becoming quite densely peopled. But away to the southwest and west of +them, not more than twenty-five miles distant, swarmed a host of +neighbors whose presence there always oppressed their imaginations like +the sight of a low, black bank of thunder clouds when they looked toward +that quarter of the horizon. For southwest, at Red Wood Falls, was the +Lower Agency, the assembling place of the M'dewakanton and the Wakpekute +Indians, and west was the Upper Agency, on the Yellow Medicine River, +where lived or congregated several thousand Sissetons and Wahpetons. +Still further west and extending away to Big Stone Lake, nearly one +hundred miles distant, were some other agencies and missions, where +greater or less bodies of Indians of the above tribes made their +headquarters. The Sissetons and Wahpetons on the Yellow Medicine were +not greatly to be feared. Many of them had become Christians under the +wise and kindly training of such heroic missionaries as Thomas L. Riggs +and Thomas S. Williamson, who with their families had for years lived +and maintained schools among them. Assisted by the United States +Government, many of these Indians had come into the possession of good +homes and farms and were rapidly becoming prosperous and accustomed to +the ways of civilization. + +But the M'dewakantons and Wakpekutes at the Lower Agency were of a +different character. Few of them had ever shown a disposition to settle +down to industry, and generally they spent their time out on the +limitless western prairies of the then newly erected Territory of +Dakota, living the wild, free life of their ancestors and coming to the +Agency only when one of the annual payments was due them for the lands +in Minnesota which they had sold to the Government several years before. +At such times they were usually accompanied to the Agency by many +turbulent spirits from the Sioux tribes living further west, who came to +share in the Government's bounty and the feasting and celebrating which +commonly followed its distribution. + +In the month of August, 1862, the distribution of the Government +payment, for various reasons, had been long delayed, and the wild +Indians, waiting in idleness for it to come instead of being, as they +should have been, out on the prairies hunting buffalo, became constantly +more restless, suspicious and arrogant as time went on. The idea gained +strength among them that the Government intended to cheat them of the +payment. Moreover, they had heard many rumors of the great civil war in +which the United States was engaged, and many white people among them +did not hesitate to make them believe that the Nation was about to be +overthrown, which, indeed, did not seem improbable in 1862 in view of +the many reverses which the Union armies were suffering. Such reports, +coupled with the fact that most of the United States troops along the +Minnesota frontier had been sent to the South and that those remaining +were few and scattered, caused the leaders of the hostile element among +the Minnesota Indians to believe that the time had come when the whites +might be driven back beyond the Mississippi, leaving the Indians again +in possession of all their old territories west of that stream. At the +time the Briscoe family had come into the country this feeling did not +yet exist among the Indians, but during the Spring and Summer of 1862 +many exciting incidents had occurred at the Agencies and elsewhere, in +which the growing arrogance and self-confidence of the hostiles had been +made plain. Of these incidents Mr. Briscoe had been made aware through +his occasional trips to Fort Ridgely after supplies, and, having had +some previous experience of the ways of Indians in the Southwest, he had +been disquieted and apprehensive for the future. But he had kept his +misgivings to himself as far as possible, not caring to alarm his family +needlessly. + +He knew that, early in August, Little Crow, the hereditary chief of the +M'dewakantons, had been deposed from the chieftainship by his fellow +tribesmen because of his attitude on an unpopular treaty made sometime +before, and that the crafty old chief was eager to find some means of +recovering his lost honors. He knew that Inkpaduta, the most cruel and +bloodthirsty leader of all the Sioux Nation, together with a throng of +his outlawed followers who had participated with him in the atrocious +massacre of the white settlers at Spirit Lake, Iowa, in 1857, was +hovering about the Lower Agency and mingling with the four or five +thousand dissatisfied Indians who were gathered there, waiting with +increasing impatience for the arrival of the annuity, and in a mood to +listen eagerly to any suggestions of massacre and pillage which might be +poured into their ears by Inkpaduta and his villainous companions. But +what he did not know until he rode into Fort Ridgely on that terrible +morning of August 18, 1862, was that on the previous day a wandering +party of young M'dewakanton braves had murdered three white men and two +white women near the hamlet of Acton, forty miles north of Fort Ridgely +and about twenty from his own claim; that the young assassins had then +ridden post-haste to the Lower Agency and with their news of bloodshed, +which was like a match in a powder magazine, had set the whole savage +horde assembled there into a frenzy for the blood of the whites; that +Little Crow, seeing in a flash the opportunity for regaining the chief +control of his tribe and, indeed, of the whole Sioux Nation, by leading +them in a triumphant war, had given the word to the Indians--who had +instinctively turned to him in the crisis--for a general uprising and +massacre of all the whites; and that, in accordance with his orders and +the mad impulse of the crowd, they had swarmed over the Agency, +slaughtering every white person whom they could find,--store-keepers, +Government employees, men, women, and children. + +All these things Mr. Briscoe knew, though in a confused and imperfect +way, when he met his wife after his swift homeward journey from Fort +Ridgely. But, being a brave man and one who had served his country with +honor and courage during the Mexican War, he faced the situation with +coolness and at the same time began preparing swiftly for the instant +flight of his family to the fort. He realized that this was imperative +if they were to escape destruction. + + +When her husband, as previously mentioned, started for the pasture, Mrs. +Briscoe reëntered the house, a log building of three rooms, quite +capacious for the region and the time, and pulling a trunk from the +corner of each of the bedrooms, began hastily filling them with the +family clothing and a few books, standard works, much worn but of good +editions and carefully kept. From a locked cupboard drawer in the +kitchen she brought a small box containing a few pieces of handsome +silver ware, some of recent pattern but most of it old, into which she +looked carefully before depositing it in one of the trunks. Two small +oil paintings in frames she packed carefully, and when these had been +disposed of in the trunks little remained in the slenderly furnished +house except its rude furniture, largely homemade, the bedding and the +pots and pans and crockery dishes in the kitchen. She had just begun +taking these down and arranging them in a large box when a boy of about +fifteen years, straight and tall for his age, with light complexion, +light hair, and keen gray eyes, bounded into the kitchen from outside, +closely followed by Tommy, who was merely a smaller, eight-year-old +edition of himself. The elder lad stopped short, regarding Mrs. +Briscoe's preparations for departure with startled eyes. + +"What's the matter, mother?" he exclaimed. "What are you going to do?" + +"Your father has just come back from the fort, Al. Haven't you seen +him?" + +"No, mother." + +"He has gone to the pasture for Monty. We must drive to the fort at +once, this afternoon. The Indians have broken out at the Lower Agency +and the report at Fort Ridgely is that they have killed many white +people." + +"Whew-w!" whistled Al. "That's bad, isn't it? What will become of the +hay?" + +"Let's stay here and fight 'em!" cried Tommy, his head thrown back and +his eyes flashing. "Why should we run away from a lot of bad Indians? +They won't dare hurt us with papa here." + +"Hush, Tommy," said his mother, yet not without a glance of pride at the +fearless little fellow, so like his father. "There are a great many of +them and we are far away from help." + +"I don't care," persisted Tommy. "We could block up the doors and +windows, and they can't shoot through these thick logs." + +"No, Tommy," interrupted his brother, patting the small boy's shoulder, +"but they could burn the house, and then where should we be?" + +"Run for the woods." + +"And be shot there, out of hand. No, no! Mother, are the trunks ready to +put in the wagon?" + +"Yes, but wait for your father to help you with them. You and Tommy can +take out the mattresses and pillows. The fort will probably be full of +refugees, and we shall need our bedding." + +At this moment Mr. Briscoe entered. + +"Hello, Al, boy," he said, in his usual tone, as if nothing unusual had +happened. + +"Hello, father," returned Al, while Tommy ran to Mr. Briscoe for another +kiss. "You got back early." + +"Yes," answered his father, simply. He glanced at his son, and the two +pairs of steady gray eyes looked understandingly into each other for a +second. Then Mr. Briscoe walked to a shelf and took down an army musket +which hung, together with a double-barrelled shotgun, on a rack beneath +it. The musket was loaded, but he took off the old percussion cap and +replaced it with a new one. He loaded the shotgun from a powder horn and +shot flask on the shelf and then carefully examined a large, six-shot, +44-calibre Starr revolver, also already loaded, of a model at that time +recent, in which each chamber was loaded from the front with powder and +ball and fired by a percussion cap. By this time his wife, aided by +Annie, had the kitchen utensils in the box. Having put the weapons in +condition for instant use, Mr. Briscoe said: + +"Now, Al, we can load these heavy things in the wagon. We want to take +the saddle and the new plough, too; we can't afford to have them +destroyed while we're gone. Tommy, turn Spot out in the pasture with the +calf. She can get water from the creek, and there is plenty of grass for +her. It is a good thing that calf isn't entirely weaned yet. We will +leave the barn door open for the chickens to go in at night. Monty and +Chick are feeding now. As soon as they have finished we must be ready to +hitch up." + +When they had placed the first trunk in the wagon and were alone, Mr. +Briscoe turned to his son. + +"Al," he said, speaking rapidly and in a low voice, "be careful not to +alarm your mother and the children, but you must know that we are in the +greatest danger and that our only chance of safety lies in getting to +the fort without the least delay. The Indians at the Lower Agency have +gone mad. They have killed every white they could lay their hands on +and have started to sweep the whole country clean. Some of them may come +here at any moment. My boy--" He laid his hand on Al's shoulder and his +voice became very earnest. He spoke almost as if he felt a premonition +of coming events. "My boy, I know I can trust you; you are almost a man +in judgment and understanding. If we should encounter Indians before we +reach the fort and anything should happen to me, remember that your +first care must be your mother and your little brother and sister. +Protect them with your life but keep cool and do not throw it away. And +afterward,--well, my boy, just do your duty by our dear ones and +yourself as you honestly see it; no one can do more. And remember always +that you are the son of a soldier." + +Al's face paled a little beneath the tan while his father was speaking +but he returned the latter's gaze steadily until he had finished. Then +he replied: + +"Why, father, nothing is going to happen to you. But of course I shall +remember what you say and always try to do the best I can by mother and +the children." + +"I know you will, Al. Now, let us load that trunk and box and the rest +of the things." + +They continued their work rapidly while Mrs. Briscoe was busy putting up +some food to take along and placing the rest in the root cellar back of +the house where it might keep from spoiling as long as possible during +their absence. The day was hot and sultry, but the sky was beautifully +blue, with here and there white, fleecy clouds floating lazily across +it. Green, gently rolling prairies stretched away on every hand, broken +here and there by patches of dark, cool woodland where the trees stood +clustered on a slope or marked the winding course of some ravine or +sluggish creek. From the Briscoe cabin could be caught glimpses between +the trees north of it of the hay-cocks on the sun-flooded meadow, where +Al and Tommy had been working. It was a tract of native prairie grass +and a small one, for Mr. Briscoe had mowed it with a scythe. No sound +broke the stillness of the early afternoon except the rustle of the +breeze through the treetops and the piping of a chickadee which had +perched on a sunflower stalk beside the stable. It seemed impossible +that in the midst of such peaceful surroundings the horrors of savage +massacre and warfare could be abroad in the land; and so Al thought as +he looked about him, just as his father and he finished loading the last +of the household goods which they intended to take with them. + +They were starting to the barn after the horses when they heard the +breaking of branches and a commotion among the bushes in the strip of +woodland toward the meadow. Mr. Briscoe and his son turned in sudden +apprehension and saw six Indians, one after another, issue from the +woods and ride toward them. They were mounted on ponies and were naked +except for breech-clouts, while their heads were decked with feathers +and streaming war-bonnets, and their faces and bodies hideously bedaubed +with paint. Mr. Briscoe turned and walked deliberately toward the house. + +"Don't run," he cautioned Al, in a low tone. "But go in and stick the +revolver in your pocket under your coat, and set the guns just inside +the kitchen door. Tell your mother if she hears a shot to run with the +children from the bedroom door and hide in the rushes along the creek. +I'll meet the Indians here." He stopped by the kitchen door. Then +suddenly he asked, "Where's Tommy?" + +"In the house, I think," answered Al. But Tommy was not in the house. He +had bethought himself of the eggs and was in the barn hunting them, +unconscious of the approaching visitors. + +Al disappeared in the kitchen, and Mr. Briscoe walked toward the ominous +group of callers, who came on in silence until they reached the door, +each holding with one hand a rifle or musket laid across the neck of his +pony. They looked at the loaded wagon, which betrayed the impending +flight of the family. + +"How," said Mr. Briscoe, smiling and extending his hand. + +No responsive smiles lit the faces of the Indians. They regarded him in +gloomy silence while their leader, a fellow of lighter hue than the +rest, evidently a half-breed, sprang to the ground and, ignoring Mr. +Briscoe's extended hand, said, gruffly, in broken English, + +"We want food." + +"You shall have it," replied Mr. Briscoe. "Wait a minute." + +He stepped toward the door but the half-breed was before him. + +"We take what we want," he said, jerking his head toward his followers. +"Come on." + +Mr. Briscoe saw that conciliation was impossible. Once within the house +they would have the family at their mercy. He stepped inside the door +and with one push of his powerful arm thrust the half-breed out on the +step. + +"Stay out, and I'll feed you. But not if you come in," he said. + +Al, looking through from the next room, saw his father's action and +instantly understood that it meant trouble. With the sudden authority of +a man in the emergency, he exclaimed to his mother, pushing her toward +the south door, + +"Run to the creek, you and Annie! Keep out of sight; hide in the reeds. +We'll take care of Tommy." + +Then he ran back through the house toward his father. He reached him in +less time than it takes to tell it; but the half-breed, cursing +frightfully as he reeled back from Mr. Briscoe's thrust, had already +shouted to his companions, + +"Shoot him!" + +One of the mounted Indians threw his musket to his shoulder but Mr. +Briscoe, seizing the shotgun which Al had set beside the door, was +quicker than the savage. His shot rang out and the Indian pitched +headlong to the ground. Before he could cock the other hammer or even +spring aside from the doorway, the half-breed's rifle cracked. + +"My God! Mary!" gasped Mr. Briscoe, clutching his hand to his breast. He +wheeled, staggered a step or two into the room and then sunk to the +floor at Al's feet, dead. + +It had all happened so quickly that the poor boy's brain was reeling +with the horror of it. But in an instant he saw the half-breed's form +silhouetted in the doorway, an evil grin overspreading his face. +Mechanically Al raised the revolver in his hand and fired. Without a +word, his father's murderer tumbled backward through the doorway and +rolled out on the ground. Al stepped to the door. In one swift glance he +saw three of the four remaining Indians galloping furiously away toward +the meadow; he saw Tommy, half way between the barn and house, running +toward the latter, and he saw the fourth Indian, leaning far over from +his pony's side, swooping down upon the boy. The warrior looked back +toward the house and in that instant's glimpse Al noted that he was a +huge fellow, over six feet tall and that along his left cheek, down his +neck and clear out on his naked shoulder, extended a long, livid scar as +of an old and terrible wound by a sabre or knife. Again Al fired. But +the Indian was some distance away and the bullet apparently missed him +altogether. Before Al could get another aim the savage had caught Tommy, +screaming and struggling, from the ground and, swinging him up on the +pony's back, had ridden swiftly after his companions. + +For a moment Al was beside himself with grief and rage. His brother was +being carried away under his very eyes, probably to torture and death, +and he could do nothing. He ran out madly after the fleeing Indians, +shouting senseless threats and waving his arms. But he dared not fire, +for the last rider held Tommy, struggling fiercely in his iron grip, as +a shield between himself and pursuing bullets. In a few seconds all the +Indians had disappeared in the strip of woods and then Al remembered his +mother and sister. He abandoned his futile pursuit and ran to the house, +not even glancing at the dead Indian in the yard nor the one before the +door. Rushing into the kitchen, he threw himself in a paroxysm of grief +beside his father's body, crying out to him and vainly striving to +discover a sign of life in the quiet face, already grown so peaceful +under the soothing touch of death. At length, with dry, silent sobs +shaking his body, he rose slowly to his feet, closed and locked the +door, composed his father's limbs and spread a cloth over his face. Then +he picked up the musket, got the powder horn and box of bullets from the +shelf, and, with one last glance at the still form on the floor, ran +swiftly through the house and out, striking directly down the slope +toward the marshy ground along the creek. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE FLIGHT THROUGH THE DARKNESS + + +Al had almost reached the nearest reeds when he heard a shot off to his +left and looking in that direction saw Spot, the cow, sink to her knees +and then topple over on her side. An Indian with rifle held aloof, +exulting over this piece of slaughter, was galloping toward her. Al +crouched low and ran into the reeds. + +"Mother! Mother!" he called, softly, for the Indian was too far away to +hear. + +"Here," answered his mother's voice, not far off, and in a moment he had +crept to her. Annie, crying softly, was beside her, and they were lying +well hidden in a dense thicket of reeds close to the creek. + +"Where is your father?" whispered Mrs. Briscoe, the instant he reached +her, gazing at him with wide, terror-stricken eyes. + +"Why, he--he--can't come now," Al faltered. + +"He is killed," said Mrs. Briscoe, simply, in a lifeless voice. + +Her son did not look at her. + +"Yes," he said, almost inaudibly. + +It seemed to him that the end of all things was closing down upon them. +His mother did not weep; she was past tears. She did not even move, but +her face was almost like chalk. + +"And Tommy?" she asked presently. + +"The Indians have carried him away," answered Al. + +Mrs. Briscoe bowed her head upon her knees. + +"Oh, my little boy, my baby boy!" she moaned. "Why should I live any +longer with them gone?" + +Al, stunned by the tragedies of the past few minutes, had nearly reached +the lowest depths of despair. He felt numb and helpless, but at his +mother's heartbroken cry a sudden rush of vitality and determination +reanimated him. He recalled his father's words: "Remember that your +first care must be your mother and your little brother and sister." He +leaned forward and put his arm around his mother's shoulders. + +"Mother," he said, "don't say that. You must live for Annie's sake and +mine,--and Tommy's. We shall get him back; they will not hurt him, he +is so young and bright. When we reach the fort the soldiers will send +out after him." + +By a mighty effort Mrs. Briscoe controlled herself. Her son's words had +aroused her. + +"You are right, Al," she said. "I must live for you and Annie and Tommy. +But can we start for the fort now?" + +"I am afraid we shall have to stay here till dark," he replied. "The +Indians are still around. I will crawl up where I can get a look." + +Leaving the musket beside his mother he crept up through the reeds +until, by raising his head cautiously, he could see the house, about +three hundred feet away at the top of the slope. An Indian was coming +out of the barn leading Chick and Monty, both animals rearing and +plunging wildly, for a horse brought up in civilization fears an Indian +as much as he does a wolf. Al also saw columns of smoke beginning to +arise from the roofs of the house and barn and realized with a terrible +pang that his father's body was about to be incinerated in the ruins of +his home. He felt a mad desire to rush from his concealment upon the +savages and to fight them single-handed. But he restrained himself, for +he realized that he would have no chance even against the four who were +certainly there and who, for all he knew, might now have been joined by +others. He lay there watching until the house and barn were wrapped in +flames. Then two of the Indians rode out in opposite directions and +making wide detours, circled around toward the swampy tract. Then he +crept hastily back to his mother and gave her the revolver, the two +empty chambers of which he had already re-loaded, himself taking the +musket. + +"They are going to search for us, mother," he whispered. "We must keep +perfectly still. If they should find us and I should be hit, shoot Annie +and then yourself. Never let them take you alive. But if there are only +four of them we still have a good chance." + +No more was said, and for a long time they lay quiet, their ears +sharpened to unnatural keenness, listening to the snapping of reeds in +the marsh to the east and west of them but never very close. The +conviction at last came upon Al that their hunters, few in number, were +afraid rather than anxious to find them, and he began to breathe easier. +After more than an hour had elapsed he heard horses splashing in the +creek above their hiding-place, and presently he crept again to the edge +of the reeds. The house and barn were smouldering heaps of ashes, and +the wagon was gone. No one was around the ruins but presently he saw, +far off on a rise of the prairie to the eastward several horsemen, mere +specks in the distance. He conjectured that it was the party which had +wrought their ruin, bound for the Millers, their nearest neighbors, +seven miles away. He wished ardently that he might warn the Millers but +it was out of the question, so he went back to his mother and sister, +and through the remaining hours of the afternoon and until darkness fell +they lay in their concealment. Then very cautiously, under cover of the +darkness, he piloted them across the creek, over several hills and low +places, and so at last, two or three miles south of the claim, into the +faintly marked road leading away to Fort Ridgely. + +It is needless to enter into the details of that long and +nerve-wracking journey. Not a moment of it was free from the dreadful +fear of encountering enemies in the darkness, and, exhausted by +excitement and grief, they dragged their way through the night, stopping +every few yards to listen or peer into the gloom. Annie, utterly worn +out, sometimes fell to the ground asleep, and then Al and Mrs. Briscoe +had to take turns carrying her. Here and there at wide intervals around +the vast circle of the horizon appeared a far distant, dull, yellow glow +which they knew only too well must arise from other wrecked and burning +homes like their own. Now and then the exhaustion of Mrs. Briscoe and +Annie compelled them to sink down for a few moments' rest and it was +almost daybreak when they finally reached a point which Al knew must be +close to the cabin of the Olsens, about eight miles from Fort Ridgely, +though they could see nothing of the house in the darkness. Evidently, +therefore, it had not been burned, else they could have discerned the +smouldering embers. Al saw the first faint streaks of dawn in the East +and, realizing that they dared go no further by daylight, he led the +way to a small clump of timber which he remembered, lying about a +quarter of a mile east of the Olsens' buildings. He found a safe +hiding-place for his mother and sister in a dense thicket of bushes +under the trees, within a few feet of which he could himself lie and +have a clear view of the Olsen house and its immediate vicinity. Here +they remained until probably ten o'clock in the morning, Al all the time +keeping a close watch on the house. Not a person nor an animal was about +the place save a few chickens which he could see scratching in the yard, +and he concluded that the Olsens must have been warned, perhaps by Mr. +Briscoe himself on his homeward ride, and had escaped to the fort the +day before. The Briscoes had not tasted food since the previous noon, +and though neither his mother nor Annie would confess to being hungry, +Al knew that they all needed nourishment in order to be able to continue +their journey after nightfall. He determined to creep up to the deserted +house in the hope of finding some food there, if nothing more than a few +eggs in the log stable. Handing the revolver to his mother and dragging +the musket along beside him, he made his way with painful slowness +across the strip of open prairie between the woods and the house. On his +way he saw nothing to alarm him, though he noted that just west of the +house was a rise in the prairie, evidently concealing a depression +beyond, into which he could not see. But no tree tops were visible over +the rise, and he did not believe that any Indians would attempt to hide +in an open valley. He made a hurried search through the house, which +consisted of a single room, and was rewarded by finding a scant +half-loaf of very stale bread. Nothing else could he find, for the +family had evidently taken all their possessions, including food, in +their flight. He was just about to start to the stable in a search for +eggs when his heart suddenly seemed to stop beating at the sound of +galloping hoofs just back of the house. To his startled ears it sounded +like a hundred horses. His only thought was to get back to his mother +and sister and, seizing the musket, he dashed out of the doorway and +leaped away toward the trees, casting only one glance behind. It showed +him a group of eight or ten mounted Indians just riding up on the other +side of the house. His apprehension was such that he did not notice that +they were dressed in civilized garments until he heard a voice shout in +English and in a reassuring tone; + +"Wait, boy, wait! we no hurt you!" + +He ventured another glance behind and saw all the party save one +standing still, their rifles held aloft in sign of peace. The remaining +one was still riding toward him but his rifle was also held up. Al +realized that they could easily have shot him in his tracks had they +wished, and their failure to do so encouraged him. He halted while the +lone Indian rode up to him, dismounted and extended his hand, which Al +hesitatingly took. But the grasp was hearty and firm. + +"We no hurt you," repeated the Indian. "We Christian Indian from Yellow +Medicine. We hunting for whites to save from the bad M'dewakantons that +make the much kill. We take you to Fort Ridgely. More white people +there?" He pointed to the timber toward which Al had been running. + +The boy hesitated a moment. The Indian's appearance and words, and +still more his manner, inspired his confidence, and he found a brighter +hope springing up within him than he had felt since his father's death. +But should he trust his mother and Annie to these Indians when they had +just suffered so terribly at the hands of others of the same race? +Perhaps they were deceiving him in order to draw the rest of his party +into their power and would then kill or torture them all. But, on the +other hand, if the Indians were hostile he was already at their mercy, +so his protection was lost to his mother and sister. Could they make +their way to the fort alone if he should deny their presence now and go +with the Indians himself, either to safety or death? He did not believe +they could. But something kept telling him he must trust the Indian who +stood before him, so friendly and earnest. He was every inch an Indian +but his face lacked the expression of savage ferocity borne on the faces +of the war party which had attacked them the day before. It seemed +softened by better influences, and Al could hardly believe that he was +treacherous. He took his difficult resolution. + +"Yes," he answered. "There are more over there." + +The Indian smiled. "Good," said he. "We take you all to the fort. You go +get them." Then he added a little proudly, "We save since yesterday, +one, two, six white family." + +Al went into the woods and informed his mother that rescuers had come to +them and, without mentioning their character, led her and Annie out. +Mrs. Briscoe was much alarmed when she first saw the party of Indians +assembled to meet them, but the latter greeted her so kindly and +sympathetically that she soon felt easier. Three of the red men +dismounted in order that she and Annie and Al might ride; and so, with +the Indians leading their ponies, the cavalcade started southward at +once in the direction of the fort. Al found that his confidence had not +been misplaced, for in less than two hours they rode into the fort, safe +but very weary and depressed. + +Fort Ridgely was nothing more than a collection of buildings,--quarters +for troops, storehouses, stables, and the other structures necessary for +a permanent military establishment, standing on an exposed hill +surrounded by ravines and having no stockade or other defences whatever +around it; for it was designed merely as a cantonment and supply depot +and not as a defensive fortification. When the Briscoes entered it on +that afternoon of August 19, it presented a scene of confusion and +distress hard to imagine. It was thronged with refugees,--men, women, +and children, from all the surrounding country, many of them destitute +of everything save the clothes they wore. Some were wounded or badly +burned in escaping from houses set on fire by their assailants; and +others were arriving now and then who had escaped almost miraculously +from the devastated section about the Lower Agency or from more distant +points in other directions. These people were being fed from the stores +in the Government warehouse; and the post barracks were not large enough +to accommodate them, for, fortunately, more troops had arrived since the +day before. + +Mrs. Briscoe soon found a friend in the warm-hearted Mrs. Olsen, who, as +Al had conjectured, had come in on the previous day with her husband +and children after having received warning of the uprising from Mr. +Briscoe. Mrs. Olsen burst into tears on learning of the sad fate of the +man to whom they very likely owed their own lives, and of the carrying +off of poor little Tommy. She instantly brought them food, and after +they had refreshed themselves, she insisted on Mrs. Briscoe and Annie +taking her bed in their covered wagon and resting, at least until more +commodious quarters could be found for them. Having seen his mother and +sister thus as comfortably cared for as present circumstances would +permit, Al started out to look for another place for them which would +not so greatly inconvenience the Olsens, and to learn what could be done +about sending pursuers after the Indians who had carried away Tommy. + +Making his way among the groups of people, many of them disconsolate and +weeping, and among the wagons, the animals, and the heaps of household +goods scattered in confusion over the open parade ground in the centre +of the fort, Al suddenly felt a hand slap his shoulder while a familiar +voice said, + +"Hello, Al Briscoe! When did you get here?" + +He looked around and saw Wallace Smith, a young fellow of about his own +age, whom he had met at the fort several times during the past year when +he had come in after supplies. Wallace's father kept a general +merchandise store just outside the fort, at which the Briscoes had done +most of their trading, and it was toward this store that Al was walking +when he encountered Wallace. + +"I just came in with my mother and sister," returned Al, shaking hands, +and then he related briefly the events of the last twenty-four hours. +Wallace was very sympathetic and at once took Al to the store. Here Mr. +Smith told him that he would find a place for Mrs. Briscoe and Annie to +sleep that night, in one of the rooms occupied by his own family above +the store. As for Al, he could sleep in the store itself, in company +with a number of men who were to be accommodated there. But when Al +mentioned his hope of having an immediate pursuit made after Tommy's +captors, Mr. Smith shook his head. + +"I'm afraid you will find it can't be done now, my boy," he said. "There +are too few men here. But you can see the commanding officer and ask +him." + +The boys, accordingly, left the store and walked toward the headquarters +building. + +"Can't the Indians capture this place pretty easily" asked Al, looking +about. "I don't see what there is to keep them back." + +Wallace looked serious. "Well, I don't know," he answered. "The officers +seem to think we can stand them off if they come, and I'm afraid they +surely will. Most of the men are busy now putting the buildings in shape +for defence. There are about a hundred soldiers of the Fifth Minnesota +Infantry here, for Lieutenant Sheehan was recalled by a messenger sent +yesterday, and he got back with his men a little while ago. He is in +command now. Have you heard about Captain Marsh?" + +Al had not. + +"Why, he marched for the Lower Agency yesterday morning with forty-five +men, as soon as he heard of the outbreak there. They were ambushed by +the Indians at the ferry across the Minnesota and, though they seem to +have fought splendidly, all the men were killed except fifteen, who +finally got back here. Captain Marsh himself was drowned in trying to +swim the river. So, you see, there is a third of our force cut off at +one blow. But a messenger was sent after Major Galbraith,--he is the +agent, you know, at the Upper Agency,--at the same time that one went +for Lieutenant Sheehan. Major Galbraith started yesterday for St. Paul +with a company of half-breed recruits for the Union army. They are +called the Renville Rangers. They ought to be back here pretty soon and +will add fifty more men. Then there are a good many refugees, probably +one hundred, who can fight, and we have several cannon, with a regular +army sergeant in charge of them. The Indians, you know, are deadly +afraid of cannon. So we ought to be able to make a pretty good defence, +though I wish there were a stockade." + +"Did you say that Major Galbraith's company is made up of half-breeds?" +inquired Al, remembering with a shudder the evil face of the wretch who +had shot his father and whom he himself had killed. + +"Yes. But most of them are reliable fellows, otherwise they would not +be willing to leave their country and go South to fight the rebels." + +By this time they had reached the headquarters building, and Al saw, +standing in front of it, five or six of the Indians who had brought them +in. + +"Who are those Indians, Wallace?" he asked. "They are some of the party +who rescued us." + +Wallace looked closely at the red men, who were standing idle with their +ponies, evidently waiting for some one who was inside the building. + +"Why, those are Sissetons from the Upper Agency," he said. "Probably +John Otherday, Solomon Twostars or some of the Renvilles are with them. +They have been going around the country all to-day and last night, +warning white people and bringing them in and there are other parties of +Sissetons and Wahpetons doing the same thing; though it's mighty +dangerous business, for the hostiles are almost as bitter against them +as against the whites. Very few of the Upper Indians seem to have joined +the uprising. They are mostly Christians, you know, and their conduct +shows the great work of the missionaries." + +The boys entered the headquarters building, and though Lieutenant +Sheehan was surrounded by many men, all urgently anxious to transact +their business with him, Al presently found an opportunity to tell him +of Tommy's capture and to ask that men be sent after him. The officer +listened intently to the story and when it was finished, laid his hand +kindly on Al's shoulder. + +"My boy," said he, with much emotion, "God knows, I wish I could send +men after your brother instantly; I know how you feel and especially how +your mother must feel, and I would gladly do it for your poor father's +sake, for he was a gallant officer in the Mexican War. But there are two +dozen people here already who have lost members of their families in the +same way; and for many of them the situation is much worse than yours, +because those they have lost are grown and are likely to be killed or +tortured by the Indians, while your brother is a child, and I don't +believe they will hurt him. But I have had to tell every one the same +thing; I can do nothing now. This place is likely to be attacked by a +thousand or more Indians at any moment and we have not one-tenth enough +men to defend it properly. Not a man can be spared from here now, for it +will be all we can do to save ourselves and all these women and children +from massacre. Probably in a few days we shall have hundreds of troops +from St. Paul and the East, and then we can go after these infernal red +murderers and punish them and rescue their living victims. But, +meantime, you must be prepared to stand with the rest of us in defending +your mother and little sister. And I think you are a lad who will do +your share." He glanced approvingly at Al's straight figure and steady +eyes. + +"I shall try to, sir," answered Al. + +"I know you will," said the Lieutenant. "You had better go and help the +men who are working on the storehouse." + +He pointed to the building mentioned and then turned to several men who +were waiting for him; while Al, very much downcast at his failure but +still feeling a little more hopeful of Tommy's safety because of +Lieutenant Sheehan's words, walked out again with Wallace. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +BESIEGED IN FORT RIDGELY + + +The remainder of that afternoon and the following night passed without +serious alarms, but it was heavy with labor for the little garrison. The +roofs of the storehouses and of the barracks for enlisted men were +covered with earth to protect them against fire arrows, and their sides +were loop-holed. Earth and log barricades were erected at various points +overlooking the heads of ravines. Little could be done to protect the +officers' frame quarters or the log stables and outbuildings, which lay, +much exposed, at the western corner of the fort. Early in the evening +Major Galbraith's Renville Rangers came into the fort, forty-five +strong, weary with a twelve-hour forced march from St. Peter, where they +had been overtaken by the courier sent to recall them. A large majority +of these men remained loyal to their duty during the ensuing days but a +few of them, their slumbering ferocity roused by the reports of the +uprising of their savage kindred, skulked away and joined the hostiles, +committing before they left an act of dastardly treachery. Several small +cannon, in charge of the gallant Ordnance Sergeant John Jones, of the +United States regular army, were placed in commanding positions in the +fort, and that night a heavy chain guard was posted all around the +place. But, though several false alarms were given, no Indians appeared, +and the night passed in reasonable quiet. Mrs. Briscoe, still too +overwhelmed with dumb grief to do more than mechanically comply with the +arrangements made for her and Annie by Al and her friends, passed the +night not uncomfortably in the hospitable but over-crowded home of the +Smiths; and Al slept with a dozen men and boys, including Wallace, on +the floor of the store below, his musket and revolver beside him. + +The early part of the next day was spent like the one preceding it, in +further strengthening the barricades and buildings, in cleaning weapons, +and, beyond that, simply in endless discussion of the ghastly events of +the past few days and uneasy speculation upon the future. Though many of +the refugees would have gladly given all that remained of their +shattered fortunes to get to St. Paul or some other place of assured +security, the attempt was not to be thought of, for it was known that +the hostiles were skulking all about the post and any party which might +start out for the East would undoubtedly be set upon and destroyed. A +few scattered survivors of the massacre continued to come in now and +then, exhausted, famished, often wounded, and always nearly insane from +the unnumbered perils and rigorous hardships through which they had +passed. An attack on the fort was expected at any time, as Lieutenant +Sheehan's words to Al had indicated, and the only cause for wonder was +that it had not come sooner. Indeed, had the defenders but known it, +Little Crow had been urgent in the councils of the Indians for an +overwhelming assault on Fort Ridgely on the evening of the eighteenth, +immediately after the bloody defeat of Captain Marsh's detachment. But +some of his more cautious followers opposed the plan on the ground that +many of the warriors were still out over the country, murdering settlers +and destroying property, so that the full strength of their forces could +not yet be brought against the fort. This view was eagerly sustained by +the strong element among the hostiles who were opposed to the whole +outbreak on principle, seeing in it nothing but ultimate disaster for +their people, yet who did not dare openly to champion the cause of the +whites for fear of being summarily dealt with by their more violent +associates. This element hoped that a delay in the attack on the fort +might enable the whites to gather a sufficient force there to repulse it +when it should be made, and assuredly the delay had rendered it possible +for the defenders to place the post in a much better state of defence by +the afternoon of August 20 than it had been two days before. + +It was about one o'clock on that hot, still afternoon when Al and +Wallace stepped out of the Smiths' store, having just finished their +dinner. They were about to start over to the storehouse of the fort, +where some work was still being done, when Wallace noticed a loose horse +wandering down into one of the ravines not far from the store. + +"That's one of our horses," he exclaimed. "He must have slipped his +halter. If he goes far the Indians will catch him. Come on; let's get +him!" + +Followed by Al, he dashed into the stable for a halter and then started +on a run for the ravine. The latter was quite wide and thickly fringed +with bushes and small trees, while the bottom of it was carpeted with +luxuriant grass, which the horse was nibbling as they came up. But their +appearance startled him and with a snort he leaped past them and +galloped on some distance further, when he again halted. The boys +followed, Wallace this time approaching more diplomatically and saying +in a soothing tone, + +"Come, Frank; come boy! Nice boy!" + +"He'll give you a jolt in the ribs if you get too close," warned Al, as +he noticed the animal begin to edge his hind feet around in the +direction of Wallace. + +But Frank was not so mischievous as he looked; for in a moment Wallace +had the halter on his head and the boys were just about to turn again up +the ravine toward the fort, when, without the least warning, there +sprang from the bushes not ten yards behind them two Indian warriors, +dressed only in breech-clouts and both armed with bows and arrows. +Uttering not a sound they sprang toward the boys with the evident +intention of taking them alive. Al and Wallace were too dumbfounded to +move until the Indians were almost upon them. Then Wallace dropped the +horse's halter and, catching up a heavy stick lying at his feet, hurled +it at the head of one of the warriors. It caught the savage fairly +across the face and he reeled for an instant from the force of the blow, +while his companion, somewhat daunted, halted also. The boys ran at full +speed up the ravine, not even pausing to note the effect of Wallace's +throw, which he afterward admitted had found its mark by pure accident. +They had gone but a few yards when an arrow whizzed past Al's head and +struck in the ground in front of them. They only ran the faster. A +half-dozen more arrows flew by them and then Wallace uttered a cry of +pain as one struck him fairly in the left arm. But by this time, +fortunately, they were at the head of the ravine and only a few feet +from the nearest buildings. Al stole a glance behind him, to see that +their two pursuers had been joined by more than a dozen others; and then +the boys dashed around the corner of the building, out of range, +shouting at the tops of their voices, + +"Indians! Indians!" + +All over the fort men sprang to their feet, seized their guns, and such +as were not already behind them rushed to the barricades and protected +buildings. But by no means all of them had reached cover when a +scattering, but numerous volley of musket shots and arrows was poured +into the fort, not only out of the ravine from which the boys had +escaped but from a number of others. Al then saw why the Indians +following them had not fired on them with guns, for that would have +spoiled the contemplated surprise of the fort, which their unexpected +appearance in the ravine in pursuit of Frank had, perhaps, precipitated. + +The defenders replied to the Indian fire so promptly and vigorously +that the savages fell back from their first rush and concealed +themselves about the heads of the ravines, whence they began a steady +and well-sustained fire. The women and children, however, had nearly all +reached places of shelter, when Al hurried up to the Smiths' store after +his musket and revolver, almost dragging Wallace who, beside himself +with pain, was frantically trying to pull the deeply imbedded arrow from +his arm. They encountered Mr. Smith and his wife, accompanied by Mrs. +Briscoe and Annie, who were fleeing from the exposed store, through +which the Indian bullets were crashing, to the shelter of the barracks +building. + +"Here, Al," cried Mr. Smith, thrusting the latter's musket, revolver, +and ammunition into his hands. "Don't go in there; you'll be killed. +Come on, Wallace. God, lad, are you hurt?" + +Wallace made no reply, but all of them ran, crouching low, to the +barracks, which they reached safely after a race of a few rods, though +it seemed like a mile with the bullets and arrows whistling about them. +Here Dr. Alfred Muller, the brave assistant surgeon of the fort, aided +by his heroic wife, took charge of Wallace and soon had the arrow +extracted from his arm and the painful, though not serious, wound +properly dressed. It was the first of nearly a score of similar cases +which the Mullers were called upon to treat in Fort Ridgely. Wallace was +much distressed at his inability to take his place with the defenders, +but Al and Mr. Smith had to leave him in the surgeon's charge and hasten +out to join the rest of the active garrison. On their way they +encountered Sergeant Jones, working desperately with several other men +over the vent of one of the small cannon. Al had already wondered dimly +why he had heard none of the cannon firing, but he understood after Mr. +Smith had asked, + +"Why don't you open with the guns, sergeant? It would scare the Indians +worse than anything." + +"Can't," replied the sergeant, without looking up from his work. "Some +of Major Galbraith's infernal half-breeds have spiked every one of the +guns and then skipped out. But I'll have them in action in a few +minutes." + +He continued boring furiously with the drill he was using to clear the +nail from the gun's vent and in a moment he shouted, + +"Hooray! She's clear!" Then he added, addressing the cannoneer of the +detachment, "Give them two-second shell and spherical case, fast as you +can work her. Sweep the head of the ravine and aim low. I'll see if I +can open the next one." + +Drill in hand, he rushed away toward another gun some distance off, +totally oblivious to the fire opened on him as soon as he appeared on +the open ground. Mr. Smith and Al followed him and took their places +among a number of others already there, behind a log barricade which +stood not far from the next gun and facing the post stables out beyond +the western corner of the fort. The men around them were chiefly +refugees and some of them were greatly excited, firing rapidly and +without aim, while a few others crouched down and did not attempt to +shoot at all. There were no officers among them and no one seemed to be +in command. + +"Don't fire without something to aim at, Al," said Mr. Smith. "Wait +till you see the flash of a gun or a movement in the grass and then +shoot at the spot." + +Mr. Smith was armed with a muzzle-loading rifle, which he was firing +very slowly and carefully, and Al followed his example, for neither of +them had much ammunition. Mr. Smith knew that the other men with them +were not much better off, for the small arms ammunition supply of the +fort was perilously low, and he tried with some success to induce them +to fire more deliberately. The panic-stricken skulkers, however, he +could not arouse to their duty. They merely lay still and cursed him +when he told them to get up and sneered at their cowardice. + +Out to their left, Sergeant Jones was still trying unsuccessfully to +open the vent of the field-gun. Occasionally the boom of the gun which +he had already repaired roared out above the crackle of musketry, and in +the ravine which its fire was sweeping the Indians gave way and retired. +Presently he succeeded in getting the second gun into action, and the +assailants disappeared from that front also; and by the time he had them +all working the Indians had become discouraged. Their fire gradually +slackened, and as night approached, their main body drew off; though +enough warriors still remained in well concealed places to maintain a +desultory fire, and the weary garrison, resting on their arms, caught +but fitful repose through the hours of darkness, for no one could tell +when the attack might be renewed. + +The fort remained in a state of siege all the next day until near +evening, the garrison taking reliefs in guarding the defences. But about +dusk the Indian fire ceased altogether, and total silence settled over +the hillsides, which for thirty hours had echoed the turmoil of battle. +Three soldiers lay dead within the fort and eight others of the garrison +were wounded. The quiet which reigned through the night and the morning +of the twenty-second was more disturbing than the uproar which had +preceded it. While the latter prevailed, the garrison at least knew +where their enemies were and what they were doing, while now no one +could tell what new and formidable plans they might be hatching. No one +believed that they had given up the hope of taking the fort and those in +the garrison most familiar with the Indian methods of warfare regarded +it as certain that they were making ready for a final, great assault. + +Early on the afternoon of the twenty-second it came, beginning with a +sudden and tremendous volley fired into the fort from all sides at once. +The Indians, in a seemingly countless horde, then sprang up and made a +rush for the fort, which seemed about to be overwhelmed by sheer weight +of numbers. But the garrison was in position and ready for them. Volley +after volley poured into the approaching mass of savages, while the +shells of the artillery tore through their ranks. Unused to bearing the +losses of an open, stand-up fight, the Indians quickly gave way and fled +back to the ravines, where, however, they remained, stubbornly pouring +in an intense fire, which searched every portion of the fort. Little +Crow was some distance behind the Indian lines, directing the general +attack, while on the field itself, Mankato, Good Thunder, Big Eagle and +other veteran chiefs were leading the savage hosts, which outnumbered +the garrison five to one. They pressed the attack relentlessly. Musket +and rifle balls tore through the officers' wooden quarters and other +exposed structures, and now and then a fire arrow whizzed through the +air and struck its blazing torch into one of the frame buildings. Soon +several of the latter, including the Smiths' store, broke into flames +and the roar of the conflagration added to the terrifying confusion of +the battle, while stifling smoke clouds rolled across the field, both +blinding and choking the defenders. + +But though the attack was vigorous all along the line, it was especially +so at the western corner of the fort, where the Indians had discovered +that if they could gain possession of the exposed stables they could +command and render untenable a considerable extent of the interior +defences. Al was at the same barricade which he had occupied two days +before, but it was being defended now chiefly by men of the Renville +Rangers, who were fighting as courageously as the best of veterans. All +at once Al saw Lieutenant Sheehan and Lieutenant Gorman, of the Rangers, +run up to the field gun near them, and heard Sheehan cry to the gunners: + +"Fire shell into the left of those stables! Set them afire if you can. +The Indians are trying to get in them." + +Then the officers ran on to their barricade. + +"Boys," shouted Lieutenant Gorman to the Rangers, "those stables on the +right must be burned. Come on! Don't go near the ones on the left; the +cannon is going to knock them to pieces. Hurry up!" + +He sprang across the barricade, and a number of the men without the +least hesitation darted after him over the exposed ground in front, +their guns trailing beside them and their heads bent low. Hardly +thinking what he was doing but eager to be of service, Al followed them, +and in the general uproar he did not hear Lieutenant Sheehan shouting to +him to come back. The distance was not great, and though the bullets +seemed to rain around them, almost before he knew it Al found himself +with Lieutenant Gorman and his dusky companions inside the stable, and +none of them hurt. Under Lieutenant Gorman's quick orders, the Rangers +snatched up handfuls of hay, lighted them, and blew them into flames +along the inner walls of the building. But Al, during the moment they +were thus occupied, peered out through an opening in the western end of +the stable. What he saw alarmed him. There were Indians everywhere, just +below the edge of the hill out of the direct line of fire from the fort, +and a number of them were actually along the outside wall of the stable +itself. Al thrust his revolver through the opening and fired three times +in rapid succession, with what effect he never knew, for he heard +Lieutenant Gorman shout, + +"She'll burn now. Come on, get away! Get away!" + +The inner walls of the stable were a seething mass of flames as they +fled through the doorway, hearing as they ran the crash and explosion of +a shell in the stables beside the one which they had just left. As he +sprang back behind the barricade again, Al felt a hand grasp him roughly +by the arm, and heard Lieutenant Sheehan's voice saying in his ear: + +"You young rascal, what do you mean by running out like that and +risking your life? You're not a soldier; I didn't order you out. What +would your mother and sister do if you were killed?" + +This aspect of the matter had not occurred to Al before. He began to +reply, in penitent confusion, + +"Why,--I don't know, sir. I--" + +"Well, hang it, don't do it again, that's all," broke in the officer. +Then he added, while a half smile came over his face, powder-grimed and +wet with perspiration: "Anyhow, you're a plucky youngster. Your father +would be proud of you." + +"I should say he is plucky," interjected Gorman. "He started to clean +out the redskins over there, but hadn't time to finish the job." + +The two officers disappeared through the smoke up the line, and Al +resumed his methodical musket practice, the Rangers around him now and +then glancing at him approvingly, though he did not notice it. + +The fire along their immediate front relaxed a little as the stables +blazed into ruins and the assailants found that they could not utilize +this coveted point of vantage. But the Indians clung to the ravines +with a stubbornness truly amazing, the utmost efforts of the artillery +failing to dislodge them. Presently one of the Rangers kneeling beside +Al, with a gesture of despair threw down his gun,--a cumbersome, +old-fashioned weapon of the type called "Harper's Ferry muskets," with +which all Major Galbraith's men were armed,--and exclaimed, + +"No more bullets!" + +It was an ominous announcement and one which was very soon followed by +others of similar nature, not only at their barricade, but all over the +fort. Consumed by the rapid fire which had been necessary to hold back +the fierce Indian attack, the small arms ammunition supply of the fort +was almost exhausted, and a few moments more of such work would see it +all expended. A dreadful contingency faced the defenders. With their +ammunition all gone, their assailants would be able to rush in and +slaughter them almost at will. One by one the men of the garrison ran +out of bullets and the fire perceptibly slackened. The Indians quickly +noticed this and, guessing the cause, redoubled their efforts. + +Al, thanks to his careful use of ammunition, still had quite a supply +left, but he saw with horror what the general situation was and realized +that unless something could be done to relieve it, they would all be +massacred in a few minutes. Being under no orders and wishing to be with +his mother and sister at the last moment, if this was really at hand, he +left the barricade and ran to the barracks building, where they were +crowded with the other noncombatants. A distressing scene met his eyes +as he entered. Many of the women were gathered in groups, weeping and +wringing their hands, their children clinging about them, while here and +there others knelt, praying aloud or absorbed in silent supplications. A +long row of wounded lay stretched on pallets at one side. But across the +room he saw another group, the only one in which the spirit of courage +and determination seemed still to prevail. To Al's surprise, his mother +was one of this party, apparently perfectly calm and her face lighted by +an expression of noble resolution and self-forgetfulness. With her were +several other women of like firm spirit, and two or three men, all of +them busily absorbed in some occupation around a stove in which a hot +fire was blazing. Al soon found that they were casting musket balls, +their supply of lead consisting of the flattened bullets of the Indians, +which men were gathering up outside and bringing to them to be +re-moulded. The rapidly increasing supply which they were thus preparing +was being augmented by some of Sergeant Jones's artillerymen, who were +opening spherical case shot and removing from them the balls, which +served perfectly for musket ammunition. Although Lieutenant Sheehan and +Sergeant Jones had thought of these providential expedients but a few +moments before, already small quantities of the new balls were being +taken out and distributed to the men in the defences, whose fire, +consequently, was resuming its former volume. + +His hope and enthusiasm all returned to Al as soon as he found that a +vigorous defence could still be maintained, and after an affectionate +embrace and a few words with his mother and Annie, he ran back again to +the barricade. It was not long after his return there, and late in the +afternoon, that the Indians once more made a determined effort to storm +the position. Marshalling their forces below the crest of the hill, they +rushed up from the ravines in throngs, brandishing their weapons and +whooping at the tops of their voices; while the flare of their +many-colored war-bonnets and robes, the tiger-like contortions of their +muscular, naked bodies, and the glint of rifle barrel and knife blade, +flashing back the rays of the sinking sun, made a spectacle as wildly +magnificent as it was awe-inspiring. But again the heroic garrison +proved equal to the emergency. From barricade and loop-holed wall the +infantry poured steady volleys into them, while the artillery, holding +its fire until the charge was well under way, lashed their ranks with +case shot. Though they had started forward with the utmost enthusiasm, +they soon began to hesitate and break. With their undisciplined methods +of fighting, the Indian does not live who could withstand such a fire. +In a moment they had halted, and a few seconds more saw them scurrying +back to the ravines, utterly repulsed, while from the throats of the +sturdy little garrison rose cheer after cheer of victory, and men leaped +upon the barricades and tossed their hats in the air. Every one felt +that the enemy had made his last, supreme effort, and such, indeed, +proved to be the case. The Indian fire gradually died away, and by +nightfall silence again reigned over Fort Ridgely, wrecked, smoking, and +shot-torn, but triumphant. + +The stables and outlying buildings, with the exceptions of the +guard-house and the magazine, were smouldering ruins; the officers' +quarters were riddled through and through; the storehouse and barracks +were pock-marked and splintered with bullets; nearly all the oxen and +mules belonging to the quartermaster's department were captured or +killed, and seven more wounded men lay beside those who had been injured +two days before. But the fight was won. Through the night the garrison +lay on their arms, watching the glare of distant conflagrations off to +the southeast, where the defeated Indians were burning farm-houses and +stacks as they marched on to the village of New Ulm, sixteen miles away. +Fort Ridgely remained undisturbed, though New Ulm, where two hundred and +fifty volunteer citizens under the command of Judge Charles E. +Flandreau had gathered to defend the town and the one thousand five +hundred non-combatants in refuge there, was desperately attacked next +day, almost wholly burned, and nearly captured by the infuriated +savages. Though the Indians seemed to be gone from their vicinity, the +occupants of Fort Ridgely were obliged to remain inert for several days +longer, and then, at last, on the morning of the twenty-seventh, their +eyes were gladdened by the sight of a large column of troops approaching +from the eastward, and the little army of Colonel H. H. Sibley, hastily +recruited and as yet poorly disciplined and wretchedly armed, but full +of ardor, marched into the quadrangle of shattered buildings amid the +cheers of the men and the tearful thanksgivings of the women. The +never-to-be-forgotten siege was over. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +REFUGEES + + +The arrival of Colonel Sibley's troops gave to the destitute refugees in +Fort Ridgely their first opportunity of turning from the desperate +struggle for immediate self-preservation in which they had been +ceaselessly involved for nine days, to contemplate fully the extent of +the disaster which had fallen upon them and to consider what their +future course must be. To most of them the Indian outbreak and its +consequent massacre and pillage had brought the total ruin of their +fortunes, for in general they were poor people who had come into the +West and started their homes on free Government land, in the hope of +acquiring comfort and modest fortunes through years of faithful labor. +But to the families which had been so fortunate as to remain intact, +losing no loved members at the hands of the savages, the disaster was +not irremediable. The property they had lost was not, in most cases, of +very great value, save as measured by labor; and as their lands still +remained to them, they could again enter into occupation as soon as +settled conditions were restored, and in a short time recover their +former positions. So, although a few such families lost heart and left +the country, most of them remained and lived to see the time when they +were very glad they had done so. + +But with the families which had been shattered by the savages, which had +lost father or mother or sons or daughters struck down in the slaughter, +the case was far different. And many, alas, were in this condition, for +more than one thousand white people had fallen victims to the Indians +along the desolated Minnesota frontier during those few mid-August days. +Where the head of a family had been lost, his widow and children must +either undertake to eke out a precarious existence on the devastated +claim from which they had been driven, surrounded by the hard conditions +of pioneer life, or they must return to the older parts of the country +whence they had originally come, and there seek the aid and protection +of relatives or friends. The first arrangement was often impossible, for +not many a widow with a family of small children could hope to sustain +herself in such a country, beautiful and fertile but at that time wild +and practically unbroken. For these reasons there was a long and doleful +procession of destitute people passing through St. Paul, Winona, and the +other towns along the Mississippi River on their way back to the more +easterly States during the days of late August and early September, +1862. They came from Fort Ridgely, from New Ulm, from Acton and Forest +City and Hutchinson and a score of other little settlements along the +border. Among these unfortunate people were to be found the survivors of +the Briscoe family, bound for St. Louis, Missouri. How they had finally +come to decide upon this course will require some explanation. + +When Al first realized, with the advent of Colonel Sibley's troops into +Fort Ridgely, that the Indians had been checked and the tide turned, and +that the white men were really setting about regaining possession of the +country, his first and greatest ambition was to set out at once for the +rescue of Tommy; his second was to visit the lonely and ruined cabin +twenty miles north of the fort and there give the remains of his father +tender burial. But he soon found that difficulties lay in the way of +accomplishing either of these desires. The army could not instantly +spring forth as one man and rush to the rescue of his brother. The +soldiers had to be prepared and provided for a campaign which, moreover, +even when inaugurated, must be carefully and methodically carried out. +Several hundred white captives, among whom it seemed almost certain that +Tommy would be found, were in the possession of the Indians. If a +precipitate attack should be made upon the latter their captives would, +past a doubt, be massacred to a soul. Their release must be accomplished +by diplomacy; the Indians must be made to realize that only by the safe +delivery of their prisoners could they hope to mitigate the stern +punishment which they had richly earned at the hands of the Government, +and which would surely be meted out to them sooner or later. To +accomplish the safe delivery of the captives might mean weeks of +careful work on the part of the friendly Indians in inducing the +hostile element to see the necessity for such action. It might require +numerous councils and it might require fighting, properly prepared for. + +All this meant that if Al were to take personal part in the rescue of +Tommy, they must stay at Fort Ridgely for some time to come; and to stay +at Fort Ridgely meant that they must have some money. Here was the most +distressing difficulty in the whole situation. The Briscoes had +absolutely nothing left; they were penniless. Even their few household +goods had been destroyed or carried away by the Indians and these goods, +together with their buildings and the handful of live stock and farm +implements on their claim, had constituted all their worldly +possessions. They had not always been in such a precarious condition; in +fact, two years before the period at which our story opens they would +not have dreamed that they could ever be reduced to such circumstances +as were theirs when we first saw them. + +In 1860 the Briscoes had been living in the prosperous little city of +Glasgow, Missouri, at that time an important centre of steamboat +traffic on the Missouri River, drawing to its numerous and +well-appointed stores the trade of a wide region of farms and +plantations, and to its wharves and warehouses the great crops of hemp +and tobacco, corn and grain, vegetables and live-stock with which the +whole rich country teemed. Mr. Briscoe's business, the retailing of +furniture, was extensive and profitable, his home was as comfortable and +attractive as any in the town, and his family lacked for none of the +comforts of life, while many of its luxuries were also theirs. Once or +twice a year, usually in the summer and winter, when there was something +of a lull in the business, they would make a trip to St. Louis, where +Mrs. Briscoe's sister, her only near relative, lived with her husband +and family. His parents had intended to send Al to an academy in St. +Louis in the Fall of 1861, to complete his preparatory education before +applying for an appointment as a cadet at West Point. Then came the +opening of the Civil War and the beginning of a rapid succession of +events in the family, which had forced the abandonment of this and of +all the other plans which they had cherished for the future. + +The opening of hostilities, precipitated by the attack on Fort Sumter, +produced a commercial and industrial effect upon the country at large +almost as calamitous as the political one; and this was particularly +true in the Border States, where sentiment was sharply divided. Mr. +Briscoe's business was one which depended to an unusual degree upon +conditions of general prosperity and tranquillity. When the people of +the community found their incomes destroyed or sharply cut down by +general conditions, they could and did get along without new furniture, +though they could not get along without groceries or clothing. His +business suffered on this account, but it suffered still more from other +causes. + +Mr. Briscoe had always commanded an unusual degree of popularity in +Glasgow since he had gone there, a youth, in 1844, because he had +enlisted for the Mexican War, among many other volunteers from the town +and from Howard County, in the First Regiment of Missouri Dragoons, +under Colonel Alexander W. Doniphan; an organization immensely popular +in central Missouri at the time. He had served through all the +wonderfully romantic campaigns of that regiment with gallantry and +distinction, coming out of the war a first lieutenant. He had won his +sergeantcy for saving the life of a comrade, another Glasgow youth, in +the fight at Brazitos, New Mexico, December 21, 1846; his second +lieutenantcy for faithfulness and courage during the long march from +Sante Fe to Chihuahua, and his first lieutenantcy for gallantry in the +capture of that city from a Mexican army five times as large as the +American force, on February 28, 1847. Consequently, on his return to +Glasgow he had been regarded as a hero, and the people could not do +enough for him, showing their favor in one most practical way by +bestowing as much of their trade upon him as they possibly could. He, in +turn, entertained the liveliest interest in the exciting events of the +Mexican War and the most profound and loyal regard for his old +commander, Colonel Doniphan. It was in the latter's honor that he +christened his eldest son Alexander Doniphan, and we have seen that he +even applied the fanciful names, Chihuahua and Montezuma,--shortened for +convenience to Chick and Monty,--to his horses, in memory of his days +below the Rio Grande. + +But the very fact that he had been one of Doniphan's men was equivalent +to a declaration that in spirit he was a sympathizer with the political +theories and social institutions at that time almost universally +accepted by the people of the Southern States, where slavery prevailed; +for it was among people of such convictions that Doniphan's regiment had +been almost wholly recruited. Because he had been one of them, everybody +so naturally assumed that his views agreed with those of his military +associates that he was seldom even called upon to express himself. When +he was, the fact that he said little, and that of a rather non-committal +character, only led people to believe that he did not care for +discussion and regretted the political unrest of the time, as, indeed, +did many others. This ill-defined position did very well until the +beginning of the period of intense agitation and bitterness immediately +following the election of Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency in the Fall +of 1860. He then found himself forced to face the issue frankly and +declare, not only to himself but to others, whether he intended to throw +in his fortunes with the South in the war which every one foresaw was +rapidly approaching, or to stand firmly by the Union. + +It was a bitterly hard choice for him to make and one which he deferred +as long as possible; for, though both he and his wife were of Northern +birth and ancestry, the most cherished associations of their lives had +been with Southern people, and they loved the South like their native +land. But he believed, and Mrs. Briscoe believed with him, that the +Southern idea of destroying the Union was absolutely wrong, and that a +true American citizen's allegiance was due, not to any one State or +section but to the nation. When, after much painful reflection, he found +himself unalterably committed to this conviction, he was a man of too +much courage not to declare it. His associates and fellow citizens in +the town learned of his attitude first with astonishment, then with +resentment, and finally with cold hostility. He had made his choice, he +had voluntarily arrayed himself against the dearest desires of their +hearts and what they conceived to be the most vital interests of their +lives. They turned from him as from a betrayer, a traitor, and he +suddenly found himself worse than a stranger in the community where for +fifteen years past he had been respected and beloved above most other +citizens. It was the sad story, as old as organized society, of the +dearest private associations torn asunder by the rancor of public +controversy. His business suddenly declined to almost nothing. It would +not have been so bad if he had made provision for the future. But it had +always been so easy to make money that he and his family had spent it +just as easily, for it had seemed that the business alone would always +continue to provide them with all they might need. His credit with the +wholesale houses of St. Louis and the East was large and unquestioned, +and when the trouble came his store was full of goods unpaid for. Too +long he struggled to dispose of his stock in a town whose people, all at +once, either could not or would not buy. Finally, when his creditors, +themselves pressed for money by the industrial depression, began to +harass him, he sold at ruinous sacrifices. But he could not stem the +tide. He was forced into bankruptcy, and stock, store building, home and +household goods, all went down in the yawning pit of debt; for such was +his sense of honor that he would withhold nothing in order to pay to +those who had trusted him the money to which they were justly entitled. +And he did pay it, dollar for dollar, to the last cent; but when it was +paid he had nothing left in the world except a little less than three +hundred dollars in cash, a few bits of cherished family silver and +bric-a-brac belonging to his wife, and a scanty stock of family +clothing. His brother-in-law in St. Louis, Mr. Colton, would gladly have +helped him, but he, also, had been brought to the verge of ruin by the +business upheaval, and Mr. Briscoe, well knowing this, declined to add a +particle to his burdens. + +To go into business again at such a time, in another town and without +capital, was not to be thought of. Neither was sufficiently remunerative +employment to be found, nor could he yet enter the Union army, as he +ardently desired to do, leaving his family destitute. The free +Government lands seemed to offer a home which they could acquire with +little difficulty, and a living in the meantime as cheap as could be +found anywhere. So they chose Minnesota and went to the claim north of +Fort Ridgely, where Mr. Briscoe hoped that in a few years he might +develop a farm and accumulate a little money. Then, if the war was not +yet over and his services were still needed, he might leave Al in charge +for a time and go to the front. + +Such, briefly, was the history of the Briscoe family up to the time when +we first met with them, and such their plans for the future, so rudely +interrupted by the calamities of the Indian outbreak. Without father, +without money, without agricultural implements or horses, and without +even a home to live in, with the whole country still overrun by hostile +savages, it was out of the question, after the relief of Fort Ridgely, +for them either to return to their claim or to remain where they were. +The only place in the world which seemed to offer a haven of refuge for +the time being, at least, was the home of Mrs. Briscoe's sister in St. +Louis. Pitying friends among the other almost equally destitute +refugees, even soldiers of the garrison who were touched by the wretched +plight of the little family and by Al's manly conduct during the siege, +contributed to a small fund sufficient to take them by steamboat to St. +Louis; and on one of the last days of August they started for St. Paul +with a large party, escorted by a detachment of soldiers. + +Before they left, Al and his mother asked and obtained an interview with +Colonel Sibley, concerning Tommy. Colonel Sibley was a man of great +prominence in Minnesota, having been elected the first Governor of the +State after its admission to the Union in 1858. At the time of the +Indian outbreak he was living at the mouth of the Minnesota River, where +Governor Ramsey sent for him to take command of the troops called out to +suppress the uprising, because of his great influence over the Indians +and his familiarity with their methods of warfare. He was a gentle, +kindly man, whose heart was torn by the loss and suffering of the people +along the western border of his State. Mrs. Briscoe and Al called at his +headquarters on the morning of the day they left for St. Paul. The +Colonel received them with his accustomed courtesy, asked them to be +seated and, himself taking a chair facing them, listened to Mrs. +Briscoe's sad story with deep and compassionate attention. When she had +finished he sat, seemingly lost in thought, for a short time, his chin +resting on his hand. Then he looked up at Mrs. Briscoe and said: + +"Madam, my heart bleeds for you. I wish that it were within my power to +restore your little son to you at once. I wish that you might remain in +Minnesota in order that you could sooner have the happiness of knowing +when he is recaptured. But neither you nor your son here," he glanced at +Al, "need feel that your absence will defer the little boy's rescue one +moment longer than if you remained here. The recovery of all the white +captives is now in the hands of my forces and we shall get them all as +soon as we possibly can. I give you my promise, Mrs. Briscoe; I will +personally see to it that he is sent to you in St. Louis as soon as it +can be done, and if there should be any delay you shall be promptly +notified of the facts. Your husband's remains shall also receive +Christian burial whenever a party can visit your claim, and in case any +of your property is found there which is of value, I will have it stored +here in Fort Ridgely until you return or send for it. Can you tell me, +my boy," he turned to Al, "anything of the appearance of the Indian who +carried away your brother which might help to identify him?" + +"I should know him again instantly, sir, if I saw him," Al replied. "He +was a tall fellow, over six feet, I think, and seemed very strong. He +had a deep scar, like a knife or sword cut, running down his left cheek +and along his neck and shoulder." + +"O-ho!" ejaculated the colonel. "That surely ought to make it easy if he +is an Indian belonging to any of the tribes in this region. Orderly!" + +Instantly a soldier opened the door, came to attention and saluted. + +"Tell Major Brown I want to see him." + +The orderly disappeared, but in a moment the door opened again admitting +Major Joseph R. Brown, a famous Indian trader who had been Major +Galbraith's predecessor as Indian agent at the Lower Agency, and who +was now in command of one of Colonel Sibley's companies of volunteers. +Probably no white man in Minnesota was personally acquainted with more +of the Indians in that section. Colonel Sibley and Al described to him +the Indian who had carried off Tommy, but Major Brown shook his head. + +"I know no Indian in these parts who answers to that description," he +replied. "He must be an outsider; perhaps a Yanktonais who has drifted +in because there was trouble in the air. There are probably a good many +of them around." + +This was disappointing intelligence yet enlightening in a way, for +though it indicated that Tommy was not in the clutches of any of the +Minnesota savages, at the same time it limited his captor to one of the +Dakota tribes further west and to that extent simplified the mystery of +his whereabouts and possible fate. Colonel Sibley, however, was still of +the opinion that he would be found with the other white captives when +these should be recovered, as he did not believe that a warrior from a +distant part of the country would care to burden himself permanently +with a prisoner. + +With such unsatisfactory conclusions Al and his mother were forced to be +content, and though somewhat encouraged by the hopeful and reassuring +words of Colonel Sibley, who did his best to cheer them, they began the +long journey toward St. Louis with heavy hearts. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +HOPE DEFERRED + + +It is not necessary to enter into the details of that trip, which was +devoid of unusual incidents. In due time the unfortunate family reached +their destination, where they were affectionately received by the +Coltons and taken into their home. Since the dark days at the beginning +of the war the Coltons had been obliged to give up their pleasant home +on Morgan Street, in what was then one of the most desirable residence +districts of the city, and had moved into a smaller house on Palm +Street, far up on the North Side and not many blocks from the St. Louis +Fair Grounds. Mr. Colton had succeeded in weathering his reverses and +still had his business, that of real estate, downtown; but it was in a +far from prosperous condition, and his income was hardly sufficient to +support him and his family, consisting of his wife and two small +children. He had had the misfortune, when a young man, to lose his left +arm at the elbow so that he was handicapped in the battle of life; but +he made up in mental capacity what he lacked in physical, so he had +always been able, until the beginning of the war, to make a comfortable +living. + +On the second evening after their arrival in St. Louis, when supper was +over, Mr. Colton asked Al to take a walk with him. They strolled west +across the open lots and along the thinly populated streets lying in the +direction of the Fair Grounds. Mr. Colton seemed rather abstracted and +talked but little; and presently Al asked, abruptly, + +"Uncle Will, your business isn't paying very well just now, is it?" + +"Well, no, it isn't, Al," Mr. Colton replied, apparently a little +startled by the question. "Why?" + +"I have been thinking ever since we got here," Al answered, "that our +coming to you as we have, without money or anything else, will add a +great deal to your expenses and other troubles. Of course I look forward +to repaying you in the future, so far as money can repay such kindness; +but that won't help just now, and I wish I could find some work to do +right away, so that I could earn enough to pay part of the living +expenses of Mother and Annie and myself." + +Mr. Colton laid his hand affectionately on Al's shoulder. + +"My boy," said he, "you are your father's true son. That is just what he +would have been thinking of in similar circumstances. I am glad you have +spoken of it, Al, for it is just that problem which has been troubling +me ever since you and your dear mother and little sister came. You know +how thankful I should be if I could provide you all with everything you +need and have no question of means enter into the matter." + +"Yes, I do know, Uncle Will," said Al, earnestly. + +Mr. Colton went on, "I should like to make your poor mother and Annie as +comfortable and easy in every way as possible and I should like to have +you continue with school until you are ready to take up your chosen +profession. But I do not see how I can compass these desires at present, +though perhaps I can later. I was just going to suggest that it would +probably be necessary for you to get employment for a while when you +spoke of it. I am more pleased than I can say that you thought of it +first, without any suggestion." + +"I don't see how any one could fail to understand the situation, sir," +answered Al. "Do you suppose I could find a place to-morrow?" + +"Quite likely. You can go down town with me in the morning, and during +the day we can call on several acquaintances of mine, some one of whom +may be able to give you as good a position as you can well fill to begin +with." + +Accordingly, quite early next morning they started for the business +district. Mr. Colton's office was more than two miles from his home and +they walked to Fifth Street and there took a horse car down town. The +first place at which they called was a large wholesale grocery house +whose proprietor, Mr. White, was a personal friend of Mr. Colton. The +latter held a brief private interview with him, rapidly relating the +circumstances under which the Briscoes had come to St. Louis, and then +Al was called in. Mr. White liked him from the first, and within half +an hour he was hard at work on an upper floor of the big warehouse, +assisting one of the shipping clerks in getting down, checking, and +sending out orders of goods. Mr. White had informed him that as soon as +he was sufficiently familiar with the stock and the method of checking +it out, he would himself be promoted to a position as shipping clerk. + +Though as time went on and the days lengthened into weeks, Al was +obliged to confess to himself that the business possessed few +attractions for him, yet he applied himself industriously to mastering +its details, feeling not only a sense of satisfaction in the knowledge +that he was winning his employer's confidence and approval, but a still +deeper pride in the fact that he was becoming able to bear a very +material share of the modest living expenses of himself and his mother +and sister. Although Mr. White imagined that Al's rapid progress in +familiarizing himself with his work was due to a natural aptitude for +the business, the fact was that he was simply determined to get ahead +and earn as much money as possible. A constant mental unrest, due +chiefly to his suspense over Tommy's fate, possessed him, and he tried +to soothe it as far as might be by becoming absorbed in his work. Beyond +his natural anxiety for his brother, however, though he did not exactly +realize it, was the repugnance to obligation, the unquenchable desire to +have his mother and sister independent, which was a characteristic +inherited from his sturdy father. He very soon qualified himself to take +his place as a shipping clerk, thus securing an advance in pay, which +enabled him still further to relieve his uncle's unwonted burdens. + +Thus the Autumn went by and Mrs. Briscoe began to look impatiently for +news from General Sibley, for they had been able to gather something in +a fragmentary way from the St. Louis papers of the events which had +taken place in Minnesota since they had left there, and they knew that +Colonel Sibley had been made a brigadier general of volunteers for his +skilful conduct of the Indian campaign. At length one day the +long-looked-for letter came. Mr. Colton brought it out from his office, +and with palpitating hearts the family gathered around Al while he read +it aloud; for Mrs. Briscoe was too much agitated to read it. The letter +was dated at Fort Snelling and was in General Sibley's own handwriting. +It read as follows: + + + _Mrs. Thomas Briscoe, St. Louis, Mo._ + + MY DEAR MADAM: It is with the deepest regret that I am obliged to + inform you that thus far our efforts to recover your young son from + his Indian captors have been unsuccessful. Late in September we + rescued about two hundred and fifty white prisoners near the Yellow + Medicine but he was not among them. We have also captured about two + thousand of the Indian miscreants who were prominent in the late + outbreak and massacre, and they are now being tried by a court + martial. Many of them are being convicted and will be executed. + Among them, however, is no individual satisfying the description of + the captor of your son Thomas, as given to me by your elder son. + + I have, however, received information which leads me to believe + that this man is a Yanktonais from the region of the Missouri + River, who is known to have been consorting with the Minnesota + Indians during the late outrages and who has since fled into Dakota + again. Indian prisoners whom I have interviewed claim that he took + with him a white boy, who, I have little doubt, is your son. The + several prisoners with whom I have conversed all agree that the + child appeared to be in good health when they saw him, though I + have been able to gather nothing further concerning him. + + It is quite possible that his captor may weary of holding your son + a prisoner during the coming winter and take him into one of the + fur-trading posts along the Missouri River. But, in case this + should not happen, I may say to you that it is the present + intention of the Government to send strong expeditions against the + hostile Indians about Devil's Lake and along the Missouri, next + summer. I may be in command of one of the columns; but, whether I + am or not, I beg to assure you that no efforts will be spared to + effect the release of your son and his speedy restoration to you. + Nor is it at all probable that such a thorough campaign as is now + contemplated will fail of the desired result, for it is the + Government's purpose to pursue the Indians relentlessly until their + last prisoner is recovered, until the last savage guilty of + atrocities against the whites is given up to justice, and until the + entire Sioux Nation is brought to submission. + + With renewed assurances of my deep sympathy and regret that I have + no more satisfactory news for you at the present time, I beg to + remain, my dear madam, + + Very respectfully, your obedient servant, + + H. H. SIBLEY, Brig. Gen., U. S. V. + + +Mrs. Briscoe broke down completely on hearing this disappointing +intelligence and could not be comforted for a long time. But the +courageous spirit which had already carried her through so much finally +reasserted itself; since there was nothing to do except endure the +suspense, she resolved to endure it patiently and not depress the +spirits of those around her with her own griefs. + +On his part Al felt at first that he could not bear to spend more time +in idle waiting while his brother remained a captive. It seemed to him +that he must start out and do something. But reflection showed him that +this desire, though natural, was futile. Hard as the conclusion was, it +seemed plain that the best thing was to trust General Sibley and the +soldiers with the problem, at least for the present and until the +results of the next summer's campaign could be known. Had he been old +enough to enlist, Al would undoubtedly have joined the army in spite of +everything, in order to be at the front and share in the search for his +brother. But as he would not be sixteen until the early Spring of 1863, +that was out of the question. + +Nevertheless, the atmosphere of the place and the time in which he was +living were well calculated to develop in him the strong military +inclinations of his nature, and as the months went on he found it more +and more difficult to be satisfied with the work in which he was +engaged. There was hardly an hour of the day in which squads or +companies of troops did not pass along the busy streets of St. Louis, +and often full regiments, with bands playing and colors flying, or +batteries of artillery rumbling over the cobble-stones, marched past on +their way to the Levee to embark on steamers for the seat of war in the +South. St. Louis was the great recruiting depot of the West, and at +Benton Barracks, just beyond the Fair Grounds and only a few blocks from +the Colton home, as many as twenty thousand men were nearly always +quartered, mustering, drilling, outfitting and then marching away to +take their places in the fighting armies at the front. News of battle +was constantly in the air and the war formed the chief topic of +conversation always and everywhere. Now it was the disastrous repulse of +the Army of the Potomac at Fredericksburg, Virginia; then the terrible +conflict at Murfreesboro, Tennessee; and then, a little later, the +capture of Fort Hindman, at Arkansas Post, Arkansas; while authentic +news and uncertain rumors of other battles, skirmishes, and military +movements circulated constantly. + +Though St. Louis was a Union city by a very substantial majority there +nevertheless existed there a strong though suppressed Southern +sentiment; but Al was even less inclined to be influenced by it than +his father would have been, or than he would have been himself before +his father's death. The reason was that public opinion in the North and +West at this time held that the outbreak of the Indians in Minnesota had +been instigated and encouraged by agents from the Southern Confederacy, +who hoped, by precipitating an Indian war upon the Northwest, not only +to divert a good many Union troops from the South but even possibly to +effect a Confederate conquest of the Northwestern Territories. Happily +for the fair fame of American civilization, it has in later years been +quite clearly established that the Confederates had nothing to do with +inciting the barbarous outbreak, but at the time it was firmly believed +in the Northwest. Therefore it seems but natural that a person in Al's +position, grieving for a father murdered and a brother carried away +captive by the red fiends, should entertain bitterness toward those whom +he believed to be largely responsible for his bereavement. This feeling +but added to his interest in the military preparations of those who were +going to fight the Southerners, and increased his desire to be a +partaker in their toils and trials and triumphs. + +When he found an opportunity to do so, as he did on Sunday afternoons +and his other infrequent holidays, he occasionally went down to the +river front where were to be seen the big transport steamers, starting +out loaded to the guards with troops or coming in with cargoes of sick +and wounded men, and where, also, were generally to be found one or more +of the pugnacious-looking iron-clad gunboats which had been and still +were fighting their way foot by foot down the battery-lined rivers of +the South, carrying the flag of the Union into regions where it had been +outcast for two years past. But more frequently his steps turned toward +Benton Barracks, for there on the great parade ground between the huge +barracks, each seven hundred and fifty feet in length, were always to be +found swarms of troops at drill. Here he would see a squad of four or +eight recruits receiving from a corporal instructions in the rudiments +of tactics, such as the salutes, the facings, or the manual of arms. A +little further on would be a regiment executing ponderous evolutions in +company or battalion front. + +Observing all these tactical exercises with lively interest and careful +attention, Al soon began to comprehend the methods and objects of +movements which at first seemed wholly bewildering. He obtained a copy +of the "United States Infantry and Rifle Tactics," the text book then in +use for the instruction of the United States troops, and spent evening +after evening studying them until he was much more familiar with the +contents than the average volunteer soldier several years his senior. +Though he could not utilize his knowledge because of his youth, he +persisted in acquiring it, not only because he liked it but because he +felt that eventually it would be useful to him, especially if he could +ever carry out his cherished ambition of entering West Point. + +One day in the Spring of 1863, Mr. White called Al into his private +office. + +"The chief commissary of subsistence in this city has asked me if I +could tell him of a few good men to act as civilian clerks in his +department," said he. "They must be men who understand something of +staple groceries such as the army uses and who know how to get out +orders and ship goods. Would you like to have such a position for a +while?" + +Al's eyes brightened. Such work would place him in closer touch with the +army, an object which appealed to him strongly. But he bore in mind his +obligations and answered, cautiously, + +"I should like it very much, Mr. White, if you approve of it and if I +could make as much as I do now." + +"The position will pay you a little more than you are getting now," said +Mr. White, leaning back in his chair as if to give plenty of time to the +discussion, "and it will give you some valuable experience if you aim to +continue in the wholesale grocery business. The commissary department is +handling enormous quantities of goods in St. Louis now and an insight +into the Government's methods of transacting such a volume of business +will be a great benefit to you. Of course, whenever you want to leave +the Government's employ and come back here, your position will be open +for you. You are very young for such a place but you have made such +rapid progress and learned to do your work so well and thoroughly that I +shall have no hesitation in recommending you as one of my best +employees." + +"Thank you, sir," said Al, flushing with pleasure. "I hope I deserve +it." + +"You understand," Mr. White continued, "I don't want you to leave me; +but I owe it to the Union to give her the best I have when she asks it. +I am past middle age myself and I don't think I am worth enough as a +soldier to volunteer yet; there are plenty of younger and stronger men +still pouring in to fill up the armies. But if the war drags on and the +time comes that I feel she needs my actual, physical services, I shall +go. Meantime, as I say, I shall give her the best I have in other ways, +and you are part of that best. Though you are not old enough to be a +soldier, I know you will appreciate that your work as a civilian +employee may be quite as valuable to the Government as though you were +enlisted in the service." + +"Indeed I do, Mr. White," answered Al, "and I shall do my best to serve +the Union faithfully." + +In the new work upon which he entered next day Al continued throughout +that momentous Summer and Fall. Though serving in a capacity both humble +and obscure, he had his part in preparing and forwarding the supplies +which enabled General Grant to cut loose from his base, swing his army +around to the rear of Vicksburg, and two months later to capture that +Gibraltar of the Mississippi with all its garrison and munitions of war. +He helped to make ready the subsistence carried by Grant's and Sherman's +armies when they went to the relief of Chattanooga; and from the depots +where he worked a constant stream of stores was always going forward to +the thousands of Union troops scattered in fortified posts and +encampments or marching hither and thither all over the Southwest +fighting innumerable minor battles and skirmishes. But his daily +occupation was very prosaic and needs no more than casual mention. + +At length, when Autumn came again, another letter was received from +General Sibley. It was as disappointing as the one of the year before. +He told briefly of the long Summer's campaign in which he had marched +westward from the Minnesota River to the Missouri, defeating the Indians +in three pitched battles and driving them across the Missouri, and of +the later advance of another column up the valley of the Missouri, under +General Alfred Sully, which had also encountered and defeated the +Indians. But neither column had rescued Tommy, though they had heard +rumors of his whereabouts and had gained a little new information +concerning his captor. + +The latter, it now seemed clearly established, was an Upper Yanktonais +warrior named Te-o-kun-ko, or, in English, The Swift. From the +statements of hostile Indians who had talked with friendlies or had +surrendered to the troops during the campaign, it appeared that this man +had not been with the main body of the Indians during the Summer; he had +taken his family, in company with a small party of about a dozen other +lodges, over into the country along the Yellowstone and Powder Rivers, +in Idaho. They had probably spent the season in hunting and skirmishing +occasionally with the Crows, the powerful people occupying most of that +region, who were hereditary enemies of the Sioux. It must be understood +that the great Sioux Nation consists of a number of different tribes, of +which the Upper Yanktonais tribe is one, and the Lower Yanktonais +another. It seemed that he still had with him the white boy whom he had +captured in Minnesota. The lad seemed perfectly contented and was +displaying such aptitude and prowess in learning to ride, shoot, hunt, +and perform the other feats of skill, agility, and hardihood which the +Indians regard as most manly, that Te-o-kun-ko took great pride and +delight in him and was evidently trying to wean him away from any +longing for his white relatives, in the hope of eventually making him, +to all practical intents, a full-fledged Sioux warrior. + +General Sibley added that in the Spring of 1864 General Sully would +almost certainly lead another expedition up the Missouri to fight the +Indians, though whether he himself would move against them again was +doubtful. He renewed his regrets that he had been unable to recapture +Tommy, and his hopes that another year would surely see him restored to +his family, and here the letter ended. + +Mrs. Briscoe and Al were not only bitterly disappointed by the news; it +positively stunned them. The idea that Tommy could have been, all this +time, anything but a suffering and wretchedly unhappy prisoner, was +entirely new to them. That he could have grown not merely contented with +his lot among the savages but even attached to it, a possibility very +clearly suggested by General Sibley's letter, seemed unbelievable, at +least to Mrs. Briscoe. But Al, on reflection, was not so much inclined +to scoff at it as he had been at first. He remembered having heard of +several cases in which white boys, taken captive by Indians when so +young that their affections and habits were not deeply rooted, had +become so attached to the wild, free life of the red men that they +voluntarily renounced civilization and remained all their lives with the +people of their adoption. Then he recalled the prominent characteristics +of Tommy's disposition,--his sturdy independence, his love for being out +of doors, for handling horses and for hunting and +trapping,--inclinations which he had not shown until their removal to +Minnesota but which had developed rapidly there, where Tommy, in the +midst of a solitude which was almost wilderness, had apparently been +happier than ever before in his life. He recalled, also, the little +boy's warm-hearted affection for his parents and for himself and Annie; +a trait of character which certainly seemed the strongest argument +against the theory that Tommy could grow to forget them. But Al was +obliged to admit to himself that the other impulses of his young +brother's nature would all find gratification in the life of the plains; +while, moreover, if he were kindly treated, even his affections might be +kindled for the people with whom he was living. He had been with the +Indians now for more than a year, which is a long time in a young boy's +life. + +The more he became convinced of such possibilities, the more was Al +disturbed and alarmed by them. It had been bad enough to think of his +brother as a heart-broken captive, but to think of him as perhaps a +future renegade, an apostate to his race, was far worse, for it added +shame to sorrow. He could not bear to think of his mother having to face +such a calamity. Finally he took his troubled thoughts to his uncle, +who was always kind, sympathetic and helpful. + +"I have been thinking a great deal about this matter, too, Al," said Mr. +Colton. "There is no question in my mind that Tommy might take the +course you speak of, if he should remain long enough with the Indians. +From the reports we have he seems to be well and even happy. The most +important reason now for getting him away from them seems to be to +remove him from their moral influence. But, incredible as it may seem, I +really believe there may be a possibility that now; even if the soldiers +should find him, he would be unwilling to come away with them." + +Al looked at his uncle and slowly nodded his head in agreement. + +"Yes, I believe that might be so," he answered. "And it seems to me, +Uncle Will, for that very reason if no other, I ought to go with the +next expedition; for if Tommy should be found I know that when he saw me +and I told him about mother and all of us, he would want to come back. +But I can't go, that's all." + +"Al," said Mr. Colton, "I agree with you that you ought to, and I think +probably you can. Since midsummer my business has begun to revive. +People are commencing to see that the South is getting the worst of this +war and there is a growing feeling of confidence that the Union is going +to be saved. Therefore interest is reviving in business matters of all +kinds, real estate among others. If the Union is going to be preserved, +St. Louis will continue to be a great and growing city; nobody cared to +speculate on what it would be while the success of the Confederacy +seemed probable. But, you see, I am beginning to have business again, +and if our armies continue gaining such victories as they have been +during the last six months, there will be more business by next Spring. +I wish to Heaven I could go into the service and help to hasten the end; +but this," he moved the stump of his left arm impatiently, "forever +debars me from such service. But if I can help you to go where you may +be able to assist in recovering your brother and at the same time to be +perhaps of some service to our country, even though you are not old +enough to enlist, I shall feel that I have done something. I think by +Spring I shall be able to take care of your mother and sister while you +are gone and I shall be only too glad to do it." + +Al's cheeks flushed with mingled surprise and pleasure. His sense of +duty, however, was still uppermost. + +"But, Uncle Will,--" he began. + +"Now, that's all right, Al," interrupted Mr. Colton. "This is simply a +family matter, and you need not worry about it at all. The only question +which remains to be settled is whether it can be arranged for you to +accompany an expedition into the Indian country. If General Sibley were +going, no doubt he would be willing to find a place for you some way. +But it seems that he may not go again, and another commander, like +General Sully, for instance, may not want to have you. However, we shall +have to wait to settle that until we know more about actual plans for +next season's campaign, and that probably will not be possible until +late Winter or early Spring." + +Mrs. Briscoe at first found it very hard to reconcile herself to the +plan, for she was divided between anxiety for Tommy and apprehension +lest harm should befall Al if he went in search of his brother. But by +pointing out to her that it was still uncertain whether the commander of +the expedition would permit him to go at all, Al, shrewdly aided by his +uncle, induced her to give the subject calm consideration, being +convinced that if she did so she would in time see that it was best. So +the Winter passed with little further discussion of the subject. Al +continued at his work, Annie was attending school, and Mrs. Briscoe +aided her sister with the duties of the household. Indeed, the refugees +from Minnesota seemed to have become fixtures in the Colton home, and, +though all of them thought occasionally of their returning some time to +the abandoned claim above Fort Ridgely, the time for doing so remained +in the indefinite future. None of them could feel like attempting to +resume the even tenor of their lives until Tommy should have been +brought back from his captivity. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +ON GENERAL SULLY'S STAFF + + +At last, early in March, the long uncertainty respecting the next +season's campaign against the Sioux, and the rumors which had circulated +about it all through the Winter, were terminated by the arrival in St. +Louis of General Alfred Sully, who, so the papers announced, had come to +begin the accumulation of supplies and to make other preparations for +his impending campaign. Brigadier General Sully was the commander of the +District of Iowa, with headquarters at Davenport, in that State; but he +had come to St. Louis directly from Milwaukee. There he had spent +several days in consultation with General Sibley and Major General John +Pope, who was in command of the Department of the Northwest, embracing +the Districts of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, the latter under +General Sibley. + +General Sully very soon made his presence known at the commissary +office in St. Louis by the requisitions for supplies which began to pour +in from him. A few days later a young army officer, an _aide-de-camp_ on +General Sully's staff, was sent down to the office by the General to +check over the requisitions already made. Al was assigned to assist him. +The aide, whose name was Lieutenant Dale, proved an agreeable youth, +only a few years older than Al, and after their work was finished they +fell into conversation. Al told him briefly of the disasters which had +befallen his family in Minnesota, and then of the battle at Fort +Ridgely. + +"Why, you've seen enough fighting to be a veteran already," exclaimed +Lieutenant Dale, when Al had concluded his narrative. "I'll tell you +what you ought to do; you ought to go up into the Sioux country with us +this summer. We're going to have some fun up there. And maybe you could +get on the track of your brother." + +"That is just what I want to do," answered Al, "but I'm not old enough +to enlist." + +"That makes no difference," answered Dale. "The General could arrange +to take you in some capacity or other if he knows that you have a good +reason for wanting to go and that you won't lose your nerve in a pinch." + +"Do you think he would?" asked Al, doubtfully. + +"I think it's very probable. Go and ask him. He is very kind-hearted, if +he is a strict disciplinarian and a hard fighter." + +"He's a hard fighter, is he?" asked Al, eagerly. "You see, I don't know +much about him." + +Lieutenant Dale looked at him pityingly. "A hard fighter?" he replied. +"I should say he is! He fought against the Seminoles in Florida and the +Rogue River Indians in Oregon and the Sioux in Minnesota and Nebraska +and the Cheyennes in Kansas, all before the beginning of the Rebellion. +He won honors at Fair Oaks and Chancellorsville; and then, when the +Indian trouble in the Northwest came, they sent him up into Dakota to +fight the Sioux again, last Summer. That was the first that I was with +him, and we certainly had our share of marching, going up the Missouri +Valley, and our share of fighting at White Stone Hill, where we swung +away from the Missouri and struck the redskins out on the prairie +nearly over to the James River. They had been following up General +Sibley, never suspecting that we would come from the other direction and +fall on their rear. But we'll punish them worse this year, for we shall +have a much larger force; and the General intends to follow them until +they are either forced to make peace or are broken up and scattered all +over the country. And he can scatter them; what he doesn't know about +Indian fighting isn't worth knowing." + +"I'm sure it will be a campaign well worth taking part in," replied Al. +"I ought to go, and I hope I can." + +"I will speak to the General about you and the reason you have for +wanting to accompany us," Lieutenant Dale said. "Then you come and see +him yourself to-morrow or as soon after as you can." + +Al did not delay the visit. That evening he talked with his mother and +uncle about it and, though the former was naturally reluctant to have +him go where she felt he would be in danger, she had also come to +realize that the arrangement afforded the best chance of recovering her +lost son, Tommy. Mr. Colton, after Al had told him of his conversation +with young Lieutenant Dale, concluded that it would be as well for Al to +interview General Sully alone. + +"I do not know the General," said he, "and I could influence him but +little; while, if you go by yourself, it will indicate more +self-reliance on your part. I know, of course, that you have plenty of +it, but a stranger naturally would not until he had become acquainted +with you, and it is always well to make a good first impression. I think +you were fortunate in meeting this Lieutenant Dale. He will probably +speak favorably of you to General Sully, and that will help your case." + +Accordingly the next afternoon when his work for the day was finished, +Al hurried off to the place where General Sully was making his +headquarters while in the city. He found little evidence of pomp or +ceremony about these headquarters. An orderly was in the outer room, to +whom Al told his name and errand. The soldier replied that the General +was alone, writing letters; and then, stepping to the door of an +adjoining room, he announced Al by name. + +"Bring him in," Al heard a deep but pleasant voice answer, and the next +moment he found himself standing, with a somewhat fluttered pulse, in +the presence of General Sully. The latter rose as he entered and +extended his hand. + +"I have been expecting you, young man," said he, smiling. "Lieutenant +Dale told me of you last evening, and I had also heard of you before +from General Sibley. I was on the watch for your brother all last Summer +but I couldn't get hold of him. Have a chair," he went on, resuming his +own seat and motioning Al to another one. "Now, what can I do for you?" + +As clearly and briefly as possible Al related his reasons for thinking +that he ought to go into the Indian country to assist in the search for +his brother, finishing with the request that he might be taken along in +some capacity and adding that he would try to make himself useful. As he +talked, he was conscious that the General was studying him critically +through the pair of deep-set eyes which, though penetrating, were not +forbidding. When he had concluded, the General did not reply at once. +Instead, he remarked, after a pause, + +"General Sibley told me he understood that your father was one of +Doniphan's men. Is that correct?" + +Unconsciously Al's shoulders straightened a little. + +"Yes, sir," he replied, a touch of pride in his voice, "he was. I am +named for Colonel Doniphan,--Alexander Doniphan Briscoe." + +"Indeed?" said the General, with evident surprise and interest. + +He was silent a moment, then asked abruptly, + +"Do you know anything about tactics,--military routine,--discipline?" + +"I have been a clerk in the commissary department here for a year, sir," +Al replied, "and have become pretty familiar with the Government's +methods of handling stores and more or less so with other matters of +administration. Then I have studied tactics pretty hard, both in the +book and in watching the troops at drill out at Benton Barracks." + +"H-m! That's good." The General's voice became decisive. "If you should +go with me you would have to become a part of the expedition and submit +to discipline the same as a soldier, even though you are not enlisted; +and I understand you are too young to enlist. I can have no favored +idlers around. We are going after the Indians and for no other purpose, +and in order to be successful every individual must do his part. Do you +think you could agree to do that?" + +"I shall certainly obey orders and try to make myself useful," responded +Al, promptly. + +General Sully swung around in his swivel desk chair and gazed +abstractedly out of the window for a moment. Then he swung back again +and looked at Al frankly. + +"I may as well tell you," said he, "that it is against my policy to have +any more civilians with me in the field than I can possibly help. Too +many civilians mixed up in military affairs have nearly been the +ruination of the United States during this Rebellion. At the same time, +I like to have young fellows of the right metal; they are often more +useful than old stagers. And I believe you'll do. A son of one of +Doniphan's daredevils, especially a namesake of his, ought to be all +right for courage; and moreover, General Sibley told me of the reports +he heard of your conduct at Fort Ridgely. You see, I know more about you +than you thought." He smiled at Al's embarrassed glance. "I'll find a +place for you somewhere, as a commissary's or quartermaster's clerk, +probably. Come and see me again to-morrow or next day and I'll have it +arranged." + +Al thanked him heartily and went away, feeling already a warm admiration +for this firm but courteous soldier. The interview aroused in him more +pleasurable anticipation of the expedition than he had felt heretofore, +and he found himself preparing for it and looking forward to it +enthusiastically. + +True to his promise, General Sully had a position arranged for him when +he called next day, and one, moreover, upon whose duties he could enter +at once. He quitted his work as clerk of the St. Louis commissary office +only to continue it in the same place as a clerk for the chief +commissary officer of the Northwestern Indian Expedition. Knowing that +he was to be with them, General Sully's staff officers took an immediate +interest in him, especially Lieutenant Dale, whose friendship proved not +only increasingly pleasant but very helpful as well. Dale was able to +give Al many suggestions as to how best to meet the problems and +situations which constantly arose in his position. There was also a +Captain Feilner, who treated him with much kindness. He was an officer +of German birth who had risen to his position from the ranks of the +regular army and was now General Sully's chief topographical engineer. + +For six weeks every one in St. Louis connected with the expedition was +busily occupied in getting supplies together and in shipping several +hundred tons of foodstuffs, clothing, camp equipage, and ammunition on +steamboats which were going up the Missouri on the Spring high water to +Fort Benton, Montana, the outfitting point for the newly discovered gold +district in that Territory. These goods were consigned to Fort Union, +the chief trading post of the American Fur Company, at the mouth of the +Yellowstone River, where a depot was to be established so as to have +supplies ready for the troops when they should reach that point, as it +was planned they should do, after marching overland from the Missouri to +the Yellowstone. Many hundreds of tons more were loaded on the eight +steamers which General Sully had chartered for the exclusive use of his +army, and on them were carried also a great quantity of building +materials for use in the two forts which were to be erected, one on the +upper Missouri and one on the Yellowstone. Few troops were to start with +the fleet from St. Louis, because General Sully's men were either +scattered in the several forts and cantonments along the river in Dakota +where they had spent the Winter, or were to meet the boats at the +village of Sioux City, Iowa; while a large column from General Sibley's +command was marching from Minnesota straight across the high prairies of +Dakota to join the rest of the expedition at Bois Cache Creek, nearly +opposite the mouth of the Moreau River. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +UP THE MISSOURI + + +On the last day of April the long preparations were finally completed. +The eight steamers lay along the Levee with flags floating from their +forward peaks and the black smoke pouring from their funnels. A great +crowd had gathered on the river bank to watch the departure; and while +drays and wagons rattled over the cobblestones and long lines of negro +roustabouts ran back and forth across the gang-planks of the steamers, +carrying on board the last packages of freight, Al stood at the boiler +deck rail of the _Island City_, General Sully's headquarters boat. He +waved his hand and smiled, more cheerfully than he felt at that moment, +to his mother and Annie and Uncle Will, who stood in the wide doorway of +the wharf-boat below, looking up at him. Now that the final moment had +come, Mrs. Briscoe's heart was torn at parting with her boy, who had so +loyally and unselfishly devoted himself to her wellbeing since her +husband's death. But she bore it as bravely as a good mother always +bears such trials, smiling brightly at him through her tears as the +head-lines were slipped from the _Island City's_ bow and her great stern +wheel began slowly to revolve. Al, his own eyes misty, watched his +mother until in the distance she became blurred with the crowd. The +steamer swung gracefully out into the swift current of the Mississippi, +described a wide, sweeping curve to the middle of the channel, and then, +rounding up stream at the head of the majestic line of her consorts, +forged up past the smoky city on the first mile of the long journey into +the Northwestern wilderness. + +Until the cheering crowd on the Levee was quite blotted out by distance +and intervening steamers along the bank, Al stood at the rail looking +back. When at last he turned away, with a strange feeling of depression +and loneliness, he found Lieutenant Dale standing behind him. + +"Come, boy," said he, slapping Al's shoulder, "brace up! We are going to +have a great time this Summer, and you'll be mighty glad you came. I +know it's hard leaving your folks. I felt just the same way less than +three years ago when I marched off from home to Washington and the first +Bull Run. But it does no good to feel blue over it; you'll come back +again all right, anyway. Get busy; that's the best remedy for blues. Are +those last goods that were brought on board checked up yet? No? Well, +you better go down and check them, hadn't you?" + +Al acted on the suggestion, and by the time he was through, the fleet +had entered the mouth of the Missouri and was approaching St. Charles, a +picturesque little old city straggling up over the rugged, wooded hills +on the north bank of the Missouri. The boats did not stop at the town, +but continued running until nearly dark, when they laid up for the night +at Penn's Woodyard, four miles above. Excepting in high water, when the +channel is broad and deep, it is very unusual for boats to run at night +on the Missouri owing to the danger of striking snags or going aground +on sandbars. Next morning, after replenishing their fuel supply at the +woodyard, they started at daylight and ran without mishap or halt, +excepting to take on wood several times, until dusk found them just +below the mouth of the Gasconade River, where they again tied up to wait +for daylight. + +In the Spring of 1864 there had been little rain in the Missouri Valley, +and the river was very low for the season, a fact which greatly +disturbed General Sully; he foresaw that the trip would probably be +painfully slow and that he would not be able to reach the Indian country +until so late that the campaign would have to be a hurried one. Early +next morning, at the mouth of the Gasconade, they encountered the first +of the obstacles which they had been dreading. As is usual below the +mouths of tributaries, where the eddy created by the muddy current of +the main river coming in contact with that of the tributary causes the +mud and sand to sink to the bottom, a sandbar here extended across the +Missouri's channel. The _Island City_, in the lead and running near the +south shore along the base of the bluffs, notwithstanding the caution of +her pilot, stuck her bow into it and stopped short. Al, who was in the +main cabin, ran forward as he felt the boat shiver and careen and looked +down over the bow. + +"Why, we've stuck fast!" he exclaimed to Captain Feilner, whom he found +standing by the rail. "What will they do now?" + +"Send out a boat and sound for a passage," the Captain answered. + +Even as he spoke, Alexander Lamont,--or, Alex Lamont, as he was usually +called,--the tall, bronzed captain of the _Island City_, leaned out over +the rail and shouted up to the hurricane deck above, + +"Lower away the yawl, there! Step lively, now!" + +They heard the shuffle of feet on the sanded tar roof overhead, the +creak of falls and tackles, and in a moment the boat, its long oars +manned by six stalwart deck hands and carrying, besides, a steersman at +the stern and a leadsman with a sounding pole at the bow, pulled around +the side of the steamer and out into the shoal water ahead. Meanwhile, +the long line of steamers behind them also came to a stop. + +"How much water must there be for us to get through?" asked Al. + +"We are drawing three and a half feet," answered Captain Feilner, "and +we ought to have four feet to go on, but we can do it on three and a +half by sparring or warping. Have you never seen those things done? +Well, you will probably have a chance in a few minutes,--and plenty more +before we are through with this trip. Some of the other steamers do not +draw quite as much as we do but none of them seem to be going to try to +pass us." + +The yawl gradually worked its way diagonally across and down the river, +following the crest of the bar, until it had approached quite near to +the north bank, the leadsman constantly thrusting his pole down to the +river bottom. Then the boat suddenly turned around and came rapidly back +to the _Island City_. + +"There's three and a half, large, over there," said the pilot who had +acted as leadsman as he came aboard, speaking to Captain Lamont. "We can +go over but you'll likely have to set spars." + +He ascended to the pilot-house and jerked the whistle rope. A warning +bellow roared out over the river, re-echoing from the forest-clad bluffs +on either side. One by one the steamboats behind them took up the +refrain, until the noise resembled that of a manufacturing city at the +noon hour. + +"What on earth is all that whistling for?" asked Al. "Are they trying to +scare the bar out of the river?" + +"No," laughed Captain Feilner. "That is a signal that we are going to +back up. There isn't room to turn in this channel and all the others +must back up, too, so that we won't run into each other." + +The fleet backed for a half mile, then the _Island City_ reversed her +wheel and started up again, running this time, however, close in by the +north shore. As she went ahead the strokes of her pistons became more +and more rapid until, as she approached the crossing, she was going at a +great speed for a steamboat. + +"He's going to try to belt her through," exclaimed Lieutenant Dale, +coming up at this moment. "We'll get a jolt. I hope nothing breaks." + +Hardly had he finished speaking when there came a loud grating sound +from the bow as the boat's flat bottom began to scrape over the sand. +Her timbers quivered and groaned, her speed diminished so quickly that +those who were standing on her decks were nearly thrown down, and then, +after scraping along for a few feet slowly and painfully she came to a +full stop. For a moment the stern wheel continued to churn the water +into white foam; then the pilot, with an impatient gesture, jerked the +wire to the stopping-bell down in the engine room, and the ponderous +wheel came to a halt. + +"No use," he cried to Captain Lamont, leaning out of the pilot-house +window. "She's nearly over but you'll have to set the spars!" + +There was a great shouting and commotion on the lower deck as the spars, +two long, heavy timbers like telegraph poles, one on each side of the +bow, were swung out and erected in position, their lower extremities +resting on the river bottom, the upper, fitted with tackle blocks, +rising high above the level of the boat's top deck. Through the tackle +blocks ran heavy cables fastened at one end to the boat's gunwale and at +the other to the steam capstan. When the spars had been set, the capstan +began to revolve, winding up the cable and thus hoisting the bow of the +boat until it hung suspended on the spars. At the same time the wheel +was slowly revolved, forcing the boat ahead until the spars had tilted +forward so far as to let the bow down again into the sand. Then they +were dragged forward and set upright once more, and the process was +repeated. Before a great while the crest of the bar was passed, and the +_Island City_ floated on into deeper water and continued her journey. +But though it had not been what river men would consider a hard +crossing, she had lost nearly six hours in sounding and sparring, and it +was noon by the time she had left the Gasconade out of sight behind her. +The vessels following her each forced its way across the bar in the same +manner as she had done, excepting the _Chippewa Falls_ and the _Alone_, +boats of smaller dimensions and lighter draft, which were able to slip +over without sparring. By the time the last one had passed the +Gasconade, it was evening again, and the fleet was strung out for miles +up the river. The _Island City_ anchored out for the night to a bar just +below Kate Howard Chute, so called for a beautiful packet of that name +which had sunk there in 1859. The point was only thirty miles above the +Gasconade, so that twenty-four hours had been consumed in covering that +insignificant distance. The _Island City_ was towing a large barge, +intended for use when they should reach the Indian country, but it was +very much in the way and retarded her progress considerably. + +That evening Al asked Captain Lamont how far it was from St. Louis to +the mouth of Cannonball River, Dakota, where it was expected that the +actual campaign against the Indians would begin, and was told that it +was about fourteen hundred miles. He did some figuring and found that if +they continued to progress at the same rate as they had done that day it +would be more than six weeks, or past the middle of June, before they +would reach their destination. It seemed an astonishingly long time to +him but, as the event proved, he had considerably overestimated the +average speed which the fleet could maintain. For days they continued +travelling through the State of Missouri, contending with sandbars and +head winds. The interior of the State was in a deplorable condition as a +result of the war. Guerillas were overrunning it everywhere, and the +boats rarely landed at a town without hearing either that some of the +marauders had just left on the approach of the fleet or that they had +been raiding there a day or two before. General Sully's vessels were so +numerous and well armed that the guerillas did not dare attack them. All +Missouri River boats at that time were more or less fortified around the +pilot-house with timber or boiler-iron bulwarks, to protect the pilots +from the bullets of guerillas on the lower river and from those of +Indians in the upper country, while the piles of cordwood on the main +deck afforded some protection to the men there. Yet the fleet seldom +passed a downward-bound boat which had not been fired into or boarded, +and fortunate was the vessel which had escaped without the loss of one +or more people on board killed or wounded. + +There were plenty of men in the expedition who would have been glad to +encourage such attacks had they been made, for, as was always the case +among the class of men who worked as laborers on the steamboats, there +were many hardened and even desperate characters in the crews of Sully's +vessels. Not a few of them were deserters from the Confederate army, +tired of fighting but still rebels at heart; and others were Southern +sympathizers, fleeing from the draft in the Northern States. Most of +these men hoped, when they should draw near to Montana, to find +opportunities for slipping away from the expedition and making their way +to the gold fields which were just being opened in the placer deposits +around Bannack, Last Chance Gulch, Alder Gulch and other places, and +which were attracting a wild rush of adventurers from all over the +country. Such men were naturally hard to handle and it took steamboat +officers of firmness and courage to keep them in control. + +Since the beginning of the voyage Al had not had much occasion to +mingle with the crew of the _Island City_. The cargo of the steamboat +consisted chiefly of corn for the use of the cavalry horses in the +Indian country and, once it was on board, required little attention. He +therefore seldom had any reason for going to the lower deck except to +while away the time, which, indeed, was the principal occupation of the +army officers on board. As might naturally be supposed, he was usually +with some of them. But one day he was standing on the main deck near the +boilers when one of the deck hands, a young fellow a few years older +than himself, came by carrying a couple of heavy sticks of cordwood to +the furnaces. Al had once or twice in the past noticed this fellow +staring at him in a disagreeable way and felt instinctively that it must +be because the deck hand was envious of the apparently easy and pleasant +time which he was having. Al's back was turned toward him and neither +saw the other until one of the sticks collided heavily with Al's +shoulder, almost throwing him down. Al turned and though bruised, was on +the point of apologizing for being in the way, when the fellow, an +ugly, red flush overspreading his face, shouted, with a plentiful +sprinkling of oaths between his words, + +"Get out of my road, you little Yankee snipe! What are you loafing +around here for, anyhow?" + +"I'm sorry I got in your way," replied Al, controlling his temper, "but +I didn't see you." + +"Well, you'd better stay upstairs with your blue-bellied Yankee +officers. They oughtn't to let their little pet run around this way." + +Hearing loud words, several other deck hands gathered round, grinning at +the excitement, their sympathies evidently with their companion. + +"As for my being down here," Al answered, feeling that it would not do +to let such language pass unnoticed, especially before the other men, "I +have as much business here as you have. As for being a Yankee, I suppose +everybody on a United States ship is a Yankee. If they're not, they'd +better go ashore." + +"It would take a mighty big lot of such spindle-legged doll babies as +you to put me ashore," shouted the young ruffian, flinging down his +wood and advancing on Al with clenched fists. "Down South we don't use +anything but boats we've kicked the Yankees off of." + +Several of the other deck hands crowded closer, exclaiming, + +"Aw, let the kid alone, Jimmy. He ain't done nothin' to you." + +"Look out, Jimmy; you'll get in trouble, talkin' that way." + +"So you're a rebel deserter, are you?" asked Al, his eyes flashing. "I +thought so. If you're so much attached to them, why didn't you stay down +there and take some more Yankee boats?" + +The fellow, quite beside himself with rage, did not wait to reply but +sprang at Al like a bull-dog. Al knew little about boxing, but he was +quick. As his assailant rushed at him, he jumped forward and planted one +fist with all his strength on the point of the fellow's chin. The +rowdy's feet flew from under him and he fell to the deck with a heavy +thud, completely dazed for a moment. Then he scrambled to his feet with +a string of imprecations pouring from his lips, and jerking an ugly, +broad-bladed knife from a sheath on his belt, again leaped at Al. Seeing +his intention, his companions rushed forward to stop him, but Al had +snatched up a stoking iron from the floor beside him and swung it back +over his shoulder. His face was pale, but not with fright, and as his +assailant looked into his steady eyes something in them caused him +suddenly to lower his knife and hesitate. + +"Come one step nearer and I'll brain you," said Al, his voice very low +and quiet. "You miserable, cowardly bully, attacking a fellow who is +unarmed and who has done nothing to you. Now, if you want to stay on +this boat you've got to quit that kind of talk about Yankees or I'll see +that you are put off. It's very plain you are a rebel and you've no +business getting your living under the protection of the Union as long +as you feel that way. Next time you want to try anything with me I shall +be ready for you, and I warn you, you won't get off so easily again." + +He threw down the stoking iron and, turning his back on the crest-fallen +rowdy, deliberately walked away, followed by ejaculations from the +group of onlookers such as, + +"Bully boy!" "Served him right." "You're all right, kid!" + +Later in the day he mentioned the occurrence to Lieutenant Dale and +Captain Feilner, who promptly wished to have the deck hand put ashore. + +"Not on my account, unless he does some more secesh talking," said Al. +"I can take care of myself with him. Besides, it may be a good lesson +for him and teach him to be decent after this." + +The fellow, as it turned out, had been pretty thoroughly beaten and he +made no more trouble for Al during the voyage, though he always gave him +an ugly look when they chanced to meet. + +Lieutenant Dale decided from the incident that Al ought to learn the art +of boxing, in which he himself was quite expert, having learned it in +college. So thereafter they spent an hour or so every day in sparring. +By the time the voyage was over, Al had become as skilful as his +instructor, and General Sully, Captain Feilner and the other officers +often gathered to watch their bouts and to encourage them to greater +efforts. + +At Glasgow, his old home, Al had an opportunity to go ashore for a short +time and he was astonished and grieved to note the changes which three +short years had wrought in the familiar old town. The levee was deserted +save by a few indolent loafers who, without recognizing him, stared at +him suspiciously as he went past; for in that terror-haunted country, +fear and suspicion of everybody and everything had become the habit of +the people. Climbing the hill to the main part of town, he found grass +growing in the once bustling business streets and many buildings locked +and vacant. His father's old store was among them, closed as he had left +it. He saw no familiar faces; most of the men and boys he had known were +off in one of the armies, Confederate or Union, and the women were not +often venturing from their houses in such times. In the residence +section the scene was still worse. House after house stood deserted and +going to decay. With slow steps Al went on to the place which had been +the home of his family in the dear old days when they were happy and +prosperous. The gate was fallen from the hinges, weeds were growing +thickly over the gravel walks, several panes of glass were broken out of +the windows, and a loose shutter creaked dolefully in the wind. He +rested his hand on a weather-beaten fence picket and gazed out into the +garden he remembered so well, where he and Tommy and Annie had played; +and beyond that into the orchard, where the summer apples used to grow +so large and red and juicy. The cords of his throat tightened and a mist +swam before his eyes. Weeds and grass and broken limbs strewed the +ground; silence and desolation were everywhere. He turned away abruptly +and hastened back to the levee, never stopping until he was once more on +the boiler deck of the _Island City_, where General Sully and several +other officers were smoking and playing cards. It seemed to him as if a +ghost were following him, the ghost of dead days, so tenderly remembered +that the thought of them was unendurable, and for the time being he +wanted only to plunge into the present and forget. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +PRAIRIE MARCHING + + +It would take a volume to recount all the interesting experiences which +befell Al and his companions on the long trip to Fort Sully, Dakota, +where the greater part of General Sully's troops had wintered; but, as +they contributed nothing of moment to the narrative which we are +following, they must be passed by. The fleet reached Kansas City, then a +small but rapidly growing frontier town, nearly three weeks after +leaving St. Louis, a journey which is now accomplished by rail in seven +or eight hours. At Omaha the _Island City_ left the barge which had been +dragging at her stern all the way from St. Louis, as it was such an +impediment that she could no longer handle it in the extremely low stage +of the water. On May 30 the fleet reached Sioux City, where some troops +were taken on board, as were still more at Fort Randall, twelve days +later. About June 20 they arrived at Fort Sully and here the long +steamboat journey came to an end so far as the General and his staff +were concerned, as here they left the boat to march with the column of +troops up the eastern side of the Missouri. Though he expected to see +them frequently again during the Summer, Al regretted leaving the +officers and pilots of the _Island City_, especially Captain Lamont, to +whom he had become quite attached. After his encounter with the deck +hand, Jim, the Captain had shown a liking for him and during many idle +hours had done much toward initiating him into the fascinating mysteries +of steamboating. The fleet itself was going on up the river with the +cargoes, keeping as nearly as possible abreast of the column. + +It was a great relief to be on shore again and able to ride a galloping +horse and to move about freely, after the long confinement to the narrow +limits of the boat. For two or three days after the arrival of the +fleet, Fort Sully presented a very animated appearance. Here were +assembled about half of the troops which were to make up the expedition +into the hostile country: the Sixth Iowa Cavalry under Colonel Pollock; +three companies of the Seventh Iowa Cavalry under Lieutenant-Colonel +Pattee; Brackett's Battalion of Minnesota Cavalry under Major Brackett, +which had marched overland from Fort Snelling to Sioux City and thence +to Fort Sully; and two companies of Dakota Cavalry under Captain Miner. + +All these soldiers, over one thousand in number, constituting the First +Brigade of General Sully's army, were quartered in the barracks of the +fort or encamped close around the stockade. The buildings of the fort, +which were similar to most of those built on the Northwestern frontier, +were of large, unhewn cottonwood logs; and the stockade, about two +hundred and seventy feet square, was made of cedar pickets rising twelve +feet above the ground, loop-holed for musketry and flanked by two +bastions, one on the northeastern and one on the southwestern corner, +containing cannon to sweep the faces of the stockade. It had been built +by General Sully's troops, many of whom were still there, at the close +of the campaign in 1863. A short distance out from the fort were several +hundred lodges of Indians, recently hostile, but who, wearying of the +struggle, had come in to tender their submission to General Sully. Al, +through interpreters, made eager inquiry among them for news of Tommy, +but could learn nothing. The Indians, who were of several different +tribes of the Sioux Nation: Yanktonais, Brules, Two Kettles, +Minneconjoux, Sans Arcs, Uncpapas, and also Blackfeet, reported that the +hostiles were gathered in one immense camp of some eighteen hundred +lodges, or about six thousand warriors, three days' march west of the +Missouri on the headwaters of Heart River, and that they were eager for +a fight. + +After a few days spent at the fort in organizing and refitting the +troops, shoeing the horses and mules, repairing harness, and loading +supplies for immediate use into the train of nearly one hundred wagons +which was to accompany the column, the latter moved out on its northward +march on the twenty-third of June. + +Now began days which were full of novel experiences for Al. Though he +had to spend a good deal of time with the wagon train, aiding Lieutenant +Bacon, the acting assistant quartermaster, in issuing and caring for +the supplies, he found many hours each day to ride at the head of the +column with the General and his staff, who usually marched there. The +weather was generally warm, and the vast, seemingly boundless prairie +was parched with drought. The new grass was sparse and dry and hidden +under the dead, brown bunches of last year's blue joint and buffalo +grass, so that the troops and wagon train usually marched in a cloud of +dust which, rising from the feet of the hundreds of trampling animals, +was visible for many miles through the clear air of that high plateau +country. They knew that Indian scouts were all about them, closely +observing their progress, but the red men seldom showed themselves, and +one unfamiliar with their ways might easily have believed that there +were no enemies near. Game, such as buffalo and antelope, could often be +seen in the distance and it was a sore temptation to many of the men to +see them and not give pursuit. Indeed, sometimes a party would sally out +after a buffalo; but unless the party was strong, it was always against +the advice of the old campaigners, especially the officers and men of +the Dakota Cavalry, who had been hunting and fighting Indians all over +the southern part of their vast territory ever since the Summer of 1862. +These men, recruited among the fearless and adventurous pioneers who had +first settled in Dakota a few years before, had been dubbed "the +Coyotes" by their companions in arms because of the speed and skill with +which they could march and manoeuvre against their wily foes; and it was +from them that South Dakota in later years derived its familiar +nickname, "the Coyote State." + +General Sully had such confidence in the Coyotes that he treated them in +some degree as his headquarters escort. Their place on the march was +usually near him, and if any piece of work was to be done of an +especially important or daring character, he generally called upon the +Coyotes to perform it. Lieutenant Bacon, whom General Sully had +appointed acting assistant quartermaster, was an officer of the Dakota +Cavalry; and as his assistant Al soon found himself on terms of easy +familiarity with the entire gallant command. This was especially true +after he had one day dashed out with a party of them after a small herd +of buffalo which came in view as they topped a rise, a little more than +a mile in advance. A dozen of the Dakota cavalrymen put spurs to their +horses and galloped after the enticing game, and Al and Captain Feilner +joined them. + +Al's horse was a sturdy animal, smaller than Captain Feilner's but +long-winded. When they had ridden two or three miles, gradually gaining +on their game, the herd suddenly divided at a dry slough bed in the +prairie, part keeping on north and part turning east. Most of the +cavalrymen turned to follow the buffalo which had swung east, but two or +three, with Captain Feilner and Al, galloped on after the others. One of +the troopers, a tall, slim young fellow wearing the chevrons of a +corporal, who rode his long-legged black horse like an Indian, gradually +drew ahead of the rest as they came nearer and nearer to the game, until +finally he brought himself abreast of the herd. Handling his horse with +the greatest skill, he worked in alongside of the largest buffalo bull. +Then, drawing his short Sharp's carbine, he leaned over, brought the +muzzle near to the animal's fore shoulder and fired. The buffalo ran on +for thirty or forty feet, then stumbled, fell, rose again and, after +staggering a short distance, fell once more and for the last time. The +corporal, calmly slipping his carbine back into its boot, rode up to the +dead buffalo and began cutting away the choicest portions of it to carry +back to the command. + +Meantime Al and Captain Feilner galloped on, some distance behind the +corporal. But the Captain's horse was becoming badly winded and at last +he swung off to one side and took a long distance shot, without result. +Al, though his horse, too, was beginning to show some signs of +weariness, kept on until about fifty yards from the flank and rear of +the herd when, not wishing to exhaust his horse, he decided to take his +chance on a long shot. He accordingly pulled up and, taking hasty aim +with the long Spencer rifle he was carrying, fired at the nearest animal +he could see through the dust. Then he lowered his rifle and looked, but +the buffalo seemed to be running as fast and as steadily as ever. He was +about to turn back, disappointed, to join Captain Feilner, when he +heard the corporal, a little way behind, shouting at him, + +"You hit her! You hit her! Keep going; use your revolver!" + +Somewhat doubtful, Al urged his horse again to a gallop and kept on +after the herd, Captain Feilner and the corporal following him. But, +true enough, before he had covered a quarter of a mile he saw the animal +he had fired at begin to drop behind the others. In another quarter of a +mile he had overtaken it. It proved to be a good sized cow, which, as he +approached, stopped and turned upon him with lowered head, frothing +mouth and angry eyes. He drew his revolver, the one that had belonged to +his father and that he had used at Fort Ridgely, and cautiously urged +his frightened horse toward the cow. As he came within twenty-five or +thirty feet, she charged at him, but he spurred his horse forward and as +she passed behind him, he fired at her eye. It was a lucky shot, for she +rolled over like a log and lay still. In a moment Captain Feilner and +the corporal rode up, the latter's saddle already loaded with thirty or +forty pounds of choice meat cut from his own quarry. He dismounted and +walked up to Al. + +[Illustration: She charged at him as he fired] + +"That was a fine shot at the distance," said he. "I didn't think you +would make a hit. And you finished her in good shape. Do you know where +to cut off the best pieces for eating?" + +"No, I don't," replied Al. "I never killed one before." + +"Let me show you," said the other, drawing out his knife, "so that +you'll know next time." + +"What is your name?" asked Al, as they worked, handing up the pieces to +the Captain, who tied them to his own and Al's saddles. "You must be a +veteran at it, the way you knocked over that big fellow." + +"Oh, I've killed a few of them," answered the cavalryman, modestly. "It +isn't much of a trick when you know how. My name is Charles Wright, +corporal in Company A, First Dakota Cavalry." + +They were soon riding back to the column with the welcome supply of +fresh meat, joining on the way the members of the other party, who had +killed three buffalo of the bunch they had followed. On arriving at the +column they were soundly berated by General Sully for their temerity in +venturing so far; for if a party of Indians of any size had cut in +between them and the main body they might easily have all been killed. +Captain Feilner, who, being an engineer and also, incidentally, a +naturalist, was fond of wandering aside from the line of march to +examine the country, laughed incredulously at the General's misgivings. + +"General, I do not believe there are enough Indians within one hundred +miles to endanger the number of us who went out there," said he. + +"Well, there are," replied General Sully, positively, "don't make any +mistake about that. And if you're not more careful, Feilner, you'll get +your scalp lifted some day on one of your foolhardy side trips after +buffalo or rocks or petrified beetles. As for you, Briscoe," he +continued, addressing Al, "if you want to die young, just keep on +following those Coyotes wherever they lead." With a grim smile, he +jerked his thumb over his shoulder toward the dusty squadron just behind +them, who at the moment were welcoming Corporal Wright and his +meat-laden companions with yells and whoops of delight. "Those fellows +are the most reckless devils in the Northwest and they'll get you into +more tight holes than you can get out of unless you're as bad as they +are." + +Al felt that this was the highest compliment possible to the Dakota boys +and so, indeed, General Sully meant it to be. That night at supper in +the bivouac the staff and the Coyotes, at least, fared sumptuously, with +hot and tender buffalo steaks to go with their hardtack, fried potatoes +and coffee. + +It was several days after the buffalo hunt, on June 28, to be exact, +that the command broke camp at daylight and marched forward toward the +crossing of the Little Cheyenne River. The troops marched in two +columns, as usual, the supply train being in the centre between them, +while the Dakota Cavalry rode a short distance in advance. Their +commander, Captain Nelson Miner, was that day acting field officer of +the day, having charge of the guard details. As the day wore on it +became hot and sultry and the dust suffocating. Every one was suffering +with thirst and finally, as they approached within a few miles of the +Cheyenne, Captain Feilner decided to ride ahead to that stream in search +of water. Two soldiers from one of the commands in the main column +volunteered to accompany him. Al was working over his books in one of +the wagons of the train when the Captain rode past and called out to +him, + +"I am going on to the Little Cheyenne to get a drink. Do you want to go +with me?" + +"I should like to," Al called back, "but I'm busy now. Look out for +Indians." + +"Oh, yes," replied the Captain, smiling, "There are three of us. I guess +we can force a passage against all the Indians we shall see." + +He waved his hand and disappeared through the dust up the column, the +two soldiers trotting hard after him. Al resumed his work and in a +moment forgot all about Captain Feilner. When he had finished he mounted +his horse and rode up to the head of the column where he fell in with +the rest of the staff around General Sully. They had been riding along +in leisurely fashion for some time, their weary horses walking with +drooping heads, the riders lolling in their saddles, when Al's glance, +wandering aimlessly over the desolate landscape ahead, was arrested by +two small dots which suddenly appeared on the top of a prairie ridge far +in front and came racing down the exposed slope in the direction of the +column. Something in their appearance made his heart jump into his +throat. Instinctively he reached out and touched the arm of General +Sully, who was talking to Lieutenant Dale. + +"General," he cried, pointing ahead. "Look there! What are those +specks?" + +The general, startled, glanced in the direction indicated. His +expression changed to one of dismay. + +"By God," he exclaimed, snatching out his field-glasses, "something's +happened over there; there are only two of them. Feilner's got in +trouble; I knew he would." + +He touched his horse and started forward at a trot, his staff following. +The riders, coming at a furious pace, soon reached them. They were the +two soldiers who had ridden ahead with the Captain, hatless and without +arms, their horses panting with the frantic pace they had been making. +The leading trooper jerked up in front of the General and, saluting, +cried breathlessly, + +"Captain Feilner is killed, General!" + +General Sully slapped his field-glasses back into their case and +clenched his fist with an enraged gesture. + +"I knew it," he growled, savagely. "The best officer I had. Curse these +infernal redskins!" It must be admitted that at such moments General +Sully did not hesitate to use stronger language than is allowable in +print. "Where was he killed?" + +"At the crossing of the Cheyenne, sir. He's lying there now." + +"How did it happen?" + +"Why, when we reached there, sir, the Captain got off his horse and went +down the bank,--it's steep where we were,--and got a drink, while we +held his horse. Then we dismounted and went down, leaving our horses and +carbines with him. He was sitting under a little tree. While we were +down by the creek we heard a rifle shot and looked up and saw three +Injuns riding up toward our horses. There is good grass in the bottom +and we'd picketed them, but they got scared and pulled the picket-pins +and ran off before the redskins got them. We could see the Captain lying +there but we didn't have our guns so all we could do was to hide out +till the Injuns rode off north across the creek. Then we ran after our +horses and came back." + +"Three Indians, you say? And they rode north?" questioned the General, +sharply. + +"Yes, sir." + +Sully put his horse to the gallop and rode swiftly toward the head of +the approaching column. As he reached Captain Miner, he pulled up. + +"Captain," he cried, "three Indians have killed Captain Feilner at the +crossing of the Little Cheyenne, just ahead of us here. They rode north, +across the creek. Take Company A and follow the cowardly assassins and +bring them to me, dead or alive; mind you, dead or alive!" + +"Feilner killed!" exclaimed Captain Miner. "The dirty scoundrels!" + +He swung his horse so sharply that it reared, and dashed back along the +column of Company A until he reached First Sergeant A. M. English, who +was in command. + +"Sergeant," he cried, in ringing tones which every eagerly listening man +in the company could hear, "Captain Feilner has been killed, and we are +ordered to pursue the Indians!" + +Then he galloped back to the head of the column and, rising in his +stirrups, shouted, + +"Column left, march! Company, trot! Gallop! Follow me, boys!" + +With a rising thunder of hoofs and a swirling dust cloud behind them, +through which the glint of carbines, sabres, and accoutrements flashed +in the sunshine, the cavalry swept over the hill in front and away. The +General rode hotly after them to the crest and watched them streaming +through the depression and up the slopes beyond. Then he laughed grimly. + +"See the d--n Coyotes," he exclaimed. "They go like a flock of sheep! +They'll kill their horses before they catch the redskins. Ride after +them and tell Miner to take it easy." + +Al, who ever since hearing the distressing news had been quivering with +impotent rage over the cruel fate of his good friend, Captain Feilner, +caught the General's last words. He turned with a swift salute, even as +he put spurs to his horse. + +"I'll tell him, General!" he cried, and rode away like the wind. + +"Here, you!" cried the General, "Come back!" + +But Al did not want to hear. + +"Oh, let him go," Sully added, in a lower tone, "I reckon he's a Coyote +himself," and he chuckled as he saw Al put his horse over a gully at the +bottom of the hill and tear up the opposite rise close on the heels of +the last ragged end of the racing Dakota Cavalry. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE REVENGE OF THE COYOTES + + +As he gained the top of the rise, Al saw a confused and scattered array +of horsemen just ahead of him, all going at a sharp gallop with no +attempt at formation, the men leaning forward in their saddles as if +riding to the finish of a hard race. He understood that it was a foolish +pace for what would probably prove a long pursuit, but nothing could be +done to slacken it until he could overtake Captain Miner, who was at the +very head of the company. Al and every one else had been very much +surprised at the impetuous manner in which Captain Miner had started +out, for though brave as a lion, he was usually very deliberate in +movement and gentle of speech and his voice had a plaintive, appealing +tone which often contrasted oddly with the orders he was giving. +Altogether, his dashing and devoted followers often found much to amuse +them in the ways of their mild commander. That he had been profoundly +moved by the death of Captain Feilner was evident; otherwise he would +never have urged his little roan mare to a gallop, for his habit was to +ride her at an ambling trot, even in the most exciting and dangerous +situations. + +Al hurried his own wiry little horse to greater exertions and began +forging to the front. Before long he left all except the leaders behind +and as they went over the hill and down into the valley of the Cheyenne, +he was almost up to Captain Miner. The latter's face was set steadily to +the front, however, as he scanned the country ahead for sight of the +fugitive Indians, and Al could not attract his attention until he had +overtaken him, almost on the bank of the creek. Then he shouted, + +"Captain Miner! Captain Miner!" + +The Captain turned and drew in his horse. + +"Well?" he inquired, lifting his eyebrows slightly, "What is it?" It was +plain he had recovered his composure, for his voice was placid. + +"General Sully's compliments, sir, and he suggests that you take it a +little slower, as the horses may be exhausted before you can catch the +Indians," answered Al. + +Captain Miner pulled at his beard thoughtfully. + +"Oh, pshaw!" he said, a disapproving note in his voice, "I wonder how we +are to catch them if we don't keep going?" + +"I don't know, sir," replied Al, as side by side they rode their horses +into the creek, "but that was what the General told me to say to you." + +The stream was shallow and narrow but its banks were composed of deep, +swampy mud through which their horses floundered and plunged, knee deep. +Above and below them soldiers of the Coyotes were coming at the stream, +some clearing it in a bound, where the banks were solid enough for a +jump, while others became so deeply mired that they could not get out +again until the rest of the command had passed from sight beyond. Just +as Al's and the Captain's horses waded out of the creek and came up, +snorting, on the opposite bank, they heard some of the men already +across, shouting, + +"There are the Indians! Over there!" + +At this moment a headquarters orderly galloped into sight and halted +beside the Captain. + +"The General is afraid you will ruin your horses," he cried. "He thinks +you had better come back." + +Again Captain Miner tugged at his beard, a habit of his when annoyed or +perplexed. + +"Is that an order?" he inquired. + +"No, sir, I think not," the orderly replied, hesitatingly. "It's a +suggestion." + +"Well," directed the Captain, gently, "will you, then, please report to +the General that we are in sight of the Indians and without I have a +positive order to return, I propose to take them." + +He turned to the front again and put his little roan into her accustomed +trot, calling out to the men nearest him, as he waved his hand at them, + +"Take it a bit slower, boys; don't run your horses. We'll catch the +Indians all right." + +Al's ambitious little sorrel, seeing other horses ahead of him, was +tugging at the bit and Al gradually let him have his head, leaving the +Captain a short distance behind while the rest of the company was +strung out for a mile or more in the rear. Al soon found himself among +the leaders, riding neck and neck with Sergeant English and Corporal +Wright, while Troopers Tom Frick, George Pike, George McClellan, and +others whose names he did not know were near to them. The country was +almost level where they were riding and they could now see the three +Indians plainly, though still a long way ahead. The fugitives were +pushing with all the speed they could make for a group of rough hills in +advance, evidently hoping to escape pursuit in the ravines. To reach the +hills, their course must be at a slight angle across that of the +soldiers. + +"Let's try to head them off," suggested Sergeant English. "Bear a little +to the right." + +The change of direction was made and as they continued to creep up on +the Indians, whose ponies were evidently wearing out, they could see the +latter look around anxiously every minute or two. The savages were +urging their animals with quirt and heel, and though they responded but +feebly, their strength lasted long enough to take them to the base of +the hills before the pursuers had come within carbine range. As they +reached the first steep slope, the Indians suddenly threw themselves +from their ponies' backs and, clinging to their guns, ran up to the top +of the hill on foot and disappeared. As they came nearer to the hill, +the soldiers were startled to see on its crest, just where the fugitives +had disappeared, a very large body of warriors with war-bonnets and +robes waving in the breeze. + +"Well, say, what do you think of that?" exclaimed Corporal Wright. +"There must be two or three hundred of them." + +The advance party reluctantly slowed down until Captain Miner and some +of the other men had come up to them. The Captain examined for a moment +the ominous looking group ahead. Then he turned a wistful glance on the +thirty or forty men behind him and said, plaintively, + +"There seem to be a good many of them, but I think we'd better charge, +boys." He touched his mare and trotted forward, calling in a soothing +tone, "Yes, that's what we'll do. Charge, boys, charge." + +Some of the men laughed explosively, partly with nervousness, partly +with amusement at their commander's quaint orders, but not one +hesitated. Spreading out in a long, irregular line, they dashed at the +hill, shouting, + +"Death to the murderers!" + +But as they approached the crest, again laughter broke out, rolling from +one flank of the line to the other and back again, in boisterous waves. +The supposed Indians were nothing more than a patch of mullen stalks, +transformed by distance and the peculiar condition of the air into a +resemblance to human beings. The men looked at each other sheepishly, +but as they reached the top of the hill, they sobered again. The three +real Indians were just disappearing down a ravine on the other side. +Pell-mell the cavalry rushed after them, Captain Miner and Sergeant +English now in the lead. The horses slid and stumbled down through the +ravine, but the wily savages were still ahead, dodging about among +obstructions to the view which none but Indians could have found. +Presently the ravine widened out into a valley in which no sign of life +was to be seen. The whole body of cavalry was going on into the valley +when suddenly the Indians rose as if from the ground, a little way to +one side of the course the soldiers were taking, and fired at the +Captain and the Sergeant, behind whom Al was closely following. + +The fugitives had taken refuge in an old buffalo wallow, forming a +perfect natural rifle-pit; and if they had not mistakenly thought +themselves discovered and risen to fire, their pursuers would probably +have swept by without finding them. But now they were brought to bay and +with cheers and yells of delight a number of troopers sprang from their +saddles and encircling the buffalo wallow, though at some distance from +it, threw themselves flat on the ground with carbines cocked, waiting +for an Indian to show himself. It was like a pack of wolves surrounding +their quarry. Fortunately, neither the Captain nor Sergeant English had +been injured by the first fire and they joined the circle of besiegers, +while the men who were holding the horses formed a wider circle back on +the prairie out of range. + +Al's horse, though of course new to him, was an old campaigner which +had gone out from Fort Randall on more than one forced march. His name, +Cottontail, had doubtless been bestowed upon him by some former soldier +rider in humorous reference to his fluffy tail, which was almost white. +He could be trusted to stand through any amount of noise or excitement +if his reins were, thrown over his head so that they hung on the ground +at his feet. Al left him thus, standing alone, and running forward, +dropped down in the ring of dismounted men beside Corporal Wright. For a +few moments the Indians kept out of sight. Then something rose above the +rim of the buffalo wallow and Al, who was watching that spot with +intense eagerness as he lay sprawled in the short prairie grass, raised +his rifle to fire. But the corporal slapped down the barrel. + +"Don't shoot at that," said he, "or the boys'll laugh at you. It isn't a +redskin; it's just a breech cloth they're sticking up to draw our fire. +Look closer." + +Al looked as directed and saw, on more careful scrutiny, that it was, +indeed, only a piece of cloth. None of the men fired at it, but some of +them hooted derisively, for they knew that the Indians' scheme was to +draw a volley, when they could safely spring up and fire at their +besiegers before the latter could reload. Al lowered his rifle in +disgust. + +"How are we going to get them if they never stick their heads up?" he +inquired, impatiently. + +"Well, they can stay and starve to death," answered Wright, grinning. +"We're able to hold out longer at that game than they are. But +Captain'll order us to charge pretty soon if they don't do something." + +However, the Indians could not stand the suspense. Their ruse having +failed, one of them soon raised his gun and then his head above the edge +of the hole and fired quickly at the first soldier he sighted. His aim +was bad and he had misjudged the alertness of his foes. Almost before he +had shot, a dozen carbines cracked and he dropped back more suddenly +than he had risen. All those in the encircling line heard, or thought +they heard, the dull thud of the bullets as they struck him. A +disjointed cheer ran round among the men. + +"There goes one of the murderers!" they shouted. "Now for the next." + +The circle began to contract, the men crawling and hitching forward, a +few inches at a time. For some minutes this was kept up on all sides of +the hole, until they had approached within a few rods of it. Still the +Indians gave no sign. Then again the soldiers heard, plainly audible in +the silence, the persuasive voice of Captain Miner, raised slightly +above its ordinary tone; + +"Charge, boys, charge!" + +As if released by a spring, at those welcome words the Coyotes leaped to +their feet as one man and with a fierce shout rushed forward. The +Indians heard them coming and as the soldiers approached within twenty +feet of their refuge they arose and with a blood-curdling yell fired +their guns straight into the faces of their assailants. Good fortune was +surely with the Dakota boys that day, for the bullets, even at that +deadly range, whistled by harmlessly, and in less time than it takes to +tell it, a score of carbines flashed and the savage assassins, riddled +with bullets, fell back across the body of their already dead companion. +Thus speedily had the cold-blooded murder of Captain Feilner been +avenged. + +The soldiers, talking together excitedly, gathered around the edge of +the buffalo wallow; and two or three, including Corporal Wright, sprang +down into it to take trophies, such as beads or feathers, from the dead +warriors. Al was standing on the brink of the hole watching the Corporal +bend over one of the bodies, when, to his amazement, he saw another of +the supposedly dead Indians raise the muzzle of his musket toward the +Corporal's back. + +[Illustration: The Indian raised his rifle to shoot Corporal Wright] + +"Look out, Corporal!" shouted Al, at the same instant shooting into the +Indian. The Corporal leaped high in air and turned round just in time to +see the musket drop from the hands of the warrior as he fell back and +expired. + +"Why, he wasn't dead at all!" exclaimed Al, aghast at the suddenness of +the thing. "He was playing possum and he almost had you, Corporal." + +Wright, a little pale, scrambled out of the hole and grasped Al's hand +warmly. + +"You've saved my life, sure enough," said he, earnestly. "I hope I can +do as much for you sometime." + +"I hope there won't be any need," answered Al, smiling, "but I'm very +glad I saw him in time." + +"It's lucky for Charlie that you did," cried Sergeant English, "it looks +so mighty suspicious to be shot in the back." + +Wright, laughing, wheeled like lightning on the joker and made a clutch +at him; but the Sergeant sprang out of the way and raced off, with +Wright close on his heels, shouting, + +"Here, come back, while I thrash you for that!" + +With their sabres catching between their legs, the two brave fellows, +playing like boys, looked comical enough; and the rest of the men, all +of them in high spirits over their success, yelled and applauded loudly +as they dodged about over the prairie until so completely out of breath +that they sunk to the ground, still laughing, and lay there panting. + +As soon as they had caught their breath they arose again and returned to +the buffalo wallow. Captain Miner was standing thoughtfully beside it, +looking down at the dead Indians. + +"I don't see what we are going to do with these fellows," he said, +doubtfully, glancing around at his men. "The General ordered me to bring +them to him, dead or alive, and of course we've got to do it. But we +must be fifteen miles from the column and they'll be kind of awkward to +take that far." + +"Strip off some of their ornaments," suggested somebody, "and take them +to the General." + +The Captain, interested, peered in the direction of the speaker. + +"Why, that isn't a bad idea," he answered, gratefully. "Yes, I think +that will do, boys." + +A score of men jumped into the hole while one man ran and brought a sack +in which he had been carrying oats for his horse. In less time than it +takes to tell it the trophies, stripped from the trappings of the +Indians with sabres and knives, were deposited in the sack, which +Captain Miner fastened to the pommel of his saddle. + +The company were soon mounted and riding back toward the Cheyenne, where +the main command had bivouacked for the night, gathering in on the way +the stragglers who had been unable to keep up during the chase. About +midway of their march they were met by Lieutenant Bacon, whom General +Sully had sent out with an ambulance carrying water and commissaries to +the Coyotes, knowing that they would be both hungry and thirsty. Bacon +was jubilant over the success of Company A, for he was its First +Lieutenant, and he gave out the supplies liberally, assisted by Al. + +"Young fellow," said he to the latter, with a twinkle in his eye, "what +do you mean by running off to play with these boys here and leaving me +to attend to all the work of feeding the army?" + +"Cottontail ran away with me, sir," answered Al, unabashed. + +"That'll do," exclaimed the Lieutenant. "It's evident you're not a +descendant of George Washington. But I don't blame you for going; wish I +had gone myself and let the army wait for its supper." + +The command marched into camp about sunset. Fires were burning brightly +here and there, and as they approached, the soldiers gathered in crowds +to see and cheer them. Captain Miner led his men directly to the +headquarters tents, before which General Sully and a group of staff and +other officers collected as the dusty men on their tired horses marched +up and halted before them. Without dismounting, Captain Miner rode +straight to the General, saluted, and loosing the sack, dropped it on +the ground at Sully's feet. + +"We got them, General," he murmured, absently. + +As the sack fell, the trophies rolled from it and lay in plain view. + +"Well," said the General, "Captain, this is certainly pretty good +evidence that you got them. I thank you and your men for the vigor and +gallantry and success of your pursuit. Please keep these till to-morrow +morning. I will give you further orders concerning them." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE FORT ON THE RIVER + + +Another day of easy marching brought the column to Swan Lake Creek, +about fifteen miles due north of the Little Cheyenne, where camp was +made to await the arrival of the Second Brigade, from Minnesota, which, +according to the arrangement between Generals Sibley and Sully, was to +join the expedition there. Scouting parties were sent on north toward +Bois Cache Creek to look for the expected troops; and while awaiting +their return Al had an opportunity to see illustrated in rather an +amusing way one phase of General Sully's bluff, soldierly character. + +Some of the regiments which had marched from Fort Sully were quite +recently organized, and the General had not yet made the acquaintance of +all their officers; so at Swan Lake Creek, having a little leisure time, +he asked the commanders of these regiments to bring to headquarters +such of their officers as he had not met. Among them appeared a young +lieutenant of the Sixth Iowa Cavalry, dressed in a spotless new uniform +of the latest regulation cut, set off by a red silk sash and a +resplendent sabre-belt, and very strongly perfumed with musk. General +Sully, like General Grant, was very modest in his dress, and his +uniform, except for the shoulder-straps, differed little from that of a +private, while sometimes in the field he even wore civilian garments, +such as corduroy trousers and white felt hat. He detested gorgeous +uniforms, especially when the wearer had no particular claim to +soldierly eminence or ability. When his eye fell upon this particular +military dandy, he looked the young man over contemptuously and his lip +curled as he sniffed the odor of musk. Al, who was standing by, saw that +something was coming, and listened in amused silence. + +"General Sully," said Major Ten Broeck, who had brought the fledgeling +officer for presentation, "allow me to introduce Lieutenant C----, of +Company ----, Sixth Iowa Cavalry." + +"Lieutenant C----, eh?" grunted the General. "Well, Lieutenant, how +long have you been in the volunteer service?" + +"About six months," replied the other, seeming to feel conscious that +such a lengthy period had made him a model military man in every +particular. + +"Six months?" cried the General, striking his fist down on his knee. +"Why, great Heavens, man, I've been in the regular service for twenty +years, and don't smell half as bad as you do!" + +With that he waved his hand impatiently to Major Ten Broeck to indicate +that the interview was ended, and the crestfallen young officer withdrew +hastily. + +On the morning of June 30 the men, idling about the camp, descried the +columns of the Second Brigade, long, narrow ribbons in the distance, +crawling toward them across the limitless, gently rolling plain. +Rejoicing and excitement broke out on every hand, for it meant that +there would be no delay in the progress of the campaign, as many had +feared there might be, since the Minnesota troops had been obliged to +make a march of nearly three hundred and fifty miles from Fort Ridgely +to the rendezvous. That the junction of the two brigades was effected +so promptly in that vast wilderness was a matter for congratulation, and +General Sully seemed to feel that he could not too highly praise Colonel +Minor T. Thomas, the commanding officer of the Minnesota column, for the +promptness and skill with which he had conducted his march. The +newcomers went into camp beside the First Brigade, and the men of the +two commands were soon mingled, telling one another of their respective +experiences. + +That evening, as soon as he had finished his duties for the day and +eaten his supper, Al strolled into the camp of the Second, or, as it was +generally called, the Minnesota Brigade, to see if he could find there +any old acquaintances, particularly any who might have been at Fort +Ridgely. Here and there fires were burning and the men were lounging +about in groups, talking, playing cards, or otherwise amusing +themselves. Long lines of cavalry horses extended between the company +streets, securely tied to picket lines; and near the creek a large train +of wagons was corralled, its outspanned mule teams, crowded within the +great circle of wagons, seeming almost countless. As he walked along +through the haze of dust made golden by the setting sun, Al noticed a +cavalryman sitting cross-legged by one of the fires, engaged in the +unmilitary task of sewing a button on his coat. The soldier's back was +toward him, but that back had an oddly familiar look. Al walked around +until he could see the trooper's profile, then, with an exclamation of +surprise and pleasure, he sprang forward and slapped the amateur tailor +on the shoulder. + +"Wallace Smith!" he exclaimed. "Say, but I'm glad to see you, old +fellow." + +Wallace looked up, startled, then sprang to his feet and gripped Al's +hand. + +"Why, Al Briscoe!" he cried, "what on earth are you doing here? I had no +idea you were within a thousand miles." + +"I came up with General Sully from St. Louis to help look for my brother +Tommy," Al answered. "And you?" + +"I am a private in the Eighth Minnesota," explained Wallace. "I became +eighteen just before the column left Minnesota, and as soon as I did, I +enlisted." He looked inquiringly at Al's civilian clothes. "Aren't you +in the service?" he asked. + +"No; not old enough," Al replied. "But I'm serving just about the same +as a soldier. Practically I am on General Sully's staff." + +"Whew-w!" whistled Wallace. "Lucky boy. That must be great. How did it +happen?" + +Mutual explanations followed and before long each of the boys knew the +main facts of the other's history since they parted, nearly two years +before. + +"There are other old acquaintances of yours with us," said Wallace, +presently. "You remember Sergeant Jones, who commanded the artillery at +Fort Ridgely?" + +"Indeed I do," Al replied, recalling with quickened pulses the +Sergeant's gallantry. "Is he here?" + +"Yes. He is now Captain Jones, of the Third Minnesota Battery and he is +in command of our artillery; two six-pounder field guns and two +twelve-pounder mountain howitzers, of his battery." + +"He certainly deserved promotion for his work at Fort Ridgely," +exclaimed Al, enthusiastically. + +"Yes, he did," agreed Wallace, "and his men say he is a fine officer." + +"Is Lieutenant Sheehan along?" asked Al. + +"No, the Fifth has been down South for nearly two years, and he with +them. But you remember Major Brown? He is chief of scouts with us, and +has a company of about fifty Indians. Then there are several men among +our different regiments who were at Fort Ridgely as refugees and who +have since enlisted." + +"How many men are in your brigade?" Al asked. + +"I believe between fifteen and sixteen hundred," Wallace replied, "not, +of course, including the teamsters with the wagon train. Let me see. +There is our entire regiment, the Eighth Infantry; we are all mounted +for this campaign. Minor T. Thomas is our Colonel, but as he is in +command of the brigade, Lieutenant-Colonel Rogers is actually commanding +the regiment. Then there are four companies of the Thirtieth Wisconsin, +under Colonel Dill, and six companies of the Second Minnesota Cavalry +under Colonel McLaren, besides the artillery and a train of +ninety-three wagons and twelve ambulances, each drawn by a six-mule +team. We have quite a herd of beef cattle, too. So you see there are +enough animals with us alone to eat up all the grass in this country for +miles around in short order; and I suppose there are about as many with +your brigade." + +"Yes, there are a lot of them," agreed Al. "We can't stay very long in +one place and find forage enough, unless rain comes to make the grass +grow." + +The boys, very happy to meet one another again, talked for several hours +and then at last they separated for the night, each promising to see the +other as often as possible. The camp had quieted down, and most of the +men of both brigades, weary with the marching and other work of the past +few days, were wrapped in deep slumber; but all around the camps were +heavy guards, and the sentries, alert and watchful, were pacing their +beats. They looked shadowy and ghost-like under the starlight as Al +passed along, making his way through the company streets of little white +dog-tents, each backed by its long picket-line of horses, standing or +lying almost motionless in the gloom. It was not many minutes after he +had reached his own cot in one of the big Sibley tents of headquarters +before Al, too, was sleeping the profound and dreamless sleep of youth +and health. + +General Sully's orders from General Pope were to establish a fort on the +Missouri River somewhere near the point where the Long Lake River +entered the stream. The plan of the Government at this time was to erect +and maintain a chain of military posts, of which the new fort should be +one, extending from Minnesota to central Montana, which should serve not +only to hold the Indians in check but also to protect emigrants going +through the Sioux country from the East, across Dakota, to the new +Montana gold-mining districts. A well marked trail had become +established through this section since 1862, but the hostility of the +Indians was such that none but very strong parties of emigrants could +make use of it. The Government wished to render the route more safe; and +the new fort on the Missouri, as well as the one General Sully was +expected to build on the Yellowstone, was part of the chain, which +began at Fort Abercrombie, Minnesota, on the Red River of the North. + +For four days after the junction of the two brigades, the entire command +lay in camp for the purpose of resting both men and animals. The time +passed quietly and not unpleasantly, but with no unusual incidents. +Several summer thunder showers came, greatly improving the grass and +relieving the discomfort which the expedition had previously suffered +from the dust. Though nearly every one was idle most of the time, Al +found plenty to keep him busy. The camp was seven miles from the +Missouri, where the steamboats lay, and the Dakota Cavalry was ordered +to the river as a guard for them. Then the wagon-train, in sections, +went down to reload from the reserve supplies on the boats. Thus Al was +frequently obliged to go back and forth on Cottontail between the +encampment and the river, sometimes finding a chance while at the latter +point to spend a little time with his friends of the Dakota Cavalry or +with those acquaintances among the steamboat men whom he had come to +know during the long trip from St. Louis to Fort Sully. + +At length, on the third of July, General Sully put the First Brigade in +motion for the mouth of Long Lake River, distant about one hundred +miles, and, after instructing the Second Brigade to proceed thither also +on the next day, he set out himself on the _Island City_ to examine the +river banks for a suitable site on which to build the new fort. As an +escort for the boat he took a company of troops, and most of the members +of his staff also went with him; but Al remained with the column, as his +duties demanded his presence there. The marches were long but not +exhausting, and by the eighth of July all the forces were assembled on +the Missouri a short distance above the mouth of Long Lake River. +Directly opposite, on the west bank of the Missouri, was the site on +which the General had decided to build Fort Rice, as the new post was to +be called. + +The location was an ideal one. It was a level tableland with a permanent +bank along the river nearly one hundred feet high, and behind it rose a +majestic range of sandstone bluffs, which, just below the post swept out +boldly to the brink of the Missouri and followed it down to the mouth of +the Cannonball River, eight miles south. Along the base of the bluffs +extended a long, narrow belt of heavy timber, and another and much +larger forest covered the wide valley above the post. Immediately in +front of the latter the river was narrow, insuring a good crossing at +nearly all seasons, its only disadvantage being that, owing to the high +bank on which the fort stood, the ferry and steamboat landing had to be +made about half a mile down stream. + +On the arrival of the army, a ferry, consisting of a long cable +stretched from bank to bank across the Missouri, on which a flatboat was +guided back and forth, was immediately put in operation. Some of the +troops, including the Dakota Cavalry, crossed on it and went into camp +near the site of the fort. The steamers were then unloaded and put to +work crossing the rest of the troops and the wagon-train, and the army +was soon all assembled on the west bank. Two sawmills, one operated by +a steam-engine and the other by horse-power, the entire equipment for +which had been brought along, were now started and began rapidly getting +out building materials, the timber being brought from the near-by +forests. Great cottonwood logs for the walls were squared to dimensions +of six by eight inches, and planks and boards were sawed for the +interior work. The stockade, with bastions on the northeast and +southwest corners, was also built of cottonwood. + +The four companies of the Thirteenth Wisconsin, under Colonel Dill, +which were to be left to garrison the completed work, also constructed +it. They were composed of men from the Wisconsin lumbering districts, +who knew their business thoroughly; and with so many hands to do the +work it proceeded rapidly. In an incredibly short time barracks for +eight companies, officers' quarters, hospital, and storehouses, began to +take on an appearance of permanency which must have filled the scouts of +the hostile Indians with anger and dread, as they lay watching day by +day from distant ridges and buttes. + +A short time after camp was pitched at Fort Rice a long line of wagons +made its appearance on the hills across the river and came dragging +slowly down the trail made by the army, until it reached the river bank. +It was a large party of emigrants from Minnesota, which had followed the +Second Brigade for the purpose of having the protection of the army in +crossing the country between the Missouri and the Yellowstone. There +were about a hundred and twenty-five wagons in the train and several +hundred people, including many women and children, and they were bound +for the gold fields. Their wagons were drawn by ox-teams. Their arrival +drew forth an explosion from General Sully. + +"The idea of bringing women and children into such a country as this," +he exclaimed. "I've got to protect them because the Government has +guaranteed them safe conduct through the Sioux lands and told them that +I will look after them. And so here they are, with a lot of lumbering +ox-teams, good for about six miles a day. How in the name of sense do +they expect to keep up with cavalry?" + +"You can detach an escort to stay with them," suggested one of the staff +officers. + +"Yes, of course I can," returned the General. "That's one of the worst +features of the business. We'll have to cut down our fighting force in +order to look after this travelling nursery, and the whole army'll have +to potter along and mark time when the Indians are just ahead, so that +the ladies can have their noontime nap. They will be everlastingly +hindering us in one way or another. I wish I could send them back where +they came from." + +"Why don't you?" asked some one. + +The General looked at the speaker disgustedly. + +"Do you know what would happen if I sent them back?" he asked. "I should +be reprimanded by the Secretary of War, at the very least. It seems as +though the petting and protection of a handful of emigrants, most of +them runaways from the draft, is regarded as of more importance than the +success of military operations; at least, that has usually been my +experience in the past. Also, a howl would go up all over the country +about the cruelty of that hard-hearted military dictator, Sully, who +refused to lend to a few poor struggling emigrants the assistance of his +mighty army. Oh, no, I must take them along; that's all there is to +it." + +A day or two after this, Al was in one of the supply wagons, when a +shadow came across the rear opening of the canvas top, whose back-flaps +he had drawn aside in order to see better as he worked. He looked up to +see peering in at him two bearded individuals wearing wide-brimmed felt +hats, checked shirts, and blue overalls, the latter tucked into the tops +of their cowhide boots. They were evidently members of the emigrant +party. + +"We want to buy some grub from you," said one of the men, looking over +the contents of the wagon as if he were inspecting the shelves of a +grocery store. "Gimme a box o' that hardtack and a couple o' slabs o' +bacon and about ten pounds o' sugar, and,--" + +"Why, I can't sell you anything," interrupted Al, taken very much by +surprise. + +"Sure you kin," persisted the man, jingling some coins in his hand. +"I've got money; I'll pay cash." + +"But these are Government stores," Al answered. "I'm not authorized to +sell them." + +"Oh, well, that'll be all right," the would-be customer dismissed the +objection with a wave of the hand. "We're gettin' low on grub over in +our camp, and we want to hang on to what we've got till we git acrost +the Yellowstone. O' course we've got to eat, and the army's got to +supply us, 'specially when we're willin' to pay fer stuff. Old Sully +knows that." He spoke as if he considered the idea of paying as a great +concession, for which the Government ought to be very grateful. + +"I do not think that _General_ Sully brought supplies along for more +than his own men," replied Al, putting emphasis upon the title, for he +resented the disrespectful tone used by the emigrant. "However," he +added, "I will ask the quartermaster." + +He jumped from the wagon and, followed by the two emigrants, sought +Lieutenant Bacon. + +"Why, I never heard of such brass," exclaimed the latter in an undertone +when Al had found him and explained the demands of the emigrants. "Of +course we haven't any supplies for these fellows. Why didn't they bring +along enough to last them?" + +He turned to the men and repeated what Al had already told them. But +they were stubborn and declined to accept the quartermaster's refusal. +Indeed, they became angry and began condemning the General, the +Northwestern Indian Expedition, and the army, in unmeasured terms. + +"Now, that will do," at last exclaimed Lieutenant Bacon, sharply, tired +of their insolence. "I'll take you to General Sully and he can decide +the matter." + +When the question had been explained to him, the General was plainly +irritated but he held his temper in check. + +"I have not enough supplies here now to outfit this post until next +Spring and to carry my army through the coming campaign," said he. "Some +of my boats are now busy bringing up supplies which were left at Farm +Island, that there may be sufficient to take us through. Why didn't you +bring enough yourselves to last you?" + +"Because we was told we could get 'em from you," replied one of the men. + +"Who told you that?" + +"Well, them that ought to know," answered the other, evasively. + +"They were mistaken," said the General. "I simply cannot let you have +supplies." + +"Well, it's a blamed funny thing," exclaimed one of the emigrants, +assuming a tone of outraged virtue, "if a General and a great big army +can let poor emigrants starve to death; folks that are goin' out, +riskin' their lives and everything to settle up wild land and make this +here country great." + +"You're going out from motives of pure patriotism alone, I suppose?" +asked the General, sarcastically. "You're not going because there's gold +out there and you want to make your fortunes?" + +"Well, maybe we can make a livin'," answered the emigrant who had done +most of the talking, a little abashed, "but we'll build up the country, +just the same." + +"That's very true," the General replied, earnestly, "and I'm willing to +do all that I can to help you through, so long as it does not seriously +interfere with the objects of the campaign I am here to make against +the Indians. You can certainly understand that I must and will obey my +orders from the Government, regardless of any other considerations. I +will afford protection to your train as far as my army is going, but +more than that I cannot promise. As for supplies, I am satisfied that +you have enough with you to carry you through if you exercise care in +their use. I do not believe that men would start out on such an +expedition as yours with insufficient food. Am I not right?" He leaned +forward in his camp chair and gave the men a searching look. Their eyes +fell and they moved their feet uneasily. But the General's glance +demanded an answer to his question. + +"Mebbe we could scratch along," admitted one of them, reluctantly. + +"So I thought," said the General. "You merely figured that by getting +army supplies while you were with the troops you could be less sparing +with your own. But I can't accommodate you. Good-day." + +He turned to other matters, and his disappointed visitors took +themselves away, still grumbling. + +Ten days after the troops had arrived on the site of the new fort, a +mere naked tract of virgin land perhaps never before trodden by the feet +of white men, they were ready to leave it behind them, covered with an +extensive and well-built military post which was destined to be occupied +by United States soldiers for many years to come. A few lodges of +Indians which had come in and surrendered at Fort Rice had confirmed the +reports of those at Fort Sully concerning the great encampment of +sixteen hundred lodges of hostiles assembled in a strong position +somewhere near the head of Heart River or on the Little Missouri. They +claimed that they had experienced the greatest difficulty in getting +away from the hostile camp, and had finally been able to do so only on +the plea of buffalo-hunting. They further declared that the hostiles +were confident in their strength and were boasting that they would +utterly destroy the army of white soldiers if the latter should venture +to attack them. So there was a prospect of plenty of excitement in store +when, on the morning of July 18, General Sully, unalarmed by such +reports, started westward with his army with wagons loaded, troops +fully equipped and liberally supplied with ammunition, and horses and +mules freshly shod. + +Just before starting, the General went on board the _Island City_ to +give some parting instructions to Captain Lamont, who was under orders +to proceed up the Missouri and the Yellowstone, in company with the +_Chippewa Falls_, under Captain Hutchison, and the _Alone_, under +Captain Rea, to meet the column with fresh supplies when it should reach +the Yellowstone. The _Island City_ was loaded chiefly with corn for the +horses, but she carried also a considerable quantity of barrelled pork +for the troops, and most of the building materials for the intended post +on the Yellowstone; while the _Chippewa Falls_ and the _Alone_ carried +chiefly rations. + +"Now, don't fail me, Captain," said the General, as he turned to leave +the _Island City's_ deck and follow his troops, already winding out of +sight across the plateau and up through a break in the westward bluffs. +"My animals will probably find poor picking out in that rough country +we are going through, and they'll need corn." + +"We'll be there waiting for you, General, if human exertions can do it," +replied Captain Lamont. "But you must remember that the Yellowstone has +never been navigated before, and I don't know what snags or rocks we may +run into." + +"You can make it, and you must," said the General, "and don't forget the +place you are to meet me,--the Brasseau Trading House, about sixty miles +above the mouth." + +"I'll be on the watch for you," answered the Captain. + +"That's right; be on the watch," the General assented. Then suddenly he +opened his field-glass case and took out the glasses. "Here's something +for you to keep watch with," he continued, handing them to the Captain. +"I have another pair and you may find these useful. I have carried them +for a long time, and they are good glasses." + +The Captain thanked him warmly, and the General walked ashore +accompanied by his officers, and they mounted their horses. + +"Good-bye, Captain," said Al, as he started to follow them. "I hope you +will have a good trip, and that I shall see you soon again." + +He little knew, as he spoke, when and under what unforeseen +circumstances the last part of his wish was to be fulfilled. + +"Thank you, Al," returned the steamboat officer, giving his hand a +kindly grip. "The same to you. Don't get yourself shot to pieces; and I +hope next time I see you, you will have your brother with you." + +"Oh, I hope so," returned Al, earnestly. "We're sure to find him up +there in the Bad Lands." + +As he crossed the landing-stage and walked out to where Cottontail was +standing, he saw the deckhand, Jim, leaning against the companion +stairs, regarding him with a scowl of hatred, but he gave the fellow +hardly a passing thought. He followed the staff at a gallop, and as they +passed up the bluffs in the wake of the rear-guard the hills were +re-echoing to the bellowing whistle of the steamboats, blowing them a +parting salute and Godspeed. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +TRAILING THE HOSTILES + + +"I wish I knew where I could get two or three more well-mounted +orderlies, with courage and common sense," said General Sully the next +day, as the army was wending its way through the rough, picturesque hill +country along the Cannonball. "I haven't enough, and it's hard to tell +whether a man can be depended upon until he has been tried." + +The remark caused Al to prick up his ears. + +"I know a man I think would suit you, General," said he. + +"Who?" asked Sully. + +"He is a private named Wallace Smith, in the Eighth Minnesota. I knew +him at Fort Ridgely. I'm sure he has plenty of courage and common sense, +and his horse is a good one." + +Al knew that Wallace was riding Frank, the horse that had so nearly +lost their scalps for them on the afternoon of the first attack on Fort +Ridgely. + +"He is a friend of yours, is he?" asked the General. + +"Yes, sir, he is," answered Al. + +"He ought to be all right, then," the General said. He scribbled +something on the paper pad he always carried in his pocket, folded the +sheet and handed it to Al. + +"Take that to Colonel Thomas," said he. + +Al obeyed joyfully, for he suspected, as proved to be the case, that the +paper was an order to Colonel Thomas to detach Wallace from his regiment +for orderly service with the commanding general. Wallace was promptly +instructed to fall out from the ranks of his company, where he was +marching, and he and Al were soon riding forward to join General Sully, +who, as usual, was near the head of the column. + +"It was certainly very kind of you to think of me, Al," said Wallace, +"and I appreciate it." + +"Perhaps you won't feel so grateful after a while," returned Al, with a +laugh. "It may be that when we strike the Indians you will have to get +into some dangerous places in carrying orders." + +"That's all right; so much the better chance for promotion," declared +Wallace, lightly. "Besides, I'm sure that service at headquarters must +be much more interesting and pleasant than it is in the ranks, where one +has to march all day in one place, and sleep and eat and wash and brush +his teeth and almost breathe, by word of command." + +"Yes, I think you will find it more pleasant in that way," agreed Al. +"All you need do is to keep up a neat and soldierly appearance, always +be on hand in case you should be wanted, and always obey orders promptly +and thoroughly." + +The army was now entering regions where it might expect to encounter +Indians in heavy force at any time, and General Sully was taking all +necessary measures to guard his forces against surprise and also to +reconnoitre the country thoroughly for signs of the red foe. The company +of Winnebago Indian scouts from Nebraska, and the friendly Sioux +employed by General Sully, were constantly spread out far in front and +on the flanks of the column, scouring the ravines and hills and clumps +of timber, while a heavy advance guard preceded the main body on the +march. Every night the wagon train was corralled, with its mules herded +in the centre. An escort of four hundred men was detailed to remain +always with the Montana emigrant train; for the latter, though it +usually marched close behind the army, sometimes met with delays because +its wagons were very heavily loaded. Major Brown's company of Indian +scouts from Minnesota had remained at Fort Rice, under orders to return +as speedily as possible to Fort Wadsworth; so that General Sully had +none too many scouts with him to properly cover his advance. + +One afternoon, camp was made for the night on a level plateau covered +with fine grass not far from the bank of the Cannonball and overlooking +the lower valley of that stream. Several small buttes, with steep sides +and round tops, rose abruptly from the valley close to the river, and +between them glimpses could be caught from the camp of the narrow stream +beyond, its waters sparkling in the late afternoon sunshine. After a hot +day's march the river looked very inviting, and Lieutenant Dale +proposed to Al that they go down and take a swim, which would also give +them a chance to examine more closely the river and the curious rock +formations along its banks. Al readily agreed and also obtained +permission from the General for Wallace to accompany them. + +Mounting their horses, they picked their way down the steep face of the +plateau and rode out across the bottom heading somewhat up stream until +they came out on the river bank, where a little rocky beach shelving +down into the water seemed to offer a pleasant spot for swimming. A few +yards downstream rose the abrupt walls of one of the buttes, which +looked as if it had been built up of many thin horizontal layers of +sandstone. Its base was fringed with small brush and willow saplings and +here and there a choke-cherry tree, well loaded with ripe fruit, of +which the party decided to eat their fill when their swim was over. +After their horses had drunk greedily of the fresh, sparkling water, +their riders tied them among the saplings, threw off their clothes, and +in a moment were laughing and splashing in the cold, clear stream, +which, though too shallow to afford much swimming, was delightfully +refreshing. They amused themselves for some minutes in picking up and +throwing about the curious pebbles and larger stones, worn perfectly +smooth and round by the water, which, owing to their resemblance to +cannonballs, had given the stream its name. Presently Wallace waded out +nearly to mid-channel,--not an easy feat, for the current was quite +strong,--and there he found a hole six or seven feet deep. + +"Hello!" he shouted to his companions. "Watch me duck under and see how +long I stay down." + +Lieutenant Dale and Al stopped motionless to watch him. Wallace crouched +down in the water, then sprang erect as high as possible and, jumping +forward, disappeared head first into the deeper pool. At the very +instant when he turned over in the air his companions were electrified +to hear the report of a musket from the base of the butte just below +them, and as Wallace went out of sight they saw the bullet kick up a jet +of spray apparently not two inches above his back. Wheeling round they +saw a feather of smoke rise from the bushes at the further end of the +butte, and without a word both of them dashed out of the river to the +spot where their clothes lay. Each one of the three had his revolver +with him, as always, and in less time than it takes to tell it Al and +the Lieutenant, stark naked, had their weapons in their hands. Al heard +a splash in the river below them. He sprang down to the water's edge and +peered through the bushes. Not thirty yards away an Indian was riding +his pony into the stream and Al raised his revolver and fired. The pony +sunk to its knees and toppled over, flinging its rider into the water, +but the warrior was up again in an instant and waded quickly back to the +shore, where he disappeared behind the butte. At this moment Wallace +rushed up and caught his revolver from its holster. + +"He's back of the butte," cried Lieutenant Dale. "We can head him off. +You stay here and watch the river, Smith. Come on, Briscoe." + +He and Al hastened off around the landward side of the butte, while +Wallace crouched down by the river bank to shoot at the Indian if he +should attempt to cross. As Al and his companion cautiously made their +way to a point where they could look down the valley they saw that the +wide interval extending from their position to the next detached butte +down river was quite open and covered only with short grass, which +afforded little or no cover. Nevertheless, even as they looked they saw +the Indian run out from the bushes upon the open space and start on a +run across it. The Lieutenant and Al both fired at him and the bullets +must have come very close, for he immediately veered and ran again into +the river. But the hunted warrior had no sooner reached it than they +heard the crack of Wallace's revolver, around on the other side of the +butte, and a moment later the Indian, evidently despairing of being able +to escape alive, walked up on the bank once more with his rifle held +aloft in sign of surrender. + +Al and the Lieutenant emerged from the bushes and advanced toward him, +taking the precaution, however, to keep him covered with their +revolvers. Neither of them was struck at the moment by the ridiculous +appearance they presented, "clad only with revolvers," as Lieutenant +Dale expressed it, but they often laughed about it afterward. The +Indian, an ugly, low-browed, flat-nosed specimen of his race, came up to +them and Lieutenant Dale disarmed him, taking his musket and a knife +concealed in his blanket. Then, keeping him ahead of them, they marched +him back to the place where Wallace had remained, by the horses. Here +they bound his hands with a saddle strap and, after dressing, started +back to camp, making the prisoner walk in front of them. + +Their appearance created an uproar of excitement, and questions and +congratulations poured upon them from every side, but they pushed their +way steadily through the crowd until they reached headquarters and +presented their prisoner to General Sully. The latter immediately sent +for an interpreter, and then began a severe cross-examination of the +captive. He proved surly, and his answers were short and most of them +plainly false, until the General sharply informed him that he would be +hanged immediately if he did not answer fully, and that he would be +hanged later if his answers proved to be untruthful. He then suddenly +found his tongue and became a model witness. + +According to his statement, he was an Upper Yanktonais, and was simply +watching the army as a scout when he saw Lieutenant Dale and his +companions go in swimming; and, thinking that he could escape across the +river, had decided to try and pick one or more of them off. He admitted +that there were many scouts of the hostiles in the vicinity, but said +that most of them were held far back from the army by the presence of +General Sully's scouts. Asked as to the hostile army and its location, +he hesitated, but finally replied that the camps were very great and +were in a very strong position on the headwaters of the Knife River, a +considerable distance north of the Cannonball. He declared the camps +contained so many warriors that the Indians were sure of easily +defeating the white army, and proposed to stand and fight before their +encampment. + +Having extracted all the information from the prisoner which seemed +possible, General Sully was about to dismiss him with instructions that +he be kept under close guard until further orders, when Al stepped up +and said in a low tone, + +"General, he says he is an Upper Yanktonais. Would you mind asking him +whether he knows anything about my brother or about the Indian who holds +him?" + +"Why, certainly I will," replied the General. "I ought to have thought +of that myself." + +He held up his hand to the interpreter, who was retiring, and then, +fixing his eyes on the captive, asked, + +"Do you know a member of your tribe named Te-o-kun-ko?" + +The interpreter translated the question into Sioux. The prisoner +remained stolidly silent a moment, then answered in the low, guttural +tone he had used all through the interview, + +"Tush." + +"He says, 'yes,'" said the interpreter. + +Al started. Was some real news coming at last? + +"Is he in your camps now?" pursued the General. + +"Tush," replied the savage. + +"Has Te-o-kun-ko a white boy prisoner with him?" the General went on. + +As soon as the question was interpreted, the Indian shot one swift +glance at the faces of the General and those around him, then his eyes +half closed again to their former expression of passive indifference. + +"Nea," he replied. + +"He says, 'no,'" interjected the interpreter. + +"No?" exclaimed Sully. "You know that he has had such a prisoner, don't +you?" + +"Tush." + +"Well, where is he now?" + +"I don't know," the Indian answered. + +The General thought a moment. Then he inquired, + +"How long has Te-o-kun-ko been in the camp?" + +The prisoner made quite a lengthy reply and the interpreter struggled a +moment arranging it into English speech. + +"He says, 'He has been in camp only a few days. I saw him just before I +came out to scout.'" + +"Where did he come from?" + +"He came from the south." + +"But where in the south?" + +Again the reply was long and was translated, + +"I don't know. I didn't talk with him, but some one told me he came from +the south." + +"When did you see Te-o-kun-ko last,--that is, previous to his coming +into the big camp?" the General inquired. + +"I saw him two moons ago on the Assouri River, in the country of the +Hudson's Bay Company." + +"Did he have the white child with him then?" + +"Tush." + +"But you are sure he has not the white child with him now?" + +"No, he has not." + +"Well, that will do," said General Sully, rising from his camp-stool. +"We can't get any more out of him. He's probably lying, anyway," he +added, turning to Al. "He doesn't want us to think they have any white +prisoners. My belief is that your brother is undoubtedly there." + +Al tried to believe so too, but the interview, nevertheless, made him +feel uneasy and depressed. He had known little about his brother's +whereabouts and condition before, but now, if the Indian's statements +were true, he knew less than ever. The search seemed to become more +vague and hopeless the further he pursued it and he began almost to +despair of ever seeing Tommy again. Had it not been for the many duties +he had to perform and the increasing interest in events before them as +they approached nearer to the hostile army, he would have lost heart +altogether. But matters crowding fast upon each other forced him largely +to forget himself and his private problems. + +The second day out from Fort Rice the column passed a deserted Indian +camp which had evidently been abandoned only recently, and on succeeding +days several similar ones were found. It was clear that they could not +be far from the enemy's stronghold; and on July 23, General Sully, owing +to the statements made by the Indian whom the boys had captured and +other information received from his scouts, left the Cannonball and +turned north toward Heart River, which the army reached next day. The +scouts went out in every direction and on the twenty-sixth unexpectedly +encountered a hostile war party of half a hundred braves, who fled north +toward the Knife River. + +General Sully, being now convinced that the enemy's camp must be within +a comparatively short distance, decided to make a forced march on the +trail of the war party, and preparations were quickly begun. The main +wagon train, as well as the Montana emigrant train, was securely +corralled in a good camping place by the Heart River and a sufficient +guard to protect them was detailed to remain behind, under Captain +William Tripp, Company B, Dakota Cavalry. Sufficient rations were cooked +to last the troops in the field for six days, the General intending to +carry all supplies on pack mules taken from the train. Nothing but +absolutely necessary food and ammunition was to be carried, all articles +such as tents and company mess kits being left behind. But when the +boxes containing the pack saddles were opened it was found, to every +one's dismay, that the cincha straps of the saddles, by which they were +to be secured to the mules' backs, were made of leather, about three +inches wide, instead of canvas or webbing six or eight inches wide, as +they should have been. When the men tried to tighten up these leather +straps, they cut so cruelly into the flesh of the mules that the latter +began kicking and bucking frantically and could not be quieted until +they had rid themselves of their loads. General Sully, very much +disgusted, was obliged to give up the plan of using a pack train, though +it would have been much the easiest and quickest way to carry supplies +in the rough country. Instead, he impressed into service about +thirty-five of the lightest private wagons in the train, belonging to +sutlers and to different companies among the troops, which had them for +carrying their tents and private belongings. Each of these wagons was +loaded with about one thousand pounds of food or small arms ammunition. +Each soldier was supplied with all the cartridges he could carry on his +person, and the limber chests of the batteries were filled with +artillery ammunition. + +Thus equipped, the fighting forces were ready to start at three o'clock +in the afternoon. The bugles blew "mount," the soldiers, teamsters, and +emigrants who were being left behind cheered and waved their hats, and +in a little while the long column had wound out of sight among the hills +and ravines, headed north toward the Knife River. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE BATTLE OF TAHKAHOKUTY + + +As the troops pressed onward the marching became harder. They were +nearing the hill country lying between the Knife and the Little +Missouri, full of precipices and deep ravines. That night they camped in +the hills, with pickets and camp guards out. Each man slept with his +sabre and revolver buckled to his waist and the bridle of his saddled +horse in his hand. The next night they camped on the Knife River under +similar conditions, after a hard march of twenty-seven miles, and as no +fires were allowed, the weary men sorely missed their strong, hot +coffee. As soon as he could do so, Al rolled himself in his blanket and +stretched out on the ground. It seemed to him that he had but just +closed his eyes when he heard the bugles ringing out reveille in the +chill darkness. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, hearing a confusion of +voices around him, the trampling of horses and jingle of accoutrements. +Then he felt Cottontail's nose push against his cheek and, slowly +unbending his stiffened limbs, he rose to his feet. + +"Well, old boy," said he, putting his arm around his horse's neck, "I +wonder what's in store for us to-day?" + +"Plenty, probably," said Lieutenant Dale's voice, close beside him. +"I've an idea we'll strike the redskins to-day." + +It was three o'clock, and in the black darkness the lines were formed, +not by sight but by hearing. For an hour they stumbled onward through +the darkness before the first streaks of dawn began to give the men +vague glimpses of their comrades and of other objects around. A little +after sunrise a halt was made on a small branch of the Knife River for a +quick breakfast of hardtack and coffee, and then the army pushed on +again. The hour approached noon and the sun beat down hot on the long +columns of horsemen toiling over the hills on each side of the small +train of wagons and artillery. + +General Sully, with one or two officers, was riding in an ambulance at +the head of the train and others were on their horses near by, Al being +with them, when they saw a party of several of the Indian scouts come +galloping back through the advance guard. They did not slacken pace +until they reached the General's ambulance, when their leader, much +excited, began gesticulating and talking rapidly in his own tongue. + +"Halt the advance guard! Tell Colonel Pollock to halt the First Brigade! +Tell Colonel Thomas to halt his brigade!" cried the General to three +different orderlies, who dashed away in as many different directions. + +The moving columns became stationary, every eye turning in excited +speculation on the General's ambulance, toward which the field officers +of the different organizations were galloping from every direction. They +found the staff eagerly gathered around the interpreter, who, catching +the words from the lips of the chief scout, repeated to the General, + +"He says, 'We have found the hostiles. They are just ahead, in great +numbers, waiting us. We have seen their camps. They are in big hills a +few miles from here. It is a very strong place.'" + +"How far are the Indians ahead?" asked the General. + +"A mile, maybe two miles. They keep moving." + +"Gentlemen," said the General, turning to the field officers around him, +"the enemy is found. Return to your commands and prepare for action. I +will send you orders for battle formation in a few moments." + +The officers went flying back to their regiments, and as they reached +them and gave the stirring news to their men, volleys of cheers broke +forth and went rolling up and down the long lines. There could be no +doubt of the anxiety of the troops to come to blows with the foe they +had been so long hunting. The men dismounted and began tightening up +saddle cinchas and sabre belts, arranging their ammunition conveniently +and giving a last inspection to carbines, sabres, and revolvers, all the +while keeping up an energetic buzz of conversation. + +In a few moments orderlies and staff officers began to fly along the +lines with oral or written orders. Al went galloping over to Colonel +Pattee with instructions to dismount his battalion of the Seventh Iowa +and deploy it forward into line of battle on the left of the Sixth Iowa, +of which six dismounted companies were already deploying on the right +wing. Lieutenant Dale carried word to Colonel Rogers to deploy six +companies of the Eighth Minnesota forward by the right, thus forming the +left wing. Another officer instructed Captain Pope to throw his battery +into the interval between the Seventh Iowa and the Eighth Minnesota; +while Wallace Smith was intrusted with the order to Major Brackett to +close in column upon the right flank, in rear of the Sixth Iowa, to +cover the train and to be prepared to charge when ordered. Of the +remaining commands, the Second Minnesota was formed on the left flank, +in rear of the Eighth Minnesota; the Dakota Cavalry and a company of the +Sixth Iowa were placed as supports for Pope's battery; Jones's battery +was held in reserve with an escort of four companies of the Sixth Iowa; +the wagon train was massed and closed up on the artillery reserve; and +behind the train was placed a rear guard of two companies of the Eighth +and one of the Second Minnesota. Several companies of skirmishers ran +out and deployed in front of the main line of battle; and then the +General, surveying his dispositions and finding them complete, gave the +order to advance. + +With flags and guidons flaunting proudly in the breeze, the sunlight +dancing on sabre scabbards and carbine barrels, men cheering and horses +prancing under the impulse of excitement on all sides of the great +martial square, the army rolled forward across the swelling, verdant +hills, a huge living engine of destruction moving onward to crush, or to +be crushed by, the barbaric host in its front. Al, riding in the centre, +behind the General, looked around him with flashing eyes, for never +before had he viewed so inspiring and majestic a scene. It was, in fact, +by far the largest and best appointed army which ever went into battle +against the hordes of the great Sioux Nation, not even excepting the +columns that followed Terry and Crook and Gibbon twelve years later +when, in 1876, the gallant Custer and five troops of the Seventh United +States Cavalry lost their lives in the battle of the Little Big Horn. +More than twenty-two hundred men were in battle formation on that +twenty-eighth day of July, 1864. As Wallace Smith exclaimed to Al, +riding along beside him, + +"By George, Al, isn't this a sight worth seeing and worth remembering, +too? I'm glad I'm here." + +"See!" cried Al, too startled to reply, suddenly pointing ahead. "There +they are!" + +Over the crest of a hill which the skirmish line was ascending, a dense, +confused mass of mounted warriors came pouring like a torrent. Farther +and farther to the right and left its flanks spread with lightning +rapidity, breaking over the hill as an ocean roller curls and breaks +upon a beach; farther and farther, till it stretched far beyond the +utmost extremes of the line of battle. The hundreds of ponies were +running at topmost speed, heads down and necks outstretched, the ground +shaking beneath their thundering hoof-beats; the hundreds of warriors +were brandishing guns and revolvers and plumed lances above their heads, +their many-colored war bonnets streaming behind them in the hurricane +of the charge, their voices upraised in a tempest of terrific, +blood-curdling yells. So the savage host came on, straight for the thin +thread of skirmishers and the solid line of battle behind it, as if they +would sweep over them both and engulf the whole army at once in utter +destruction. It seemed that nothing could stand before them, and they +towered above the skirmish line like a wall. + +Wallace clutched Al's arm, exclaiming, hoarsely, + +"My God, what will the skirmishers do?" + +"Watch them! Watch them!" answered Al, his whole mind centred on the +impending collision. + +The skirmish line came to a halt. Here and there it receded a little, +then swung forward again, like a rope whipping back and forth. At one +point and then at another a white puff of smoke spurted out, and in an +instant they rippled all along the line, plain to the eye even before +the spattering pop of the carbines reached the ear. It seemed a puny +challenge to be flung in the face of that imposing mass of horsemen, but +it was enough. They checked in their ponies, broke into fragments and +either galloped back as they had come or else swung off to right and +left and, running along in front of the line of battle, swept away +beyond its flanks. + +Al's pulses were pounding with excitement as he glanced at the General, +riding now on his horse. Sully's face was as calm as if he were +reviewing a dress parade. He stroked his beard slowly as he looked at +the skirmish line and remarked, + +"That was well done." Then, turning to one of his aides, he said, in his +usual tone, "Tell Colonel Rogers to incline a little more to the left. +He is crowding Pope's battery." + +On up the hill just vacated by the Indians moved the main body of the +army and down into the valley in front of it hurried the skirmishers. As +the General and his staff reached the crest, a wonderful scene lay +spread before them. It was a great plain, much cut up by ravines and +hillocks but appearing from their position to be almost level, and it +extended from the hill they were on to the base of another range, +several miles away, which rose sheer from the valley in a mighty mass of +abrupt ridges and rocky peaks from four hundred to eight hundred feet +high. It was Tahkahokuty, or Kill-deer, Mountain. From base to summit it +was covered with brush and timber; and among the trees on its top as +well as on the low ridge along its base could be seen hundreds upon +hundreds of Indian lodges, the women and children, the horses and dogs, +running about among them, mere specks in the distance. To the left of +the advancing army, a sharp upheaval of hills fell away from the flank +of Tahkahokuty, lower than the main ridge but still formidable; and in +front of this, in front of the mountain itself and of the camps at its +base and extending far away to the right, the plain was covered with +thousands of mounted warriors, some scattered and some in masses, but +nearly all of them in rapid motion toward the small, compact army +marching steadily forward upon their stronghold. + +Again and again as the line of battle pressed on, the masses of warriors +hurled themselves upon its front, only to break and retire before the +deadly fire poured into them. But ever farther the red horsemen +overlapped the flanks; in spite of the fact that the line of battle was +being constantly extended to meet them. The soldiers, parched with the +heat of the day and the exertion of marching and fighting over the rough +ground, often at the double-quick, were suffering with thirst, but no +water was to be found. As the army approached nearer and nearer to +Tahkahokuty, the Indians began to fight with more stubbornness. They +galloped up close to the lines, halted and fired, then dashed away +again. Now and then a soldier fell and was lifted by some of his +comrades and carried back to an ambulance. + +At length two great masses of Indians began gathering, one out beyond +the left flank, the other, beyond the right, and both near the front of +the camps along the mountain's base. General Sully, as calm as ever, +surveyed them deliberately through his glasses. Then suddenly he lowered +his hand, straightened up in his saddle and spoke to an aide with a ring +in his voice which had not been there before. The decisive moment had +come. Pointing a steady finger at the crowd of Indians on the right, he +cried, + +"Tell Major Brackett to charge those fellows with the sabre! Tell him +to drive it home; clear the valley and force them up the ridge." + +Like a flash he turned to another officer and, pointing to the mass on +the left, said, + +"Order Colonel McLaren to charge that party and drive them to the ridge, +and not to stop till he has forced them clear away from their camps." + +Once more his words flashed out like a whip-lash, and Wallace Smith, +quivering to be off, caught them as they came from his lips, + +"Tell Captain Pope to advance at a gallop through the skirmish line and +give them shell. Tell him to clear the valley and sweep the ridge in +front of Brackett and McLaren." + +Wallace dashed away and the General relapsed into his former attitude of +silent, intent watchfulness. All his officers and orderlies were now +gone somewhere with orders, excepting Al and Lieutenant Dale, who still +rode behind him. But he paid no more heed to them than to the grass +under his horse's feet. His whole attention was concentrated on the +great game he was playing with living men for pawns, as the skilful +chess player centres his thought upon the board before him at the crisis +of the game. + +Far to the right and left fronts, beginning in a low rumble and rising +rapidly to a steady, pounding thunder above the crackle of the musketry, +sounded the hoof-beats of McLaren's and Brackett's squadrons as they +passed from the trot to the gallop and from the gallop to the charge +and, a forest of flashing sabres circling above their heads, bore down +with fierce cheers upon the foe. Straight ahead, through the gap in the +battle line, could be seen the guns of the Prairie Battery, going +forward, the cannoneers clinging to the limbers, the cavalry escort +galloping furiously on either side. A moment more, and the boom of a +howitzer rose above the lesser noises of battle, followed by another and +another, and the shells, circling high, burst like great, white flowers +against the rugged, dark green front of Tahkahokuty. A terrified +commotion could be seen among the people in the camps on its crest. Here +and there fires burst out among the lodges and smoke began to pour +aloft through the foliage. + + + "'But see! Look up! On Flodden bent + The Scottish foe has fired his tent!'" + + +quoted Lieutenant Dale, pointing upward, and Al, catching the +inspiration of the great poet of border warfare, who had thrilled him +since childhood, went on, + + + "'And sudden, as he spoke, + From the sharp ridges of the hill + All downward to the banks of Till + Was wreathed in sable smoke!'" + + +Before the resistless rush of the Minnesotans, the savages on either +flank broke and fled wildly back to the higher ground, the cavalry hard +on their heels. Here, backed literally against their camps, they turned +amid the rocks and trees and ravines, like wolves at bay, to protect for +a few minutes the squaws and children, who were frantically striking the +tepees and running or driving their travois up the ravines and into the +impenetrable mountain fastnesses beyond. Farther and still farther +along the crest of the lower ridge puffed out the little, cotton-like +jets of carbine and rifle smoke. At length, nearly at the foot of the +mountain on the right they began to increase in rapidity until they were +floating off in a mass of thin vapors, while the sound of the fire +became a shrill, continuous rattle. Above it rose the yells of the +Indians, answered now and then by a disjointed cheer. General Sully's +eyes narrowed, and his jaws set hard. + +"Brackett's struck a hornet's nest," he ejaculated. "By George, that +begins to sound like Fair Oaks!" + +He wheeled his horse and galloped back to Captain Jones, whose battery +was a short distance behind him. + +"Captain," he cried, pointing to the spot where the heaviest fight +seemed to be raging, "get out there as quick as the Lord'll let you, +close to the base of the mountain, and shell out those redskins in front +of Brackett." + +The Captain saluted and spurred his horse around to the flank of his +command. + +"On right sections;--to twenty-five yards, extend intervals;--" he +shouted. "Trot;--march!" Then, as the battery resolved itself into the +new formation, he continued, "Right oblique,--march! Trot! Gallop!" + +The guns went racing away, swung into battery, and in a moment their +shells were searching the ravines in Brackett's front. They had scarcely +opened when a great hubbub and popping of carbines broke out behind the +wagon train, and a large body of Indians made their appearance, as if +springing out of the ground, and bore down upon the rear guard. +Immediately one of Jones' guns limbered up and came galloping back to +reinforce the hard-pressed companies covering the train. + +At this moment the General raised his glasses with a frown and looked +toward the bluffs where McLaren was advancing, then swept his glasses +around to Pope's battery and the Dakota Cavalry, which had charged ahead +of the guns and become heavily engaged among the rocks in a ravine +running back through the centre of the enemy's lower camps. The General +turned to Lieutenant Dale. + +"Warn Pope not to fire so far to the left," he said. "He's endangering +McLaren's advance." + +Then he called to Al, + +"Ride up there to those Coyotes and scouts and tell Miner not to push +too far ahead of the flanks. He'll be surrounded." + +The two couriers galloped off together, leaving the General for the +moment alone. As they pushed through the gap in the centre of the main +battle line, Lieutenant Dale exclaimed, + +"Don't these fellows fight splendidly considering most of them have +never been under fire before?" Then he laughed. "Look at Pattee over +there! His coat's off and he's fanning himself with his hat. It's a hot +day for a fat man to fight." + +The line of sweating, panting soldiers, closely followed by their +comrades who were holding the horses, was plodding steadily ahead, +firing at intervals upon the scattered warriors still circling in their +front, as yet unrouted by the movements which had swept back their +extreme flanks. Having passed the line of battle and the skirmishers +ahead of it, the Lieutenant changed his course toward the left, where +Pope's men were working methodically around their guns, while Al +galloped straight on. He passed a small, detached butte from whose crest +the shells of Pope's guns had just driven a crowd of squaws and children +who were watching the battle from that elevation. He encountered no +warriors, though some were so near that he drew his revolver before +entering the rocky, timbered mouth of the ravine where the Coyotes were +engaged. + +Few soldiers were to be seen at first, but sounds were arising from +among the rocks resembling those of a small volcano in eruption, and as +Al pushed on into the broken ground he began to meet here and there +troopers of the Dakota Cavalry, each holding four or more horses of the +men on the firing line, which was still farther ahead. He soon found +that he could not continue mounted, so, hooking up the sabre he had worn +ever since leaving Fort Rice, he dropped Cottontail's reins over his +head and hurried forward on foot, stumbling over roots and dodging +rocks, in search of Captain Miner. Bullets and occasionally arrows +whistled by him and the yells of the Indians seemed not fifty feet away. +In a moment he came upon Corporal Wright and two men of his squad, +crouching behind a broad rock and firing whenever they saw a target. +Just as Al reached them the Corporal cried to his men, + +"Now!" + +They leaped from their concealment and ran forward with a shout to +another rock, some thirty feet ahead, while four Indians, who had been +hidden on its further side, jumped back and bolted for other cover +higher up the ravine. The troopers fired and one warrior fell, but was +snatched up by his companions and dragged along. Al followed the +soldiers and cried in the Corporal's ear, + +"Charlie, where is Captain Miner?" + +"Captain Miner?" said Wright. "I don't know. He's somewhere around but +we're all scattered out here." + +Al could see other soldiers behind trees and rocks off to the right +across the ravine, and, dodging from one cover to another, he started +in that direction. After going a few yards he nearly fell over a man +lying flat on the ground, peering ahead around the corner of a stone +with his cocked carbine at his shoulder. + +"Hi, Wallace!" exclaimed Al. "What are you doing here? Why don't you go +back to the General?" + +Wallace shot a resentful glance at him. + +"How can I go back?" he asked. "We're cut off. There's redskins all +along the rear." + +"But I just came through," objected Al. + +"Oh, don't bother me!" cried Wallace, impatiently, quite beside himself +with the fascination of the struggle. "Can't you let a fellow alone? +There!" + +At the last word his carbine cracked and an Indian, his arm dangling at +his side, darted away from a tree ahead. Wallace sprang up and followed, +taking possession of the nearer side of the tree. + +"Say, Wallace, where's Captain Miner?" shouted Al after him. + +"Aw, how do I know?" replied Wallace, without looking around. Then he +added, "Oh, yes; he was just over there a minute ago." He jerked his +head vaguely to the right. + +Al went on and almost immediately encountered the Captain, accompanied +by eight or ten men, in a little gully where they had stopped to +breathe. Though panting and soaked with perspiration, the men were +firing up at the rocks above them but, at the moment when Al arrived, +the Captain's revolver lay on the ground at his feet and his drawn sabre +was thrust under one arm while he was picking with his right thumb and +forefinger at a tiny splinter in the palm of his left hand. His face +wore an absorbed expression and he moved his head slowly from side to +side as he worked. He seemed entirely unconscious that anything was +happening around him. + +"Captain Miner," said Al, hardly able to repress a laugh as he saluted, +"General Sully says for you not to get too far ahead of the flanks. He +is afraid you will be surrounded." + +The Captain looked up at him with a glance of pathetic helplessness. + +"Why, my boy," said he, "how can I help it? We are already surrounded. +We must keep going ahead or we shall be cleaned out. I'm sorry. I wish +the General understood the situation." + +Having extracted the splinter, he picked up his revolver again, stepped +to a rock and peered around it. + +"They seem to be afraid to go out of there, don't they?" he said to his +men, thoughtfully, after a moment's inspection of the enemy's position. +"I believe perhaps we'd better drive them. Yes, let's do that. Come on, +boys. Charge!" + +The soldiers gave a yell and scrambled out of the gully, Al with them, +and the Captain climbing and jumping over the rocks just ahead. On +either side of them other men of the Coyotes sprang up to join the +advance; and farther to the right, up the side of the ravine, the +Winnebago scouts of Captain Stufft, and Captain Williams's company of +the Sixth Iowa, surged forward also. A hundred or more Indians sprang +away from their hiding-places beyond and hurried higher up the ravine, +some of them pausing to fire at their pursuers. + +Al, being strong and quick, was soon abreast of the Captain. He was just +pulling himself up on hands and knees over a ledge when he saw a tall, +broad-shouldered Indian step into view from behind a rock not thirty +feet ahead and raise his rifle to fire. As he stood, his left side was +turned slightly toward Al, and what the latter saw as he looked made him +gasp as though he had been struck in the face. A long, livid scar ran +down the cheek and neck of the savage and out upon his shoulder. + +[Illustration: He was just pulling himself up] + +For an instant Al's head swam, as he realized that before him stood +Te-o-kun-ko, the captor of his brother Tommy. Then, with no thought in +his mind other than that he must catch up with the Yanktonais and demand +his brother, he began running and climbing ahead again with frantic +energy. The Indian had fired and disappeared; but to Al's excited +imagination it seemed almost as if in overtaking him he would overtake +Tommy himself. He paid no heed to Captain Miner and his men nor to +Wallace Smith, who had joined them, all of whom were shouting to him to +come back. He leaped over the rock where Te-o-kun-ko had stood but the +warrior was not in sight. He ran up a little, steep depression beyond +and swung around a tree-trunk at its head. An Indian behind a stone a +few feet to one side, who had not noticed him so far in front of the +line, gave him a terrified glance and fled like a rabbit. Al did not +pause to fire at him; but another warrior on his opposite side sent a +bullet so close that the wind of it brushed his face sharply, and he +stopped long enough to reply with his revolver; whereupon the savage +dived between two boulders and vanished. Al rushed on, totally oblivious +of the fact that he was getting far within the retreating Indian lines. + +Just then, in climbing over a boulder, his foot slipped and he pitched +forward and rolled into the narrow crevice between two rocks beyond, +where, for a moment, he was held securely, despite his struggles. He +twisted himself around in an effort to grasp a point of the stone above +him, and found himself staring into the face of Te-o-kun-ko, hardly +fifteen feet away, looking at him down the barrel of his rifle. + +"Te-o-kun-ko! Wait!" shouted Al. "Te-o-kun-ko, where is Tommy,--Tommy +Briscoe?" + +The tense muscles of the Indian's features relaxed. His finger did not +press the trigger which would have forever ended Al's search. Across his +face came an expression of intense bewilderment, mixed, it seemed to +Al's fascinated gaze, with grief or remorse. The levelled rifle barrel +wavered and then sunk. He half turned away, hesitatingly, then looked +again at Al with a keen, searching glance, as the latter lay helpless +between the rocks. Finally, with a gesture half defiant and half +despairing, he made a few quick, cat-like springs across the rocks and +disappeared once more. + +With a mighty effort Al succeeded in grasping the jutting point of the +stone and drew himself up from the crevice. He was none too soon, for +two Indians, whom he had distanced in his rapid climb, coming along the +slope near him with guns evidently empty, saw him and leaped at him with +clubbed muskets. He fired his revolver at one of them and missed, then +jerked out his sabre and swung it in a left parry just in time to save +his head from the blow of a musket butt. Three more warriors coming +behind and afraid to shoot lest they hit their friends, came bounding +down to join the hand-to-hand struggle. + +In a few seconds more all would have been over but at this crucial +instant the four men leading the wild scramble of the Coyotes after Al, +caught up with him. They were Wallace, and Troopers Will Van Osdel, Lank +Hoyt, and George Pike. Van Osdel leaped in beside Al, his sabre knocking +the gun clear from the hands of one of the Indians, Hoyt crouched and +fired his carbine at another, who sunk to the ground with a grunt, and +Pike and Wallace, giving as loud a shout as they had breath for, climbed +on after the remaining warriors, who had taken to their heels. + +No sooner had the Indians fled than Van Osdel turned on Al. + +"You crazy jack-rabbit," he cried, "what are you trying to do? Have you +gone plumb out of your head? It's the biggest wonder ever happened +you're not dead." + +"I saw the Indian that captured my brother," returned Al, dejectedly. +"But he's gone now." + +"Well," interjected Hoyt, mopping his streaming face, "he came near +getting two brothers, instead of one. Anyhow, you've led a lovely +charge. We've nearly cleared the ravine." + +They looked ahead. It was true. The crest of the mountain was towering +above them through the trees and they were actually ascending its base, +for, though Al's foolhardy pursuit of Te-o-kun-ko had taken hardly five +minutes from the time he started until he was overtaken by his comrades, +he had climbed so fast and so far that the Dakota and Iowa Cavalry and +the Indian scouts, in following him had penetrated clear through the +Sioux camps lying above the ravine on either side. + +His right senses came back to Al the moment he realized that he had +failed in his purpose of capturing or killing Te-o-kun-ko, and he knew +that he ought to return at once to General Sully. But he could not +resist the temptation to go on now to the top of the ravine and see what +was there, and he had, moreover, a lingering hope of catching another +sight of Te-o-kun-ko. The stragglers of the cavalry were now closing up +on those who had gained the advance, and, the Indians having practically +given up the contest, a few moments of hard climbing brought them to the +top of the ravine. + +An astonishing sight met their eyes. As far as they could see over the +sloping ridge, the ground was covered with a city of lodges. A few had +been struck and dragged away for a distance, but most of them were still +standing, though deserted. Over at the farther side of the camp could be +seen the last of the squaws and children, flying into the bewildering +maze of ravines leading up the rugged face of Tahkahokuty, protected by +the scattered fire of the warriors who had just been routed by the +cavalry. Off to the right and left, where the shells of Jones and Pope +had but just ceased to burst, the little group of soldiers could see the +columns of Brackett and McLaren pouring with exultant shouts into other +parts of the immense, abandoned Sioux camps, while, in their own rear, +the main line of battle was approaching up the ridge. Though the +mountain had not yet been ascended, plainly the field itself had been +completely conquered, and the battle of Tahkahokuty Mountain, the +greatest and most picturesque conflict of the American Northwest, had +become a part of history. Al and Wallace, tardily recollecting their +duties, made haste in descending the ravine to find their horses and +return to General Sully, with such explanations as they could devise for +their long absence while carrying orders to the firing line. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +BESET IN THE BAD LANDS + + +On regaining the prairie, the boys found that General Sully had already +gone up to the Sioux camps at one side of the ravine by which they had +ascended. They at once followed, passing the artillery and the wagon +train on the way. When they arrived they found most of the army already +assembling on the farther side of the hostile camps, at the base of +Tahkahokuty. Far up on the top of the mountain a number of Indians had +gathered and were firing upon the troops at very long range. Although +the soldiers were very much exhausted by their efforts of the afternoon +and were sorely in need of food and rest, it was evident that these +annoying neighbors must be dispersed before nightfall. Moreover, it was +known that good water was to be found somewhere near the mountain top, +at the Falling Spring of Tahkahokuty, as the Indians called the spot, +and since the troops were suffering for water, an advance was +imperative. General Sully inspected the enemy's position, then said to +Colonel Thomas, who was with him, + +"Colonel, do you think some of the Eighth Minnesota could clear those +fellows out and get possession of the spring, if Captain Jones shells +ahead of them?" + +"They certainly can and will, General," responded Thomas. + +"Four companies ought to be enough," continued Sully. "The rest of the +troops can be having mess while they are gone." + +"I will instruct Major Camp to make the advance," replied the Colonel, +riding away. + +Al stepped to the General's side. + +"May I have permission to accompany Major Camp, General?" he asked. +"This afternoon I came face to face with the Indian who has my brother a +prisoner,--Te-o-kun-ko,--but he got away. I might possibly see him again +up there." + +"The Indian who has your brother?" exclaimed the General, much +surprised. "How do you know?" + +"By the scar on his cheek and neck and by the way he looked when I +called him by name," answered Al. + +"Why, in that case, of course you can go," the General replied. "But be +careful; he is undoubtedly a desperate fellow. However, it isn't likely +you will see him again. Most of them have gotten as far away as they can +by this time." Then he added, "By the way, since you are going, watch +for a practical path to the top for cavalry and wagons. The army may +have to go up there, and I certainly shall to-morrow." + +Al mounted Cottontail and rode away. He had hardly reached Major Camp's +detachment, which had dismounted and was deploying to the right as +skirmishers, when the guns of the Third Minnesota Battery began once +more to boom. Their elevating-screws had been run down to the last +thread in order that the muzzles might be raised enough to throw their +shells upon the overhanging mountain crest. The projectiles carried to +their mark, bursting in sprays of pale, orange flame high above the +topmost rocks. But they did not entirely dislodge the enemy, and after a +few rounds the battery was obliged to cease firing owing to the advance +of the skirmish line. + +Up along the steep, boulder-strewn breast of Tahkahokuty, through timber +and underbrush, went the thin, irregular line, eagerly watched by the +troops below and but feebly opposed by the warriors above. It was hard +climbing, and more than once Al and others in the detachment stumbled +and fell over stones or tree roots. As they neared the top and came into +clear view from the crest, the fire of the Indians increased in +intensity, though the savages continued to shoot high so that very few +of the soldiers suffered. At length the cavalrymen scrambled over the +last ledge, too breathless to shout in response to the hearty cheers of +their comrades far below, but not too breathless to follow on a run +after the Sioux who had been bold enough to await their coming and still +showed fight around the ravine of the Falling Spring. The struggle was +sharp and decisive but it lasted only for a moment. A few carbines and +sabres clashed with lances and muskets, then the rear guard of the +Sioux, unable, as always, to stand the test of hand-to-hand conflict, +broke for the nearest cover behind them and disappeared in the tumbled +wilderness of mountains beyond, whither their families and the bulk of +their army had already gone. + +Some deserted lodges stood around the triumphant Minnesotans on the +lofty eminence, but they were few in number compared to those in the +vast camp below. Al saw nothing of Te-o-kun-ko in the handful of +warriors who fled before them; and while the men were filling their +canteens at the spring of cool, crystal water which burst from the rocks +near at hand, he walked along the crest of the ridge, looking for a less +abrupt ascent than the one they had followed. From his position, the +view spread before him in the golden glow of early twilight was +magnificent. Far below and seemingly almost at his feet, lay the bivouac +of the army. He could see the soldiers moving about, some of them still +tossing their hats in enthusiasm over the success of the charge. They +looked like pygmies, and the sound of their cheers came up to him faint +and far away. Farther out from the ridge lay the myriad dots of the +Sioux lodges, and beyond them, extending for miles upon miles until +lost in the haze of the horizon, stretched the countless rough ranges of +hills over which the army had passed in the morning. The treeless +expanse of crests and slopes, lying like a tumbled green counterpane in +the distance, was now as still and peaceful as if it had never known the +turmoil of battle or the trample of armed men. + +At length Al retraced his steps and joined Major Camp, whose men were +now ready to descend to the main body, with the exception of a strong +picket left to hold and patrol the mountain top. Once more back at +headquarters, Al was not long in finishing his supper and rolling +himself in his blanket. But, though weary with the exertions and +excitement through which he had passed since daybreak, he lay for a +while thinking over the events of the past nine hours, while one by one +the sounds of the camp died away around him, and the soldiers lay down +to rest. Most of his thoughts were naturally of his encounter with +Te-o-kun-ko and the mystifying conduct of the latter. Why had the +Yanktonais failed to shoot him when he lay there between the rocks, +utterly helpless? It would have been the most natural thing in the world +for an Indian to do, for they seldom show mercy, especially in the heat +of battle. Why had that strange, bewildered expression come over the +Indian's face when Al called him by name? And, most perplexing of all, +where was Tommy now? Among the women and children who had fled away +before the army could overtake them, or in some distant, secluded place +where Te-o-kun-ko had left him for safe-keeping? All these questions +were utterly baffling; no amount of thinking could bring a satisfactory +answer to a single one of them; and at length Al, weary in body and +mind, sunk into the dreamless slumber which had already enveloped his +comrades on every side. + +The bugles were blaring out the reveille long before daylight next +morning, and in a short time the army had eaten its breakfast, formed in +column and was marching away by the left flank along the base of +Tahkahokuty, seeking a passage around or through the mountain into the +country beyond, whither the enemy had fled. General Sully himself went +straight up to the crest by a pathway which had been discovered by Al +and others the previous evening, but what he saw there was extremely +discouraging. As far as the eye could look to the northward the country +was intersected by precipitous hills and steep ravines, some of the +latter one hundred feet deep, entirely impracticable for either cavalry +or wagons. The army marched for six or seven miles along the foot of the +mountain without finding a route by which it could be ascended or +turned, and at last the General, bearing in mind that he had rations +left for only two more days, reluctantly gave the order to halt and +countermarch to the abandoned Sioux camps, in order that these might be +destroyed before the army returned to Heart River. + +Large detachments from the Second and Eighth Minnesota, the Sixth Iowa, +and the Dakota Cavalry were at once detailed as fatigue parties and +placed under command of Colonel McLaren to collect and burn the lodge +poles and lodge skins, the vast accumulations of dried buffalo meat and +dried berries,--food which, though great in quantity, was utterly unfit +for white men,--the tanned robes, clothing, cooking utensils, saddles, +travois poles, and countless other articles left in the camps and the +near-by ravines. Thirteen companies were engaged in the task, and they +spent half a day of hard work at it, when, finding that they would be +unable to finish by evening, they set the woods and prairie on fire, and +burned the remainder of the captured property in one great +conflagration. The poles and coverings of between fourteen and sixteen +hundred lodges were destroyed, being the camp equipment, so General +Sully estimated, of between five and six thousand warriors and their +families. If correct, this meant that at Tahkahokuty the Sioux had +assembled a greater army than they ever brought together on any other +field, before or since. + +A little while after noon the troops began their return march, +bivouacking that night about six miles from the battlefield, where they +were assailed by a body of Indians about dusk, but repulsed the attack +easily. Next day they reached Knife River, and on July 31, by a march of +thirty-five miles, regained Captain Tripp's camp on the Heart. They +found every one there safe and well; but, though no Indians had been +seen during the absence of the main column, both the emigrants and the +camp guard were exceedingly glad to see the army back again, as it +relieved them from their enforced idleness and assured the early renewal +of the westward march. While the army was away, Captain Tripp had +employed his men in digging a strong line of rifle-pits around the camp, +which was now in a condition to withstand the attacks of any number of +Indians. + +The next two days were spent by the troops in resting themselves and +their animals, for all were very weary from the hard marching and +fighting of the past week; and by General Sully in trying to determine +upon the best route to follow in his further march toward the +Yellowstone. Al was absent from headquarters during most of the time, +making out commissary requisitions and returns in the wagon train, +though once, on the second day, he saw General Sully as the latter +passed through the train with Lieutenant Bacon, closely inspecting the +contents of each wagon. When, toward evening, he returned to +headquarters, he at once asked Wallace Smith, who had been there +continuously, what had happened during the day. + +"Oh, the General seems to be having a lively time deciding what to do," +answered Wallace. "It must be a hard question. He had all the Indian and +half-breed scouts in here for hours to-day, questioning them about the +routes to the Yellowstone. All of them, excepting one, told him they +knew nothing of the country due west of us, which must be terribly rough +bad lands, from what they say. They declare they have never ventured +into it and advised the General to return to the Cannonball and then +move west to the mouth of Powder River and down the Yellowstone to where +the boats are to meet us. But that means a long, roundabout march of +probably two or three weeks; so the General went and inspected the +wagons to see if there were supplies enough to make it." + +"Yes, I saw him," interrupted Al. "There are just six days' full rations +left now." + +"That's what he said when he came back," Wallace continued. "He was a +good deal worked up, and told the guides they must find a way for the +army to march straight west from here across the Little Missouri. But +all of them said it was impossible, except one Yanktonais. He declared +he had been back and forth across the Bad Lands of the Little Missouri a +number of times on hunting expeditions, and he is sure he can lead the +army through if some digging is done in the worst places to make a road +for the wagons and artillery." + +"Just one man?" exclaimed Al. "My gracious! suppose he should lead us +into a trap?" + +Wallace shrugged his shoulders. + +"Well, of course, he might," he agreed. "But what else can be done? +There are not rations enough to last over the other route, nor even +enough to take us back to Fort Rice. Anyway, the General has decided to +trust this chap and make the attempt and we shall start up Heart River +to-morrow morning. You know our rations are to be cut down from one-half +to one-third, so as to make them last." + +"Yes, I know," answered Al. "We were issuing reduced rations this +evening. I hope we are not going to run into an ambush," he added. "But +there is no doubt General Sully knows what he is doing; he always does." + +That evening the troops were paraded and heard the General's +congratulatory orders on their conduct in the recent battle. Soon after, +they retired to rest, and it seemed that but a few moments had passed in +this refreshing occupation when reveille called them up to their labors +again. The advance guard soon moved out, followed by the military wagon +train with strong columns of troops of the Second Brigade on each flank, +the First Brigade bringing up the rear. Then with much confusion and +shouting, the Montana emigrant train finally got under way and moved out +of the intrenched camp, leaving the latter to lie, with parapets slowly +crumbling under the rains of summer and the blizzards of winter, an +object of curiosity and vague uneasiness to straggling Indians and +prowling wolves. + +For three days the army pushed steadily westward up the valley of the +Heart, through a pleasant country whose hills often showed the +outcroppings of large veins of coal. Each night's camp was made in a +spot well supplied with water, grass, and wood, and the men began to +believe that the terrors of the country ahead, so vividly described by +the Indian guides, had no existence save in the imaginations of the +latter. No hostiles were seen, but the column passed one camp ground, +recently abandoned, which showed the sites of several hundred lodges; so +no one could doubt that the stealthy enemy was still in the neighborhood +and probably watching the progress of the column closely. + +Toward evening on August 5, the third day of the march, the advance +guard on arriving at the crest of a hill, similar to dozens of other +hills they had crossed that day, suddenly came to a halt. The troops +behind them could see by their gestures of excitement that they had +discovered something unusual ahead. The army and the trains were halted +and the General rode forward to the advance guard, accompanied by his +staff. + +When they reached the crest of the hill and looked out beyond it, not a +man spoke for a moment, though at the first glance a few uttered +ejaculations of astonishment or dismay and then became silent. Before +them in the brilliant sunlight and lengthening shadows of late afternoon +spread a scene of such weird and desolate grandeur as has few parallels +in the world. Six hundred feet below lay the bottom of a vast basin, +apparently twenty-five or thirty miles in diameter. From rim to rim it +was piled with cones and pyramids of volcanic rock or baked clay and +other hills of every imaginable fantastic shape, some of the peaks +rising to a level with the surrounding country and some lower, but all +glowing with confused and varied color, from gray and yellow to blue and +brick red. Over all this huge, extinct oven of what had doubtless been, +sometime in ages gone, a great coal bed which had burned out, hardly a +sign of vegetation was visible save here and there a few small, +straggling cedars or bushes on the barren hillsides. The place resembled +strongly the ruins of some mighty, prehistoric city, but more strongly +still it reminded the beholder of some of Dante's vivid descriptions of +the infernal regions. + +They bivouacked that night on the prairie and early next morning +marched down into the forbidding basin, knowing not whether they would +ever emerge from it alive. + +All day long in suffocating heat and under the glare of an almost +intolerable sun they toiled forward, winding in and out through gorges +with high, perpendicular walls and yawning ravines so narrow that only +one wagon could pass at a time. No water could be found save a little +which was bitter with alkali. A large pioneer party was in advance, +grading along hillsides and filling gullies so that the wagons might +pass; by nightfall the army had succeeded in covering twelve miles and +found itself on the bank of the Little Missouri, where at least water +and grass were abundant. But the expedition was literally buried in the +Bad Lands, which, on the western side of the stream, still stretched +before them in a wilderness of mountains and gorges even more forbidding +than those they had already passed. Fortunately no Indians had yet +opposed them, and many of the men, especially those in the advance and +on the flanks, had found some pleasure mixed with their labor in +viewing the strange and beautiful rock formations through which they +passed. Here were many petrified stumps and fallen trunks of trees on +the tops and sides of the hills. Some of them were of immense size and +wonderfully preserved, showing the bark, the stumps of branches, and the +age rings of the interior wood. At one place was seen what the men +called a "petrified sawmill", consisting of what appeared like a pile of +lumber and slabs under the edge of a hill and, close by it, a large +tree, cut up into logs of exact length, such as might be found around +any sawmill, but all of stone as hard as granite. In addition to the +trees, many of the men found impressions of leaves in the rocks of sizes +and shapes belonging to no vegetation of the present age, while others +discovered the footprints of unknown animals which had once inhabited +this ancient land. + +Colonel Pattee with his detachment of the Seventh Iowa crossed the +Little Missouri the following morning to trace out, if possible, with +the Yanktonais guide, a route leading westward from the river. He was +gone for some hours and, meanwhile, a few of the men seized the +opportunity to take their horses outside the lines in search of better +grazing. They had not been out very long when they saw a party of thirty +or forty Indians bearing down upon them, intent on cutting them off from +camp. The soldiers were too few to think of fighting, so they fled at +utmost speed, and all succeeded in getting in, though several escaped +very narrowly. The attempted surprise seemed to be the signal of the +Indians for the beginning of a general attack on the army, for in a +moment the bluffs across the river were swarming with warriors, who +opened a hot fire on the camp, though at such long range that their +bullets could not reach half the distance. Just after they began firing, +a horseman dashed out of the ravine directly beneath their position, +which Colonel Pattee's detachment had ascended, and plunging into the +river, trotted and galloped his horse across amid a great splashing of +water. It was Lieutenant Dale, who had followed Colonel Pattee with an +order an hour or two before. General Sully met him at the river bank. + +"What's the matter?" he demanded, the moment the Lieutenant reached +him. + +"The Seventh Iowa is attacked back there two or three miles, in the +hills," replied Dale. "Colonel Pattee wants reinforcements." + +He had scarcely finished speaking when there arose the sound of many +hurried hoof beats in the ravine from which he had just emerged. The +General looked toward it with a growing smile which presently broke into +a laugh as a confused crowd of cavalry rushed from the ravine and +galloped furiously down to and through the river. + +"The Seventh has evidently come after its own reinforcements, +Lieutenant," said he. "They must be in a hurry for them." + +"It looks like it," answered Dale, grinning. + +He retired, while the leading officer of the frightened cavalry hastily +explained to the General that the Indians had come upon them in such a +position and in such numbers that the only way they could save +themselves was by instant flight. + +"Is that so?" asked Al of the Lieutenant, after hearing this +explanation. + +"No," returned Dale, laughing, as he dismounted and sat down +cross-legged on the ground for a moment's rest. "They were just scared, +but it's no wonder. There are enough redskins around to have made it +true. I believe the whole Sioux Nation is out in front of us there. They +pretty nearly got me; tumbled a couple of ton rock down when I was +coming through that ravine and just missed my horse by about six inches, +and they fairly singed my hair with bullets. I guess the ball has +started again." + +The ball had started again, sure enough, for when the army crossed the +river next morning and began threading the succession of ravines and +canyons which Colonel Pattee had traced and partially dug out the day +before, it was instantly attacked by the Sioux on all sides, in numbers +seemingly as great as had fought at Tahkahokuty. On this day detachments +from the Second Brigade formed the advance guard, under Major Robert H. +Rose, of the Second Minnesota, supported by Jones's battery. The rest of +the Second Brigade guarded the army wagon train, with strong flanking +parties out on each side to hold the hills and transverse valleys from +which the enemy might fire upon or charge the train. Behind the Second +Brigade came the First, similarly protecting the Montana emigrant train, +the Coyotes and two companies of the Sixth Iowa bringing up the rear, +while Pope's battery held itself ready to shell the hills or ravines +whenever the enemy appeared in sufficient force to justify unlimbering +the guns. + +The march was slow and fatiguing in the extreme. The Indians, holding +the tops and sides of the long succession of narrow passes or canyons +through which the army must go, poured their fire down upon the troops +until dislodged by the fire of the artillery or the approach of the +flankers, when they would fall back to another position of like strength +and repeat their tactics. The wagons, after advancing about three miles, +were parked in a space where the pass opened to a somewhat greater +width; while the troops, pushing on, cleared the hills to allow the +fatigue parties to dig out and level some three miles more of road. Then +once more the unwieldy train unwound into column and crept carefully +forward along the trail. The latter, in spite of the efforts of the +pioneers, was often so narrow and slanting that it was all several men +could do to keep the wagons from overturning and blocking the road +permanently. Officers and men were working together on the firing line +and among the trains, coatless and dripping with sweat in a temperature +of one hundred and ten degrees in the shade. Their throats were parched +with thirst, for the water brought from the Little Missouri was soon +exhausted, and no more could be obtained throughout the day except at +one tiny spring, to which the Indians clung so stubbornly that they were +only dislodged by the Second Minnesota after a sharp fight. + +Attack after attack was launched on the advance guard; and when repulsed +there by the steady volleys of the cavalry carbines and shells of the +Third Minnesota Battery, the warriors would concentrate and rush upon +one or the other flank, if the ground was open, or else lie in +concealment and fire upon it as it approached. Up and down the hills in +every direction the braves could be seen, riding their nimble-footed +ponies along slopes so steep that it seemed even a dismounted man could +not keep his footing there. + +Toward noon a serious misfortune fell on the army in the loss of the +Yanktonais guide, the only man who knew the country through which they +were passing. He had proved very faithful to his trust, and in his zeal +to lead the march correctly, he had ventured too far to the front, where +he was severely wounded in the breast, the bullet coming out under his +shoulder blade. + +All day long the members of the General's staff were on the run, +carrying orders, suggestions or cautions to the commanders of the +various organizations, hurrying forward the lagging wagons and sometimes +themselves becoming involved in one or another of the many skirmishes +constantly blazing up among the tumbled hills. Once Lieutenant Dale rode +back to the General's position near the head of the column, with the +blood running over his face from a wound in the cheek. + +"Oh, are you badly hurt?" asked Al, who happened to be there, startled +and anxious. + +"No," the Lieutenant returned, lightly, dabbing some of the blood from +his cheek. "I've been back to the rear guard to tell Captain Miner that +the redskins were getting ready to swing around on him. They did, just +about as I got there, and stirred him up pretty lively, but the boys +repulsed them. One fellow grazed my cheek, that's all. Just look at +them!" His glance swept the surrounding hills, on every one of which +groups or masses of Indians were to be seen. "They seem to be +everywhere, and for every one killed it looks as though ten new ones +sprang out of the ground." He looked at Al and an ominous expression +passed over his face. "Have you ever heard of Kabul Pass?" he inquired, +in a low tone. + +Al returned his glance steadily. + +"Yes, I have," he admitted, slowly. + +"It looks something like that around here, doesn't it?" the Lieutenant +continued. "Only one man came out of Kabul Pass alive, you remember." + +"Why, you're right," answered Al, feeling a passing throb of foreboding. +"But I think we shall do better than that," he added, hopefully. + +"Oh, no doubt," agreed Dale. "I was just thinking of the similarity of +positions, that's all." + +In an instant his mood changed and he laughed at a sudden recollection. + +"I saw a funny thing back there," he chuckled. "You know the oxen those +emigrants are driving are pretty well fagged out; every now and then one +of them lies down and has to be exchanged for a fresh one from the herd. +The rear guard has orders to shoot all the exhausted animals, so the +Indians won't get them. While I was back there one big ox fell over, and +he was unyoked and left on the ground, looking as good as dead. But as +the rear guard passed him, he heard their shots and then the yells of +the redskins close behind, and he raised his head and looked at the +Indians. They were pushing up, hoping to catch him alive. I guess he +didn't like their looks, for all at once he scrambled to his feet and +made a bolt for the herd, charging right through the rear guard with his +tail sticking straight out and his eyes bulging with fright. Now he's +travelling with the rest of the cattle and seems as well as any of +them." + +Al laughed heartily. "He ought to have a medal," he declared. + +"Yes, he had," agreed Lieutenant Dale, "a leather one, anyway." + +A long time after noon, the walls of the canyon through which the column +was marching became gradually lower, and after a while the hard-pressed +troops and trains found themselves passing out of the dangerous defile +upon a comparatively level plateau, higher than most of the surrounding +Bad Lands, though it was girt on all sides by the characteristic peaks +and gulches of the region. Here General Sully decided to make camp for +the night, though he had marched only ten miles, for here had been found +a little grass and a large pool of stagnant, muddy rain water, which, +however, was better than none at all, and no one could tell whether any +existed farther on. The troops were placed in very compact formation and +the trains corralled, the emigrants a little to the east of the military +camp. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +TE-O-KUN-KO + + +After supper had been eaten and rations distributed for the next day, it +was nearly sunset, and Al and Wallace sat down on the ground near +General Sully's tent to clean their weapons and enjoy a few minutes of +welcome rest. + +"I never saw anything like that canyon we were in to-day," said Wallace. +"More than once I thought we were going to be cleaned out there, and we +would have been if we'd had civilized troops to deal with." + +"Why, of course," Al answered. "Civilized troops one-tenth as strong as +we could have held it against us for a year. Yet we've lost only eight +or ten men wounded all day. The Indians haven't enough staying +qualities, though they have plenty of dash and are magnificent +horsemen." + +"Yes, that's true," agreed Wallace. Then suddenly he dropped his +ram-rod and sprang to his feet. "Look there!" he exclaimed. "Are they +going to try some more of their dash this evening, after all they've +done to-day?" + +The dry expanse of prairie where the camp lay, sloped gradually up to +the eastward, terminating in a ridge at a distance of about a mile from +the camp. Over the crest of this ridge a throng of Sioux warriors was +now galloping, much as they had come over that other ridge at the +opening of the battle of Tahkahokuty. The emigrant camp lay nearest to +them, and here a great confusion and panic immediately arose, and women +and children began to emerge from the corral and run toward the military +camp, shrieking and calling piteously for help. Without waiting for +orders scores of soldiers seized their weapons and rushed out across the +prairie toward the fugitives, many of whom, as soon as they were within +the lines, fell to the ground exhausted or weeping hysterically. The +soldiers, once started, continued their advance on the enemy, the +swiftest runners distancing the rest. The Indians halted and fired, then +seeing that their antagonists were not checked, began sullenly to +retire, not even hastening much from the shells of the cannon, which had +opened along the eastern edge of the camp. So the retreat and pursuit +continued to the crest of the ridge, where the Indians went out of sight +into the Bad Lands just beyond. + +Al and Wallace, who had run out at the first alarm, presently found +themselves, in company with one of the Sioux guides and a couple of +soldiers of the Sixth Iowa, on the edge of the ridge with a deep, narrow +valley before them, bounded on its farther side by four hillocks, or +small buttes, shaped like sugar loaves and each separated from the next +by crooked gullies, washed deep by rains. At the left end of this series +of buttes lay a long, open space, entirely bare of vegetation, +apparently extending around behind them. Not an Indian was in sight, but +Wallace suggested, + +"I believe some of the redskins are hiding behind those buttes. Let's +surprise them. I'll tell you what we can do. You fellows," he addressed +the two cavalrymen, "stay here and the rest of us will go back a little +way and then sneak around and down across that open space and get in +behind the flank of the buttes. If there are any Indians there, we can +shoot them before they can get away." + +"But there may be a lot of them," objected one of the troopers, "and +they'll clean you out." + +"No," declared Wallace, with conviction. "It's only a little way across, +and if there are too many of them we can run back while you cover us +with your fire. Besides, lots of the boys are near by." + +This was true; a number of soldiers were still a short distance back on +the plateau. + +"What do you think of it?" asked Al, turning to the Sioux guide, who +happened to be one who could speak English, as well as his own tongue. + +"Good," said the Indian. "I go." + +"Come on, then," urged Wallace, who seemed determined to have an +adventure if possible. + +Followed by Al and the guide he walked back across the prairie until the +ridge hid them from view of any watchers who might be on the buttes. The +two troopers, meanwhile, lay down on the edge of the ridge to wait +developments. As soon as they were out of sight of the buttes, the boys +turned north and ran for some distance, then swinging east again +regained the edge of the ridge opposite the open ground below. Here they +could not be seen from any except the northernmost butte and, hastening +down the slope, they ran across to the base of this butte and around to +its farther side. Looking up, they saw two Indians lying behind the top +of the next adjoining eminence, peeping over at the two soldiers across +the valley. Simultaneously the three adventurers fired. The head of one +of the warriors dropped between his outstretched arms and he lay still +without a struggle. His companion sprang to his feet, cast one terrified +glance at the unexpected assailants below him and leaped with a few long +bounds down the steep slope into the ravine at its base and around the +third butte, where he disappeared. Al and Wallace gave a shout, in which +the Indian scout joined, and Al ran on in the direction taken by the +warrior, followed by Wallace. But the scout hesitated. + +"Maybe better go back now, eh?" he called. + +"Oh, no; come on!" Al shouted back. "We can get out anywhere and we've +got him on the run." + +The scout said no more, but followed. They passed the ravine and the +base of the next butte, and came to the gully between that and the +fourth and last eminence to the south. From this eminence a little ridge +ran eastward out across the open ground. As they came toward it an +Indian rose half his height behind it, then, seeing them, dropped down +again. Al ran to the left to get around behind him, and, as he did so, +Wallace and the scout both saw another warrior, farther up on the fourth +butte, stand erect and aim at him. + +"Look out, Al!" shouted Wallace. + +"Drop, Briscoe!" cried the guide at the same instant, and Al +instinctively flung himself full length upon the ground just as the +Indian fired. The bullet passed over him; but at this moment Wallace +noticed still another hostile raise his head above the ridge and look +eagerly toward Al. He had no time to interpret the glance, but the +thought came to him that more Indians were showing themselves than he +had expected, and he cried, + +"Come on out, boys! They're getting too thick." + +Followed by his companions, he sprang into the gully close at hand, +expecting to see the valley beyond and the prairie ridge where the two +Iowa soldiers were lying. But, instead, a few yards up the trench-like +gulch he came to a sharp turn. As he rounded it, he caught a glimpse of +several Indians crouching down a little farther on, their guns cocked +and ready, and he dodged back again, almost colliding with Al and the +scout, behind him. + +"I guess we're goners," he exclaimed, as he heard the swift patter of +moccasined feet behind and on the edges of the gully above them. "Oh, +what an idiot I was to get you fellows and myself into this. It's my +fault." + +"No, it isn't, Wallace," declared Al. "It's mine. If I'd minded this +scout, we'd have gotten back all right." + +But at this moment, which it seemed evident must be their last, they +heard a deep, commanding voice speak a few rapid words in the Sioux +tongue, and the sound of footsteps ceased. + +"They're going to rush us," whispered Al, his voice shaking but his +eyes still courageous. "Let's give them all the shots we can and then +kill ourselves. Good-bye, Wallace, old man,--and good-bye, mother, and +Annie, and Tommy," he added, to himself. + +Thoroughly expecting death within a few seconds, he could hardly believe +his ears when he heard the same deep, masterful voice which had halted +their pursuers, say, loudly, + +"Al Briscoe! Al Briscoe!" + +Al, shaking and pale, looked at his companions, too amazed and +bewildered even to hear the Sioux words, unintelligible to him, which +followed his name. The mere utterance of the latter, in such a place and +under such circumstances, was of itself ominous and terrifying enough to +chill his blood, for it seemed to single him out from his companions for +some special and horrible fate. But the Sioux scout looked at him +solemnly. + +"You understand?" he asked. + +"No," answered Al, shuddering. + +"He say, 'Al Briscoe, I, Te-o-kun-ko, want talk with you.'" + +"Te-o-kun-ko?" exclaimed Al, his strength coming back to him at that +familiar name. "Indeed, yes. If he does kill me, I shall at least find +out first." + +He prepared to scramble up the side of the gully, but the scout +restrained him. + +"No go till he say he not kill," said he. + +"Ask him," Al replied. + +The scout called out the question in Sioux and Te-o-kun-ko answered, a +note of surprise and satisfaction in his voice. The scout himself looked +relieved. + +"He say, 'you got interpreter. Good!'" he repeated. "He say, 'come up +and bring him. We no kill.'" + +There was nothing else to do, so the three scrambled to the top of the +gully, Wallace bringing up the rear. When he had regained his feet, Al +saw confronting him the superbly handsome figure of his brother's +captor, the muscles of his arms, the curve of his deep chest, his +proudly poised head, and eagle-like features, all mellowed and +harmonized in the soft glow of early twilight, until he looked more like +a bronze statue than a human being. The Indian was leaning on a long +rifle and he wore a short tunic, buckskin leggings, and moccasins, all +heavily embroidered with brilliant bead work, while a splendid war +bonnet of brightly colored feathers hung from his head nearly to the +ground. A handsome necklace of bears' claws, fastened around his neck +and depending over his massive chest, completed a costume of savage +magnificence strikingly becoming to this lord of the prairies. A few +feet behind him stood a dozen or more warriors, their guns lying across +their arms. They were as silent and motionless as Te-o-kun-ko, but the +glances of sullen animosity which they flashed at Al and his companions +showed clearly enough that it was only the strong hand of their leader +which restrained them from instantly slaying the white boys and their +Indian comrade. + +Te-o-kun-ko did not move as his three involuntary guests came up before +him but, leaning on his rifle, he regarded Al with a gaze so keen and +steadfast that the latter's eyes wavered, and to break the silence he +said, + +"How." + +"How, Al Briscoe," replied the Indian, still without moving. + +A rush of indignation suddenly swept over Al as he remembered who this +man was. + +"Ask him," said he, sharply, to the scout, "where my brother is." + +He was determined to learn at least this much before anything could +happen to prevent. + +The question was repeated, but Te-o-kun-ko did not reply immediately. At +length he said, through the interpreter, + +"You are bold for a boy, Al Briscoe. Do you hold your life of no value +that you demand your brother now, when you are in my power?" + +"I hold his life of more value than my own, Te-o-kun-ko," replied Al, +stoutly. "Would you not feel the same for your brother?" + +The Indian flashed a look at him which seemed almost one of sympathy. + +"Yes," said he, and paused. Presently he went on, "If you were not brave +you would not be worthy of such a brother. But I knew that you were +brave the day I took him from you beyond the Yellow Medicine, and I +knew it better eleven suns ago when you came after me like a hungry wolf +under the shadow of Tahkahokuty. So I will tell you." + +He paused again, as if reflecting, then continued in the following +words, uttering them deliberately, and they were interpreted, phrase +after phrase, by the Sioux scout: + +"Your brother was such a one as should have been an Indian, and so I +thought to make him. He fears neither the darkness nor the flood nor the +lightning, the buffalo stampede nor the rush and shouting of armed men. +No lad of my tribe can shoot straighter than he and he rides a horse as +the gray goose rides the north wind. He learned our speech more quickly +than a Cheyenne, of our own race, could have learned it, and he came to +love our life; I know, for he told me so, often. And he loved me, who +sought to be as his father, and my squaw, Techon-su-mons-ka (The +Sandbar), and his foster brothers and sisters, Mah-to-che-ga (The Little +Bear), Ka-pes-ka-da (The Shell), and Mong-shong-sha (The Bending +Willow). Your brother himself I called Pah-ta-ustah (Fire Eyes), and so +the tribe will ever know him. + +"But even after I came to be chief of my band, twelve moons ago, when +the old chief was killed in battle with the Crows beyond the river where +the elks drink (the Yellowstone), he would talk to me of his own people. +He would talk of his father and mother and you, Al Briscoe, and of a +girl papoose he called Annie, and of the place where he once lived, far +in the South, where there is more forest than prairie, and where many +trees bear upon their branches red and yellow fruit larger than the +largest plums we know. Many and many a time I have talked with him of +those things in the hours when the sun has gone to sleep and the tepee +fires wink back at the stars. And since he grieved always for those who +had been his family, and since I knew that I had been one to stand by +while his father was killed (which was a bad deed and hurt my heart) it +came to me at last that I must put him in the way to go back to his own +people. It is true, too, that the life of the Indian is not now, and +never will be any more, what it was in the past. Our days are numbered +in the land of our fathers, and those who are young among us have little +to look forward to." + +Te-o-kun-ko spoke the last sentences sadly, looking far off into the +yellow western sky as if he saw there visions of the last refuge of his +race. Then he threw back his head and concluded, abruptly, + +"So I took him southward and one moon ago I left him at the trading post +above the mouth of the Wak-pah-shika (Bad River), which is called Fort +La Framboise. Then I sped back to bear my part in the battle against +your army." + +"What?" exclaimed Al, in great excitement, stepping close to Te-o-kun-ko +as the scout interpreted his last sentences, "You took him to Fort La +Framboise? He is there now?" + +The Indian inclined his head slowly. + +"Yes," he replied, "if he has not already gone to the southward." + +Al pressed his hand to his brow. His mind was in a whirl of +bewilderment. + +"Tommy at Fort La Framboise, and I here!" he exclaimed aloud, but +speaking only to himself. "What shall I do now?" Then another idea +occurred to him. "How do I know this is true?" he demanded, bold beyond +discretion in his anxiety and satisfied, anyway, that he and his +companions would be killed at the end of the interview. "Perhaps you +still have him; perhaps he is dead." + +But the Indian ignored the reflection upon his honesty. + +"I tell you the truth, Al Briscoe," he asserted, solemnly. + +He spoke Al's full name always, as if it were one word, as he doubtless +thought it was. Then he lifted the necklace of bear's claws hanging +around his neck and held it toward Al. At the bottom of it, between the +two largest claws, was fastened a small ring of chased gold, its surface +much worn, which Al instantly recognized as Tommy's. + +"This he gave to me when I left him at Fort La Framboise," said he, "as +a keepsake and a promise. And the promise was that he would come back +some day, either to stay or to visit us, who are his Sioux kindred." + +"So?" replied Al. He was beginning to realize dimly that Tommy must +have had some very good reasons for his attachment to this magnificent +warrior and his family, for he could hardly doubt longer the truth of +what Te-o-kun-ko was telling him. The circumstances under which they +were speaking together were not such as to tempt the Indian to deceit or +apologies; for he was certainly master of the situation, and could +either seize or kill Al and those with him whenever he wished. There was +a moment's silence. Then Te-o-kun-ko stepped back and laid his rifle +across his arm. + +"You may go now, Al Briscoe," he said; "you and those with you." + +"What?" cried Al, who had dared expect nothing but death. "You are going +to spare our lives?" + +"You may go in peace," responded the Sioux. "I do it for the sake of +Pah-ta-ustah. Tell him so when you see him." + +He stopped a moment, as if seeking words in which to express some +oppressive thought. Then he went on, + +"Your brother, Al Briscoe, knows not that his father is dead. I lacked +ever the heart to tell him. But when you do so, tell him, likewise, +that I, Te-o-kun-ko, have none of his blood on my hands. I fired no shot +on that day at the place where you lived, though I did enough in all the +time we were killing and burning along the Minnesota. My thoughts were +on fire with the madness of slaughter, as were those of all who were +there. Since then my mind has cleared and I know that the things which +we did to the whites in Minnesota were bad; bad clear through. But we +have been paying for them ever since; we are paying now, and is not the +price even yet great enough? You have killed two, yes, four, of our men +and women and children, for every one that we slew over there. You have +burned our lodges and our robes and our winter meat; we shall starve and +freeze in the time of snows which is soon to come. But it is the price, +and we are paying." + +A sudden impulse, mingled of admiration, gratitude and pity, seized Al +toward this strange savage, so proud and yet so humble; so cold and yet +so generous. He stepped forward and held out his hand. + +"Will you not come in with us, Te-o-kun-ko?" he asked, "and make your +peace with the Great Father? Why fight any longer? Can you not see that +it is hopeless; that the red men can never prevail against the power and +the numbers of the whites?" + +The chief ignored the friendly, outstretched hand, but he looked at Al +frankly, even though defiantly. "No, Al Briscoe," he made answer, +firmly. "You and I are enemies. And while my people have strength left +to fight the white men, we will be enemies. I know that what you say is +true, though many of my people will not yet believe it. The whites will +conquer in the end and take from us the last of this, our great, free, +beautiful land to which they have no right except the right of being +strong enough. But at least the Indian can fight to the end and die as a +warrior should, with his face toward his foes, while his soul goes up in +the battle smoke to the Happy Hunting Grounds of Wakon Tonka (the Great +Spirit). No, Al Briscoe, I have no friend among the white men save only +Pah-ta-ustah, your brother. Go quickly, for when you are on the prairie +once more, I shall hold back my braves no longer, and you will be +killed if you delay or come back. Go!" + +"Come on," said Al in a low tone to his companions. They turned and +walked rapidly along the base of the butte toward the narrow valley west +of it. As they passed its farther side, Al looked back. Te-o-kun-ko +still stood as they had left him, a shadowy figure in the gathering +dusk, regarding them with haughty attention, his rifle across his left +arm. Only now his right hand was raised in a restraining gesture against +his followers, who were crowding up behind him, cocking their guns and +cursing in tones which grew rapidly louder and more threatening as they +looked after their escaping victims. + +Passing behind an angle of rock, Al exclaimed, + +"Run! He can't hold them much longer!" + +The three dashed across the narrow valley at top speed and almost as +rapidly scrambled up the steep slope to the prairie, where they +encountered the two cavalrymen, pale and excited. + +"Good God, where have you been?" ejaculated one of the soldiers. "We +thought you were killed or captured. There hasn't been a shot for +twenty minutes." + +"No, but there will be in about twenty seconds," Al responded. "Come, +come! Keep running." + +Away they went toward the camp, hastened by a chorus of fierce war +whoops from the valley and then by the patter of shots as a number of +Te-o-kun-ko's warriors came over the edge of the prairie a hundred yards +behind and raced after them. The bullets, however, sang harmlessly by +and in a moment half a hundred of their own men, hearing the firing, +came running to their rescue; whereupon the Sioux gave up the chase and +fell back into the Bad Lands as night descended. + +The three self-appointed raiders returned to camp, Wallace and the +Indian scout with feelings of unmixed delight and thanksgiving over +their escape, Al with several new problems to perplex him. He had been +greatly relieved by Te-o-kun-ko's statements concerning Tommy's devotion +to the memory of his family, which showed that the little boy's strength +of affection had prevailed over what must have been a very great liking +for the life of the Indians. But, though the persistence of this +affection on Tommy's part had finally induced his captor to give him his +liberty, Al could by no means feel sure that such liberty might not be +more dangerous for his brother than captivity had been. Had he been +surrendered to the army, or at an army post, Al would have felt no +anxiety, for he would have known that the boy would receive the best of +care and be sent to his home safe and as promptly as possible. But what +would such a mere child do among the hardened trappers and frontiersmen +of Fort La Framboise, which Al knew was nothing more than a small +trading-post of La Barge, Harkness and Company, fur traders of St. +Louis? Tommy could have no idea of where his relatives were now and +would be more likely to try to reach Minnesota than any other place. +Moreover, if started off by the traders in that direction or even on a +steamboat toward St. Louis, he knew nothing of travelling and might +easily go astray or fall into dangerous company. + +Al lay awake for a long time that night thinking over these problems and +decided that next day he would talk them over with General Sully and ask +his advice. But at daylight the movement of the army into column +brought on an immediate renewal of the enemy's resistance; and for many +hours, until the middle of the afternoon, the battle continued as hotly +contested as on the previous day. Neither the General nor Al himself had +a moment to think of anything except the gigantic task of repelling the +Indian attacks. + +Just before noon, Wallace was riding in from the left flank, where he +had delivered a message to Major Brackett, when he was struck in the +left arm, between shoulder and elbow, by a stray bullet. The wound soon +became very painful and Wallace was obliged to dismount and go into an +ambulance, where a surgeon extracted the bullet and made him as +comfortable as possible. But Al, much as he was grieved over his +friend's misfortune, could barely find time to spend a moment with him +before hurrying back to his own pressing duties. + +About mid-afternoon the country began to grow more level and the +marching easier. The Indians, apparently discouraged, gradually ceased +their attacks and at length the advance guard, mounting a rise from +which a wide extent of country was visible in front, saw the last of the +hostile army, several miles away to the southward, disappearing in a +cloud of dust. + +Hearty cheers arose from the whole army as the good news spread, for it +was clear the final victory was won. A short halt was ordered and while +it lasted the two bands with the Minnesota Brigade, one silver and the +other brass, vied with each other in playing triumphant and patriotic +airs, to the great delight of the men, who fully believed that the worst +of their hardships were now over. But, unfortunately, experiences were +yet in store for them not less distressing than those they had already +passed through, though somewhat different in character. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +IN THE WAKE OF THE GRASSHOPPERS + + +After the halt, the march was resumed, as the General wished to push on +to the Yellowstone as fast as possible and three or four hours of +daylight could not be wasted lying in camp. The trains were now able to +straighten out and move with less confusion and delay; and the troops, +though still retaining their defensive formation, ready to repel any +sudden attack, found it possible to draw in the flanks and advance more +rapidly. Presently, as all the different elements of the army settled +into a steady, methodical march, Al found a chance to speak to General +Sully of the news he had heard of Tommy, so adventurously gained and so +surprising in itself. The General listened with lively interest. + +"Well," said he, when Al had concluded his account of his encounter with +Te-o-kun-ko, "you certainly had a very unusual experience. This +Te-o-kun-ko must be a remarkable Indian to have let you go, once he had +you. Almost any Indian, particularly a Sioux, would have shot all of you +at such a time, or else have tied you to stakes and tortured you. I wish +he could be induced to come in. Such a man could be made very useful in +bringing the rest of the nation to peace. As for your brother, assuming +that this Indian has given you a straight story, it is hard to tell +whether he may still be at Fort La Framboise or not. You know that +trading post is only a short distance above Fort Sully and the traders +may have taken him down and turned him over to Colonel Bartlett. Again, +they may have placed him on some downward bound boat for St. Louis. But +my guess would be that he is still at Fort La Framboise and that the +traders are waiting for the return of my expedition so that the +Minnesota troops can take him with them to Fort Ridgely." + +"Then what do you think I had better do, General Sully?" inquired Al. + +His commander meditated a moment. "Well, my boy," he began, "I am not +anxious that you should leave me; I have enjoyed having you with us +through this expedition, and I don't exaggerate when I say that you have +made yourself as useful as any of my regular staff officers, and have +been as courageous in conduct and as uncomplaining under hardships as +any soldier could be,--probably more courageous than necessary, though +that is never a condemnable fault. But my judgment is that, since you +are in this country primarily to find your brother, your proper course +will be to get to Fort La Framboise as soon as possible. When we reach +the Yellowstone you will probably be able to go on ahead of the army to +Fort Union, on the Missouri, where, no doubt, you can soon catch a boat +downward bound from Fort Benton which will take you to Fort La Framboise +in a few days." + +Al was deeply gratified by his commander's words of praise, the more so +since General Sully was not a man given to flattery nor to the bestowal +of undue praise upon his subordinates. He very much disliked the idea of +leaving the army and his many friends in it before the conclusion of the +campaign, but he felt that the General was right. Indeed, it had been +his opinion ever since his conversation with Te-o-kun-ko that he ought +to get to Fort La Framboise as soon as he could, but he had also felt +that he owed it to General Sully to await the latter's opinion and be +governed by it, and he was glad to find that this opinion agreed with +his own. + +As the army advanced westward, the country became more sterile rather +than less so. It was evident that there had been no rain in this region +for a long time and whatever grass had ever grown there had, moreover, +been eaten off right down to the roots by a plague of grasshoppers. +These insects, moving across the country in vast multitudes, often +caused widespread devastation all over the West in early days, and many +a pioneer farmer saw his entire crop of corn, small grain, and +vegetables utterly destroyed in a single day by the ravenous pests while +he stood by, helpless to protect or save the fruits of his year of hard +work. In the case of the Northwestern Indian Expedition, the visitation +of the grasshoppers, together with lack of water, entailed untold +suffering upon the thousands of animals with the column. Hardly any +corn or grain was left; and the poor beasts, enfeebled by their weeks of +hard, hot marching, generally with insufficient food and water, were +becoming mere skeletons, hardly able to keep moving. + +The night of August 9, which had witnessed the end of the battle of the +Little Missouri, as the fight in the Bad Lands came to be called, found +the army camping beside the bed of a dry creek; and each man lay down to +sleep after a supper consisting of one cracker and a bit of bacon, with +nothing to drink, while the horses had neither food nor water. The two +following days were more like nightmares than realities. Most of the +mules and oxen of the two wagon trains contrived to stagger along +somehow. But one by one the worn-out cavalry horses began to succumb. +When they could keep up no longer, their riders would shoot them to end +their sufferings; and all along the dreary miles of white, dusty alkali +plains, sprinkled here and there with sparse growths of sage brush or +cactus, the wake of the army was dotted with the bodies of scores of the +poor, dumb victims of starvation and thirst. By this time nearly all +the men were walking and leading their horses, in order to save the +latter as much as possible. So passed the first heart-sickening day +after the close of the Indian attacks; and as darkness fell at the end +of a torturing march of thirty-two miles, the troops sunk down upon the +brink of a lake of clear, sparkling water, so bitter with alkali that +neither man nor beast could do more than taste it and then feast his +aching eyes on its delusive, poisonous beauty. The victorious army, +which had conquered all its human foes, seemed like to perish miserably +under the rigors of inhospitable Nature. + +Despite his own sufferings, Al had one satisfaction, which was that +Cottontail kept up much better than most of the horses of the +expedition. The fact that he was a tough, sturdy little animal by nature +had something to do with his good condition; yet Al knew that the care +he had given the horse throughout the campaign had been chiefly +responsible for bringing him into the present crisis in a state to +withstand its hardships; for he had never failed to supply Cottontail +with water and grass whenever opportunity offered, even at the cost of +his own rest or comfort. Yet even Cottontail had become so desperate +with thirst by the second night of the desert march that he pawed and +neighed and stamped the whole night through. As every other animal was +doing the same thing, the camp was in an uproar of misery, and few of +the men could sleep for sympathy with their suffering four-footed +comrades. + +Dawn came at last, after hours of darkness which seemed long as +eternity, and the suffering caravan crept on. The guides had assured +General Sully that he could reach the Yellowstone that day, and about +four o'clock in the afternoon the advance guard suddenly broke into +confusion, and those behind them saw the men toss their hats in the air, +while the sound of cheers and carbine shots came back to their ears. The +Yellowstone was in sight, though still several miles off, and across the +wide, flat valley could be seen the groves of green cottonwoods along +its banks with the strong, swift current of the river beyond, shining +bright and beckoning in the sunlight. With an inrush of new vitality +the whole column surged forward, and the drivers of the mule teams were +hardly able to restrain the poor animals as they struggled to run +forward into the stream. The General and his officers, declining, as +they always did, to accept any advantage over the men afforded by their +position, held back their own horses and allowed the trains and the +troops to reach the river first. Al, mounting Cottontail for the first +time in two days, rode back to the ambulance in which Wallace lay, and +secured his canteen, as well as those of the driver and of two other +wounded men who were riding with him. Hurrying, then, to the river he +threw Cottontail's reins over his head and left him to drink, filled the +canteens, and ran back to meet the ambulance. Then, after Wallace had +drunk, he took from the latter's canteen his own first deep swallow of +the cool, life-restoring water. + +There was no more marching for that day. Men and animals had indulged +too freely in the luxury of water to be fit for any more immediate +exertion. The army went into camp and every one took a bath, for the +first time in weeks, and washed out his clothing, soiled and stiffened +with perspiration and dirt. But the arrival at the river had not +relieved the situation with regard to forage, for the grasshoppers had +cleaned off the grass right up to the banks of the Yellowstone. The +soldiers, however, went in crowds into the cottonwood groves where they +cut armfuls of branches and leaves and brought to their horses, who ate +ravenously of these not unpalatable substitutes for grass. The expected +steamboats were not in sight, but the cannon soon began to boom at +intervals, signalling the army's arrival to the steamers, if the latter +were anywhere near. + +And then, just before sunset, a heavy column of smoke appeared, rising +above the tree tops up river. It could come from nothing but steamboats. + +"They evidently expected us to strike the river farther up," said +General Sully, as he and a number of other officers assembled on the +bank, anxiously watching the bend above for the first sight of the +boats. "It's fortunate they were within sound of the guns or I should +have had to send scouts to look for them." + +In a few moments the bow of the first steamer emerged from behind the +timber point, and then appeared her tall smoke stacks, with the little +pilot-house between them, towering above the dazzling white woodwork of +her cabins. + +"The _Chippewa Falls_!" exclaimed every one in a breath, as she steamed +majestically into full view. + +Close behind her came the Alone and then the spectators watched the bend +for the third steamer, the old _Island City_, so pleasantly remembered +by the staff officers. But she did not appear; and shortly the _Chippewa +Falls_ glided up to the bank and a landing plank was thrown out. General +Sully stepped aboard and heartily grasped the hand of Captain Hutchison, +saying, + +"I am delighted to see you, Captain. We are badly in need of you. How +long have you been waiting for us?" + +"Ten days," replied Captain Hutchison, broadly smiling his pleasure at +seeing the army after his tedious days of expectation. + +"So long? I congratulate you on your quick trip up this unknown river," +said the General. + +"Rea, back here with the _Alone_, and I, have been the first to +navigate it," replied the Captain, with a little pardonable pride. + +"Rea and you?" exclaimed the General, anxiously. "Where is Lamont with +the _Island City_?" + +"I'm sorry to tell you, General Sully," returned Captain Hutchison, +"that the _Island City_ struck a snag a couple of miles below the mouth +of the Yellowstone on the evening we were entering. She sank very +quickly and boat and cargo are a total loss, though Lamont is trying to +get the engines out of her and hopes that one of the boats coming down +from Fort Benton will take them on board and carry them to St. Louis for +him." + +General Sully and his officers stood aghast at this disastrous piece of +news. Finally the Assistant Adjutant General, Captain Pell, spoke up. + +"That puts us in fine shape," he lamented. "She had nearly all the corn, +didn't she?" + +"Fifty thousand pounds," replied General Sully, looking very much +chagrined. "And most of the barrelled pork, and the building materials +for the post on the Yellowstone. We shall have to give up building that +this year. How much corn have you aboard, Captain?" he asked, addressing +Captain Hutchison. + +"Very little; three or four thousand pounds," the other replied. "The +_Alone_ has about the same." + +"Enough for about one feed for all the stock in the command," said the +General. "We shall have to pull out for Fort Union as quickly as +possible." + +"Yes, sir," Captain Hutchison interrupted; "and not only on account of +your troops and animals, but on account of the boats. The river is +falling very fast and I doubt if we can get over the shoals below here +now without lightening the boats and double-tripping, or else using the +army wagons to haul cargo around the shallow places." + +"Well, we shall have to cross the river in the morning and march down at +once," said the General, with a sigh as he thought of the plans he would +have to forego on account of this unexpected misfortune. "Meanwhile my +commissary and his assistant--" he indicated Lieutenant Bacon and +Al,--"will issue rations to the troops for to-morrow's use from your +boat." + +The General went ashore to greet Captain Rea, whose boat had now tied +up to the bank, and the Lieutenant and Al went to work checking out +provisions. It was Al's last experience as commissary's assistant, for +when he returned to camp the General said to him: + +"I think now will be your best opportunity for getting to Fort La +Framboise promptly. You can go down with Captain Lamont if he takes a +Fort Benton boat; and you had better start early in the morning so as +not to miss him. The distance is about fifty miles and you can probably +reach Fort Union to-morrow night. The fort is directly opposite the +mouth of the Yellowstone, you know. I will give you a letter to the +commanding officer advising him that the army will arrive there in the +course of the next three or four days, and I will send an escort with +you in case you should encounter Indians." + +Al spent the evening in going about the camp and bidding good-bye to his +many friends in the various commands, especially in the Dakota Cavalry, +the Eighth Minnesota, and the Sixth Iowa. The Coyotes crowded around +him as if he were one of their own number, and Captain Miner said to +him, + +"When you reach eighteen, come back to Dakota and enlist with us. I want +such recruits as you." + +And Corporal Wright added, + +"Don't go after any more redskins the way you did at Tahkahokuty; for if +the Coyotes aren't around, you'll lose your hair." + +"I'll try to keep it on, Charlie," replied Al, laughing. "And, meantime, +you fellows want to remember when you go into action that you're not the +whole line of battle, or some of you may suddenly get bald, too." + +His last visit was to Wallace Smith and it had a result both surprising +and pleasant. + +"I wish I could go with you, Al," said Wallace, feeling of his stiff, +bandaged arm disgustedly. "It's awfully tiresome dragging around in an +ambulance, away from the boys and not able to do anything. And Doctor +Freeman tells me I shall not be fit for duty for at least three months; +so, though I can use my right arm perfectly and feel as well as I ever +did in my life, I suppose I'll have to be on the sick list all the time +until the Second Brigade gets back to Minnesota." + +Al looked at his friend steadily for a moment while an idea rapidly +evolved itself in his mind. + +"Well, why not go with me?" he asked at length. "If you're to be laid up +for three months, anyway, you're entitled to sick furlough for that +long. Yet you can ride, and shoot a revolver, and get around all right, +and you can reach Minnesota in ninety days more comfortably for yourself +and with less trouble to the army and the hospital corps by going on a +boat to St. Louis and then up the Mississippi to St. Paul, than you can +by marching overland with the column." + +Wallace's eyes and mouth opened wide with sheer astonishment at the +brilliance of this plan. + +"You're a genius, Al," he exclaimed. "I believe it can be done, too. +It's against my principles to play off and I wouldn't think of trying to +get away if it wasn't plain that I'm perfectly useless here for the rest +of the season. But it will be bully if I can go down with you. Let's +hunt up Doctor Freeman." + +They found the Doctor, who was Medical Director of the army, at +headquarters. He at once gave his approval to the plan and wrote a +recommendation to Colonel Thomas that Private Wallace Smith, of the +Eighth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, be given a ninety-day furlough. +Colonel Thomas was quickly found, and in five minutes the furlough was +issued, authorizing Wallace to be absent from his regiment until +November 12, and to report for duty on or before that date at Fort +Ridgely, Minnesota. + +Next morning just after daybreak Al and Wallace, accompanied by twelve +cavalrymen under a sergeant, boarded one of the steamers, which were +already busy ferrying troops and wagons across the river. Here Al bade +farewell to Lieutenant Dale and the other staff officers who had been +his closest companions for so long. General Sully, as always devoting +his personal attention to the care of his troops, was on the bank, +directing the passage of the river. He handed Al the letter to the +Captain of Company I, Thirtieth Wisconsin Infantry, commanding at Fort +Union, and shook hands with him heartily. + +"I am sorry to be leaving the expedition so abruptly, General," said +Al. "I wish I could stay with you until the campaign is finished." + +"You won't miss much," returned the General. "The campaign is virtually +over now and we shall be getting down to Fort Rice as rapidly as +possible. We will march for Fort Union from here as soon as we are rid +of these emigrants, who will go on alone to the gold fields after we +have taken them across the river on the boats." Then he continued, +kindly, "I wish you the best of success in finding your brother, my boy. +I hope we shall meet again, and if you decide to try for West Point and +I can help you in any way, let me know. Take care of yourself, now, and +don't indulge too much in your weakness for getting into ticklish +places. Good-bye!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +ADRIFT IN A BARGE + + +Once across the Yellowstone, the little party set out at a good pace, +for they had a long, hard day's journey before them. They found the +country as destitute of grass as it had been west of the Little +Missouri, and the ground seemed to have been fairly burned to powdery +dust by the sun. As they travelled over the desolate country, they often +thought pityingly of the troops behind them, who would have to traverse +it much more slowly than they were doing and would, therefore, feel its +discomforts more keenly. But, at least, the army would be near the +river, so there would be no more such suffering from thirst as had been +experienced in the terrible march out of the Bad Lands. Not an Indian +was seen during the day; and the party, dusty and weary, rode up to the +bank of the Missouri after nightfall. It was too wide and dangerous a +stream to cross in the darkness; so bivouac was made until morning, and +then, in response to signals, several skiffs put off from Fort Union and +came over. Some of the soldiers stripped and, putting their clothing and +equipments in the boats, swam across the river on their horses, but Al +and Wallace, as well as most of the men, rode over in the boats, holding +the bridles of their horses and letting them swim behind. + +On entering Fort Union, Al delivered his letter and then inquired for +Captain Lamont. + +"He is still down at the wreck of his steamer, about two miles below +here," the commanding officer informed him. "But if you are going down +with him, you have arrived just in the nick of time. The steamer _Belle +Peoria_ came down yesterday from Benton, and she is taking on the +engines of the _Island City_ now. You had better get right down there or +they may leave without you." + +Al and Wallace galloped off down river at once, accompanied by two +cavalrymen of their late escort to bring back their horses. Leaving so +hastily gave them time for only a glance at Fort Union, though they +sincerely wished for an opportunity to examine it more closely, for it +was an interesting, and in that wilderness land, even an imposing +structure. Built in 1829 as the then most advanced trading post of the +American Fur Company, it had become in later years the centre of the fur +trade of a vast territory, extending from the Rocky Mountains to the +British line. It was larger and more substantially built than any other +trading fort in the American West, and those who had seen them declared +that no post of the Hudson's Bay Company in the British Possessions +compared with it. Its stockade was two hundred and forty by two hundred +and twenty feet in size, built of massive timbers and flanked by two +large stone bastions, well armed with cannon, while several of its +numerous interior buildings were also of stone. George Catlin, the +distinguished artist who travelled all over the New World in making up +his great collection of paintings of the American Indians, had visited +the fort in 1832; Maximilian, Prince of Neuwied, the distinguished +Austrian naturalist, had been there in 1833; and in 1843 the equally +famous American naturalist, John James Audubon, had made the post his +headquarters for some time. But when Al and Wallace passed through it, +the days of the old establishment were numbered; two years later it was +to be dismantled, the new army post of Fort Buford, two miles below and +nearly opposite the spot where the _Island City_ had sunk, taking its +place as a military establishment. + +The boys had not ridden far across the bottom, which was partly timbered +and partly open grass land, when they saw the wreck of the steamer, +lying out beyond a shore bar, her smoke stacks and upper works +protruding above the water. The _Belle Peoria_ was moored beside her and +men could be seen working on both vessels. Al breathed a sigh of relief +when he saw that they were not too late. Riding on across the bar, the +boys were soon at the water's edge and about one hundred feet from the +steamers. In answer to their shouts a small boat immediately put off +from the _Belle Peoria_ and came over for them. It was with the regret +of parting from an old friend that Al for the last time caressed the +rough neck and soft nose of Cottontail, who had borne him so faithfully +through many perils and privations. The little horse nuzzled Al's cheek +affectionately, as if he realized that they were bidding each other +good-bye; then, with a strong hand-clasp from each of the soldiers, the +boys stepped into the yawl and were rowed to the _Belle Peoria_. + +It did not take long to explain to Captain Lamont their object in +coming, and he seemed heartily glad of their company. + +"You didn't get here any too soon," said he. "We shall be off in an +hour. When we get to Fort La Framboise I have no doubt the captain of +the _Belle_ will stop long enough for you to find out if your brother is +there, Al, and if he is, we can all go on together to St. Louis." + +The _Belle Peoria_ was under way at the expected time. Though the water +was quite low, her pilots were skilful and knew the river so thoroughly +that for some time she met with no unusual delays. After their months of +strenuous campaigning it was pleasant for the boys to lounge about on +the steamer's decks with nothing to do except watch the interweaving +ripples of the river's surface, the occasional bitterns and cranes which +flopped up from the lonely sandbars and sailed slowly away as the boat +approached, and the rise and fall of the endless succession of bluffs +along the shores. In a few weeks the Northwestern Indian Expedition +would be following the crests of the northward bluffs on its way to Fort +Rice, where it would break up; the Second Brigade, with the exceptions +of garrisons left at Fort Rice and Fort Berthold, returning to +Minnesota; while the First Brigade would go on down to Fort Sully, Fort +Randall, and Sioux City. + +After the crushing defeats which had been administered to the Indians at +Tahkahokuty and the Little Missouri, it did not seem that steamboats on +the Missouri ought to be in much danger from them; but the people on the +_Belle Peoria_--both the members of her own crew and those of the +_Island City_--knew that undoubtedly many hostiles had scattered from +the broken Sioux camps who might be encountered anywhere along the +river, eager for a chance to waylay a steamboat and slaughter a few of +her crew in revenge for their own recent losses in battle. So, in +laying the steamer up for the night, the men always "sparred her off" +from the bank by setting long poles between the gunwale and the shore, +so that she could not be boarded; or, if a mid-channel sandbar was +convenient, with water on both sides of it, she would be moored there. +Such precautions served well enough for night, but in the daytime the +boat had to take her chances in following the channel close in against +one shore or the other. + +On the third day out from the Yellowstone the boat passed Fort Berthold, +a fur trading post and the agency of the Arickaree and Mandan Indians, +about midway between Fort Union and Fort Rice. For some hours afterward +she continued running at a good speed, and at length passed a little +below a beautiful forest on the left shore, called the Painted Woods. At +this point there was a large sandbar in the middle of the river, while +on the bank opposite to the woods the bluffs came sheer up to the river, +and the pilot naturally chose the branch of the stream along their base, +as the main channel will usually follow along a bluff bank. But in this +case he soon found he had made a mistake, for he ran the boat into a +pocket and could go no farther. There remained nothing to do but send +out the yawl to sound through the other branch and find out if there was +enough water there to carry the boat. + +It occurred to Al that it would be a pleasant diversion to accompany the +yawl, so he volunteered to pull one of the oars, and was accepted. The +mate of the _Belle Peoria_, who was in charge of the yawl, ran into the +other chute and soon found the channel; whereupon he signalled across +the bar to the steamer, and while she was backing out and coming around, +the crew of the yawl rowed over to the lower end of the Painted Woods +and landed. The men pulled the boat's bow a little way out on the bank +and then strolled away a few yards into the woods, where it was cool and +shady. One man only remained in the yawl, and he, like Al, was a +volunteer. He was Jim, the _Island City's_ deck hand who had quarrelled +with Al on the up trip. In spite of several attempts to escape while +near Fort Union, Jim had been unable to jump his round-trip contract +with Captain Lamont, and was now reluctantly returning toward St. Louis +and that Southern Confederacy which he supported so loudly in words and +so feebly in deeds. + +The men who had landed, namely, the mate and Al, four other oarsmen and +the leadsman, had been in the woods but a minute or two when, without +the least warning, a dozen musket shots rang out from the bushes around +them, instantly followed by a chorus of terrifying Indian war whoops. +Two of the oarsman fell dead at the first fire; the rest of the party +turned and dashed for the boat. But several Indians had crept between +them and the landing and a moment elapsed before the mate and Al, who +had their revolvers, could drive them back far enough to reach the +shore. When they did so, to their horror they discovered the yawl out in +mid-stream and some little distance down, rapidly drifting toward the +bar. Jim was not to be seen, for he was lying flat in the bottom of the +boat to escape the Indian bullets, but he was evidently pulling the +rudder ropes to guide the yawl as nearly as possible to the bar. The +_Belle Peoria_ had caught the alarm, and her decks were swarming with +armed men; but she was just rounding the head of the bar and was still +farther away than the yawl, so that her people dared not fire on the +Indians for fear of hitting their own men on the bank. + +"We'll have to swim for it, boys!" shouted the mate, and flinging off +his coat he dived into the river like a duck and struck out for the bar, +keeping beneath the surface except when he had to come up for a second +to breathe. + +Al and the other men followed his example. It was not more than fifty +yards to the bar but every inch of the way was fraught with deadly +peril. Whenever he came to the surface to breathe, as he had to several +times, Al heard the bullets whistling about his head. Once he heard +another oarsman, a few feet from him, give a gurgling cry and saw his +hands thrust up and clutch the air as he sank, struck by one of the +merciless bullets. Before the survivors reached the bar, the fire of +those on the steamer had driven the Indians back into the Painted +Woods, with probably a greater loss than they had inflicted upon the +crew of the yawl, though of the latter, one had drowned and one been +shot in the water, besides the two killed on shore at the first fire. + +When the survivors were safely back on the _Belle Peoria_, the mate +stepped up to Jim, who had landed in the yawl at the lower end of the +bar, and shouted, + +"You scoundrel, you ran away and left us to shift for ourselves, didn't +you? I've a mind to throw you overboard." + +"I didn't run away," snarled Jim. "The yawl slipped off the bank and I +couldn't get it back." + +Backing up against a stanchion he faced the angry mate and the crowd +behind him like a desperate animal at bay and cast one swift, venomous +glance at Al which caused the latter to feel a sudden suspicion. + +"Did you think you'd get rid of me that way?" he demanded, confronting +the deck hand. "Were you willing to see six other men murdered just to +get even with me?" + +Jim dared not look at him again. + +"I didn't think anything," he muttered. "I tell you, the boat slipped +off." + +"It slipped off infernally quick after we landed, then," cut in the +mate. "You were a quarter of a mile down river when we reached the +bank." + +"I couldn't help it; it slipped," Jim reiterated, as if he could think +of no other defence. + +"Well, I think you're a liar," bluntly stated the mate, "but I can't +prove it, so you'll save your skin this time. But if I ever catch you at +any more of your scaly, rattlesnake tricks, you'll go to kingdom come +mighty quick, and I'll be the man that'll send you there." + +He turned on his heel and walked away, leaving Jim to settle as best he +could with the other deck hands, all of whom were now feeling very +bitter toward him. A strong party went ashore and found and buried the +bodies of the unfortunate men who had been killed there, victims of an +attack such as brought death to scores of gallant steamboat men during +the years of the Sioux wars. + +The following day the _Belle Peoria_ reached Fort Rice, where Colonel +Dill and his command were very glad to see them and to hear the first +news of General Sully's expedition which they had received in several +weeks. The garrison was in good health and spirits; but they had been +several times attacked by Indians, and were now much concerned for the +safety of a large emigrant train from Minnesota, under Captain James +Fisk, which had arrived at the fort in July and moved West over Sully's +trail, in spite of warnings, determined to reach the gold mines. This +party a little later came very near being annihilated by the Indians on +the edge of the Bad Lands; but a strong relief column sent out by +General Sully after his return to Fort Rice finally rescued them and +brought them back safe. + +After leaving Colonel Dill's hospitable command the journey of the +steamboat was uneventful for several days, until one morning she came to +the bank at Fort La Framboise. She was stopping wholly on Al's account +and with beating heart he went ashore, accompanied by Wallace and +Captain Lamont. They ascended a gently sloping hill to the small and +rather dilapidated trading post, which stood on its summit. Here they +found that the factor, a Frenchman, was not yet up, but they soon got +him out. + +"Un white boy by ze name Tomas Breescoe?" said the factor, when Al had +explained their errand. "Oui, je savvy heem. Il est un reg'lair leetle +Injin. Py gar, he ride like ze centaur!" His eyes narrowed shrewdly. "Un +Yanktonais bring heem here, seex, saven week ago. Sacre! How mooch I pay +pour ze pauvre boy release! You pay me back, oui?" + +"Certainly," replied Al, yet with many misgivings, for he had no idea +what the Frenchman might ask. "You shall be repaid for any expense you +may have been put to." + +Captain Lamont nudged him. "He's going to gouge you," he whispered. +"Don't be too eager. Find out where Tommy is." + +"I haven't much money," continued Al, speaking the sober truth. "Is my +brother here now?" + +"Eet ees not so ver' mooch," proceeded the factor, ignoring Al's +question and quickly changing his tack regarding the ransom. "T'ree +horse, feefty pound flouair, ten pound shot et ten pound powdair." + +Al was aghast, for he understood that these items would cost far more +than he had money to pay for. But here Captain Lamont broke into the +conversation. + +"That's more than Mr. Briscoe or I can pay you for just now," said he, +blandly. "However, we can give you a note and pay the amount over to Mr. +Charles P. Chouteau for you when we reach St. Louis." + +Mr. Chouteau was the manager of the American Fur Company and the factor +knew as well as did Captain Lamont that he would not allow one of his +employees to practise such extortion upon the relatives or friends of an +unfortunate prisoner rescued from the savages. The Frenchman shifted his +feet uneasily. + +"Has m'sieu feefty dollair, cash?" he asked. + +"Fifty dollars?" + +"Oui, m'sieu. Pour zat ve call ze mattair--how you say?--sqvare." + +The Captain looked at Al and nodded, for the amount was about one-third +of what the man's first demand would have made it. + +"But I haven't even that much, Captain," said Al, despairingly. + +"I have forty dollars, Al," said Wallace. "Take that." He thrust his +hand into his pocket. + +"Pshaw, that's all right," broke in the Captain, stopping him. "I have +plenty, but we don't want to be bled, that's all." He turned to the +factor. "Very well," he remarked. "We'll pay you fifty dollars, cash. +Now where's the boy?" + +"M'sieu has ze cash money here, dans sa poche, for geeve me now?" the +factor persisted, anxiously. + +"Yes, yes," replied Captain Lamont, impatiently. "But before I give it +to you, you must first show us the boy." + +The Frenchman waved his hands pathetically. + +"Oui, mais je ne peut pas show ze pauvre boy. Il est depart down ze +rivair pour la S'in' Louis pour--two veek." + +"You say you can't show him?" exclaimed the Captain. "He started for +St. Louis two weeks ago?" + +"Oui, m'sieu, oui. Sur le steamair _North Vind_. Je poot heem ver' +comfor'ble sur le steamair. He shall reach S'in' Louis safe." + +"Huh! That remains to be seen!" grunted the Captain. Then he looked +sympathetically into Al's disappointed face. "Well, my boy," said he, +"that seems to be all there is to it. Your brother has gone down and you +can do nothing but follow. Here is your money, factor. We thank you for +your trouble." He handed the Frenchman fifty dollars in greenbacks from +an amply filled wallet, for the steamboat officers of those days earned +handsome salaries and were seldom without plenty of money. + +Then the Captain and his two young companions retraced their steps to +the steamboat landing and the _Belle Peoria_ resumed her journey. Al was +perfectly certain that the Frenchman had simply robbed them of fifty +dollars, for he did not believe that Te-o-kun-ko had either asked or +received one cent of ransom for Tommy's delivery. He was, moreover, far +from satisfied concerning his young brother's present safety, but he was +helpless in the circumstances, and could only hope that Tommy would +reach St. Louis all right and would there seek his uncle, Mr. Colton. + +Ten days sufficed to bring the _Belle Peoria_ to Omaha, and here her +captain received so tempting an offer to carry a cargo back to a point +up-river that he determined to accept it. His decision was an unexpected +misfortune to Captain Lamont, but the latter was not a man to be +discouraged by such untoward events. It will be remembered that on her +way up-river, the _Island City_ left a large barge at Omaha which had so +impeded her progress that she could not tow it further. This barge was +still lying moored to the bank where it had been left, and into it +Captain Lamont loaded his engines and other machinery from the _Belle +Peoria_, determined to complete his journey to St. Louis by drifting +down-river with the current. + +The size of the barge was such that it could easily accommodate the +cargo of machinery and still leave ample living room for the entire +crew of the shipwrecked _Island City_. Many men were necessary to handle +the unwieldy craft with oars, sweeps, and rudders in facing hard winds, +in sparring off from bars or snags, and in encountering the many other +perils and embarrassments incident to such navigation. Tarpaulins were +spread over the boat, protecting both the machinery and the crew; a +galley was arranged and a cook stove set up; a sufficient supply of +provisions was laid in for the first few days of the journey; and, thus +equipped, the strange craft set out on her southward voyage. + +It was a slow journey, but no one could have called it monotonous, for a +score of times every day all hands were called out to hard work of one +sort or another. Now it was to pole the barge off a shoal place on which +she had drifted, or again, to row her down the length of some bend +against a flat head wind which was beating her back up the river faster +than the current bore her the other way. Occasionally the men had to +land and, taking hold of a long "cordelle rope" attached to the barge's +stern, walk up the bank in a long, straining line and pull her back +into the channel from some "blind chute" into which she had blundered, +dragging her along as in the early days of the fur trade the crews of +the keel boats were obliged to drag their vessels clear from St. Louis +to Fort Union, except when rare favoring winds allowed the use of a +sail. More than once during the long days between Omaha and Kansas City, +Al and his companions worked for hours up to their waists and shoulders +in the water alongside the barge, freeing her from some obstruction or a +lodgement against the bank. + +But all labors have an end, and at length the great bend at Kansas City +came in sight, with the little town straggling along the river and the +rugged, precipitous hills rising behind it, which in a few decades were +destined to be covered with the crowded dwellings and the towering +business structures of a great metropolis. The barge was moored for the +night, and most of her crew, including Al and Wallace, seized the +opportunity to get a glimpse of civilization once more and to hear the +news of the day by strolling up-town in the evening. + +"I'll tell you what I want," said Wallace, as they walked along +Broadway, looking into the brightly lighted shop windows and enjoying +the novel sensation of being on a busy street with crowds of people +about them. "I want a great, big, tall, fat glass of lemonade, with ice +in it. I haven't had one since I was in St. Paul last." + +"Nor I since I left St. Louis," rejoined Al. "That for me, too." + +They soon came to an ice-cream and confectionery store where a number of +people were sitting about at small tables, eating, drinking, and +talking, quite after the manner of dwellers in a real city. The boys +took their places in two vacant chairs at a table where two men were +seated, one a soldier and the other a civilian. After giving their +orders to the waiter, the boys sat silent for a moment, feeling an +embarrassing consciousness of their decidedly soiled and unkempt +appearance in the comparatively well dressed crowd, which included a +number of ladies. Presently the soldier at their table said to his +companion, after a silence induced by the intrusion of the boys upon +their privacy, + +"Well, anyhow, I'll tell you if old Pap Price ever gets as far as the +Kansas line with his ragamuffin army, we'll give him a reception that he +won't forget soon." + +Al and Wallace began to listen, for this sounded interesting. + +"You Kansas Militia fellows are too much scattered," returned the +civilian. "Why doesn't General Curtis get you concentrated down here by +the border somewhere? I tell you, old Pap will be here before you know +it. Why, he's already to Jefferson City, according to the latest +despatches, cleaning up everything before him and coming this way like a +jack rabbit. What is there between here and his front to stop his +twenty-five or thirty thousand men? Nothing! Nothing to make him even +hesitate." + +"There will be something to make him hesitate, though," insisted the +Kansas militiaman, stoutly. "Curtis _is_ concentrating, and we'll be +sent across the State line to meet and stop Price somewhere around +Lexington. You watch!" + +"Would you go across the line?" queried the other. + +"Certainly I would." + +"Well, then, you're an exception," returned the civilian. "I'll bet you +two bits that if the Kansas militia is ordered across the State line, +nine-tenths of them will refuse to go. They're too afraid they'll be +kept away over election and too afraid they'll have to give up a little +shred of their sacred 'State Rights' to the National Government." + +"Oh, well, some of the boys feel that way, of course," replied the +militiaman, defensively, "but not all, by any means." + +Al's curiosity had reached the breaking-point. + +"I beg your pardon," he interrupted, leaning across the table, "but will +you kindly tell me if General Sterling Price's army is invading +Missouri?" + +The two men looked at Al and Wallace in amazement. + +"Why, yes, I should say it is," answered the militiaman. "Where have you +come from that you didn't know that?" + +"We have just come down the Missouri in a barge," Al answered, "and we +haven't heard any late news; nothing since we left Omaha. We have been +up in Dakota all Summer with General Sully, fighting the Sioux Indians." + +"Oh, is that so?" asked the other. "We haven't heard much from that +campaign, either. Did you whip the Indians?" + +"Yes, we defeated and scattered them in two pretty big battles. But what +about General Price?" + +"Why, he entered southeast Missouri from Arkansas about the middle of +September with an army of anywhere from fifteen to thirty thousand men. +He tried to take Pilot Knob, but General Ewing, who used to be here at +Kansas City, you know, was there with a small force and repulsed him +badly; knocked the tar clean out of him, in fact. Then he started for +St. Louis but there were so many troops there that he seems to have +given it up; at least, he is moving west along the Missouri and I guess +he's somewhere around Jeff City now. I don't know whether he can take it +or not; according to the latest despatches Rosecrans is going to try to +hold the city. But we're looking for Price to come on out here and try +to invade Kansas, anyhow." + +"You say he's coming up the Missouri?" asked Al. "We've got to keep on +down the river to St. Louis with our barge." + +"Well, you'd better look out for old Pap, then," rejoined the other. +"He'll catch you, sure, and likely burn your boat; and if he don't the +guerillas will. They're awful bad now, and there isn't a steamboat ever +gets through without being attacked, and often they're destroyed." + +Al felt a sudden chill of apprehension. + +"Do you know whether they attacked the steamer _North Wind_ on her way +down?" he asked, anxiously. + +"No, I don't remember it," the militiaman returned. + +"Why, yes, you do," broke in his companion. "Don't you know, two or +three weeks ago a band of guerillas got the _North Wind_ somewhere +between Lexington and Miami? They crossed the river on her and then +burnt her up. It was reported several of her people were killed in the +mix-up." + +"Oh, that's right; I had forgotten," returned the soldier. Then to Al he +said, curiously, "Why do you ask?" + +"Nothing," answered Al, in a dull voice. "Only I had a young brother on +her who had been a prisoner among the Indians. He was going home to his +mother in St. Louis." + +"Pshaw, that's too bad!" exclaimed the militiaman, sympathetically. "But +he's probably gotten through all right." + +"Maybe he has and maybe not," said Al. "It's hard to tell in such times. +Come on, Wallace," he added. "Let's go back to the boat." + +They rose abruptly and left the store. Al slept very little that night, +and when he did his rest was broken by troubled dreams of Tommy; he +imagined his brother in all sorts of desperate situations and losing his +life in a variety of horrible ways. Even when awake and thinking +rationally, he realized that almost any of the fancies of his nightmare +might easily be realities, for the guerilla warfare in Missouri at this +time had degenerated into a carnival of barbarous brutality hardly +exceeded in the history of any country, and the mercy or cruelty dealt +out to a prisoner by one of these bands of lawless marauders depended +almost wholly upon the humor of the guerilla chief. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +CAPTURED BY GUERILLAS + + +Captain Lamont was disturbed by the rumors he heard at Kansas City of +the dangerous condition of navigation below that point; but he was a +brave and determined man, and would not be swerved from his purpose of +reaching St. Louis, now that he had gotten so far on the way and +overcome so many difficulties. The next morning the barge started out as +usual, and as there was deeper water the farther down river she went, +her progress became more rapid. Four days after leaving Kansas City she +tied up for the night opposite Brunswick, Missouri, a town about +twenty-five miles, by the channel, above Glasgow. Though it was said +guerillas had been in Brunswick the day before, none had yet interrupted +the journey of the barge, nor had any even been seen; and Captain Lamont +and his men had begun to think that the alarming rumors circulating +through the country were largely without foundation. + +The following morning, a short time after the boat got under way, +Captain Lamont found that the deck hand, Jim, was missing, and then he +made the additional discovery that his own wallet was also gone. Though +a guard had been maintained on the boat all night, as usual, Jim had +contrived in some way to slip ashore and escape with the money. The +circumstances made Captain Lamont somewhat uneasy. + +"I don't care about the money," said he. "There were only a few hundred +dollars in the pocket-book. But I should like to know what that fellow +wanted to get away for when we are so near St. Louis. He could have +robbed me just as easily there, and then he would have been in a country +where he could get a job when the money was spent. But he certainly +can't expect to get one around here." + +"I'll tell you, Captain," said Al, "I believe he's gone to try and find +some rebs or guerillas to make an attack on our boat. You know he's a +rebel at heart. He probably figures he can get me into trouble that +way, and you, too; for he doesn't like you any too well." + +"That's a long guess," replied the Captain, after studying Al's theory +for a moment, "but it may be correct. Anyway, I wish I knew what he's up +to." + +The boat drifted lazily on for a couple of hours and at length came into +the head of a long, gradual bend having, on its north side, a low, open +shore of sandbars, with meadows and farm lands farther back, and on the +south an extensive belt of timber growing between the water's edge and +the bluffs. The channel ran close in along the timbered shore, and the +place was such a favorable one for an armed party to attack passing +river craft, and had so often been utilized for that purpose during the +war, that it had come to be known as Bushwhacker Bend,--"bushwhacker" +and "guerilla" being terms used interchangeably for describing the +irregular partisans along the border. + +As the boat came to the head of the timber, the pilot crowded her over +as far as possible toward the north bank. But she had gone only a short +distance when a crowd of apparently about fifty men, wearing all manner +of ragged and dirty garments, suddenly arose among the trees and fired a +rattling volley of musketry point-blank at the barge. The bullets +plunged into her wooden sides and tore through her tarpaulin covers, +though, almost miraculously, no one was hit. Then a man wearing a sabre +and dressed in gray clothes somewhat resembling a Confederate uniform, +stepped forward and, waving his sabre toward the boat, shouted, with an +oath, + +"Bring that boat in here or I'll kill every man on board!" + +Seeing nothing but guns pointing toward him and knowing well that the +guerilla chief could make good his threat, Captain Lamont shouted back, + +"All right. We'll come over. Don't fire again." + +The pilot swung the barge over toward the south shore, the bushwhackers +following her down the bank until she touched the land. Then the chief, +accompanied by about half of his villainous-looking followers, sprang +aboard. + +"I'm Captain John C. Calhoun Yeager, u' the Confederate States army," +said he, pompously, throwing out his chest as he confronted Captain +Lamont. + +"Heaven pity the Confederate States army, then!" muttered the mate, who +was standing behind him. + +"What's that?" demanded Yeager, turning sharply. + +"I said, sir, that the Confederate States Army is honored," replied the +mate, meekly. + +"Oh!" said the guerilla chief, mollified. "You bet." + +He smoothed down his coat with a satisfied air, then resumed to Captain +Lamont, + +"I'm gonta search this yere boat fer Yankee soldiers, an' if anybody +peeps he'll git plugged full o' holes." + +Wallace, who was standing beside Al, turned pale, for he knew not what +this might mean for him. He was in uniform and there was no escape, as +Yeager immediately pointed to him and continued, + +"There's one of 'em. Jerk him up, boys." + +Half a dozen of his men sprang upon Wallace like cats upon a mouse, +pulling his arms roughly behind him. Wallace uttered a cry of pain as +his wounded arm was twisted. + +"Oh, please don't!" he begged. "My left arm is wounded." + +"The devil it is!" sneered one of the guerillas, giving it an extra +twist as he jerked a piece of cord around Wallace's wrists. "Then it +needs exercise to limber it up." + +Al's face turned pale with cold fury. He stepped forward and, before any +one could think what he intended doing, his fist shot out into the +guerilla's right eye with terrific force, sending him to the deck like a +stone. + +"You dirty cur!" he growled. "I'll give you some exercise, too." + +"Don't, Al, don't!" pleaded Wallace, now more frightened for his +friend's safety than for his own. + +Yeager, paying no attention whatever to the fall of his retainer, fixed +his cold eyes on Al as he heard Wallace call him by name. + +"I've got it straight," said he, "that there's another blue belly on +here, not in soldier clothes. His name's Al Briscoe an' he's a friend +o' this yere kid,"--indicating Wallace. "I reckon you're the ticket," he +went on, addressing Al. "Take him in tow, boys." + +"He's not a soldier," exclaimed Wallace. "He's never enlisted." + +"This is Jim's work," whispered the mate to Captain Lamont. "Nobody else +would know about Al." + +Captain Lamont repeated Wallace's remonstrance. + +"This boy is not a soldier, Captain Yeager," he declared. "I know that +to be a fact." + +"Well, I got it straight that he is," persisted Yeager, insolently, "so +you may as well shut up. Take 'em ashore," he went on, to the men who +held Al and Wallace by the arms. Then he added, to the others, "Search +the boat." + +"Oh, I'm dreadfully sorry, Al," moaned Wallace, as they were pushed and +kicked out on the bank. "It's my fault you were taken." + +"No, they'd have found me out, anyway," Al answered, smiling bravely at +his friend. "I'd a good deal rather stay with you, old man, than to +have you face this alone." + +The boys were held on the bank while the guerillas went through the +barge, taking what they pleased in the way of food and the clothing of +the men. They seized no more prisoners and finally came ashore, when +Yeager, brandishing a pistol, shouted to Captain Lamont, + +"Now, then, cast off an' git out an' don't stop ner monkey around fer +two hours, anyhow, er I'll sink yer rotten old tub an' you with it!" + +There was nothing to do but obey, and with many glances of profound +regret and apprehension at Al and Wallace, standing guarded by a dozen +brawny ruffians on the bank, Captain Lamont and his men shoved the barge +off and drifted on down the river. As the boys watched the boat recede +in the distance, it seemed to them that they had looked their last upon +friendly faces, and that the portals of death were closing upon them as +the barge finally disappeared. + +When the boat was gone, Yeager turned his attention to his prisoners. +Seating himself under a tree, he regarded them genially and remarked, + +"P'utty sporty clothes you got on. I reckon some o' my boys needs them +worse 'n you do." + +"Yes, I reckon," said one of the guerillas, slouching up and leering +into Al's face. It was the fellow whom Al had knocked down and he could +leer with only one eye for the other was closed and the flesh around it +had already turned blue-black in color. He glanced down at Al's shoes, +which had been purchased in Kansas City. + +"Those look about my size," said he, comparing them with his own +broken-down cowhide boots. "I'll take them before I shoot you." + +He knelt down and began to unlace one of the shoes. Al's anger and +contempt were so great that he had lost all sense of discretion. But he +showed his feelings in unusual ways. + +"Certainly; help yourself," said he, in a smooth tone of mocking +politeness, thrusting his foot a little way forward. "I always like to +have a nigger take care of my shoes for me." + +The crowd laughed uproariously and the ruffian sprang to his feet and +slapped Al across the mouth. + +"Take 'em off yerself an' hand 'em to me!" he shouted. + +Al looked around at the other men. + +"If you will untie my hands and leave me free to use them," said he, "I +will hand you my shoes,--and something more." He glanced significantly +at the guerilla's still uninjured eye. + +Again the crowd laughed, and approvingly. It was evident that Al's +fearless behaviour pleased them, and his tormentor became +correspondingly enraged. Again he struck his defenceless antagonist +across the mouth. But at this moment a short, broad-shouldered little +man stepped out from among the onlookers and sauntered over to the +cowardly ruffian. One of his hands was thrust into his pants' pocket and +in the other he carried a huge revolver which looked almost as long as +himself. This terrifying weapon he raised and brushed its muzzle +deliberately back and forth across the tip of the other man's nose, +which was nearly a foot above the top of his own head. + +[Illustration: Bill Cotton protects Al from the guerilla] + +"Now, look here, Daddy Longlegs," said he, in a persuasive tone, "you +let this kid alone or I'll blow you into the river. These boys are game; +an', by jinks, I'm goin' to see that they're treated decent from now on. +Everybody take notice." + +He swept a calm, authoritative glance around over the crowd, spat upon +the ground, stuck his revolver back into its holster and, with both +hands now in his pockets, strolled back to the tree whence he had come, +and sat down. + +Yeager laughed nervously, seeming to fear the effect of this exhibition +of authority on the part of some one beside himself. + +"I was just goin' to say that," he remarked. + +The little man looked at him and his lip curled slightly. + +"Yes, you were!" said he, derisively, and Yeager made no further +comment, while Al's persecutor sneaked away sheepishly, muttering to +himself. + +There was a moment of embarrassed silence, and while it lasted there +emerged from the woods behind the motley company a figure which hurried +toward the guerilla captain officiously. As soon as they saw it, the +boys smiled in unison. + +"Here's Jim!" exclaimed Wallace. "Now we'll catch it!" + +The deck hand glanced toward them, then, with a look of relief, said to +Yeager, + +"Well, you got 'em, I see, Captain." + +"Yes, yes, I got 'em," replied Yeager, starting from thought and eying +Jim uneasily. "Much obliged to you fer puttin' me on." + +"Oh, sure; that's all right," exclaimed Jim, beaming on him. "I hate a +Yank worse 'n pizen." + +He turned and, walking over, faced Al and Wallace. + +"Nice day, ain't it?" he inquired, with a sneer. "How do you kids like +it? You ain't doin' no fancy boxin' to-day, Al Briscoe, are yeh?" + +"Well, well; my dear old friend, James!" exclaimed Al, in affected +surprise. "Aren't you the proud boy, though, over this great victory?" + +"None o' yer freshness, now," cried Jim, doubling up his fists, +threateningly, "er I'll mash yeh one." + +"Here, here!" cried Yeager, loudly. "Don't abuse the prisoners!" + +Jim looked at him in surprise. + +"Why not?" he asked, as if abusing prisoners were the most natural +pastime in the world. + +"Because I said so," returned Yeager, bluntly. "That's why." + +The deck hand appeared to meditate this unusual ruling for a moment. +Then he inquired, + +"When yeh goin' to shoot these Yanks, Captain?" + +"Well," said the guerilla chief, hesitatingly, and stopped. Then he shot +a furtive glance at the short, broad-shouldered man. The latter was +sitting in a lounging attitude with his arms clasped around his knees, +but his eyes were fixed steadily on Yeager. + +"Well," began the Captain, again. "I ain't a-goin' to shoot 'em. I'm +a-goin' to take 'em down an' turn 'em over to General Price." + +He looked again at the short man, who was now gazing calmly out over the +river. The boys breathed sighs of relief and thanksgiving, for it seemed +they were to be saved for the moment, at least, from their most +imminent peril of being murdered in the woods. + +"What?" cried Jim, angrily. "Yeh told me yeh'd shoot 'em if I got 'em +fer yeh." + +"I find they ain't deservin' uh death," returned Yeager, with dignity. +"Leastways, not unless ordered by a reg'lar military court." + +"Oh, thunder!" exclaimed Jim. He frowned in disappointed hatred at Al, +then turned and walked away. + +"Well, I must be goin'," said he. "I got business up to Lexington." + +"Hold on!" cried Yeager. "What's yer hurry? We're just startin' fer +Arrer Rock to take these prisoners to General Price. I want you fer a +witness ag'in 'em." + +"Aw, no, I can't do no good," returned Jim, hastily, continuing to back +away. "I've told yeh all I know about 'em. I got to go." + +Then he felt a nudge on his arm and looked at the short man, who had +risen and, with his hand on his big holster, was gazing up into Jim's +face. + +"Pshaw, you'd better come with us," said he, in a soft voice. + +Jim's eyes wavered, then shot a desperate, hunted look around over the +crowd. But by a great effort he controlled himself. + +"Oh, very well. Yes," he replied, with as much carelessness as he could +assume. "I'll go." + +The horses of the guerilla gang were tied a few yards back in the +timber. The boys were led to them and mounted, each one riding between +two guards; and then the party, forming in a rough column of fours, +started out. They soon emerged from the woods, passed up through a +ravine and so out upon the bluffs, where presently they turned into a +faintly marked country road running to the southeast, toward Arrow Rock. +For hours they travelled, alternately at a trot and a walk, through the +pretty, rolling country of Saline County, now passing among stretches of +forest, gay with the foliage of Autumn, and again moving across reaches +of open land, dotted here and there with little farms, most of them +deserted and falling to decay. But always they avoided the main roads +and often they travelled across the fields, through ravines and along +the lower edge of ridges, making it evident that these men possessed a +knowledge of the country as intimate as that of the Sioux in the +Northwest. + +The boys were held near the centre of the column, and several files +ahead of them was Jim, who rode along easily, slouching in the saddle +and yielding to the motions of his horse as if accustomed to it through +long practice. It was noticeable to the boys that the short man held a +place in column immediately behind Jim; for this guerilla company +appeared to have no regular formation, and the men fell in wherever they +chose, sometimes even changing their places on the march. + +Toward evening the gang approached Arrow Rock and were halted by a +picket in the edge of the little town. The officer of the guard, a young +man in the full uniform of a Confederate lieutenant, came out to meet +Yeager, who had ridden to the front. + +"Is General Price's army here?" asked Yeager. + +"Yes," answered the Lieutenant. "Who are you?" + +"Captain Yeager and command, with Yankee prisoners." + +"Captain Yeager? Of whose regiment?" + +"Nobody's," replied the chief, boastfully. "We go it alone." + +"Oh, I see," said the other, a slight inflection of contempt in his +voice. "Er--ah--partisan rangers?" + +"What?" + +"Bushwhackers?--Guerillas?" + +"That's what," replied Yeager. "I want to see General Price." + +"General Price is not here," stated the Lieutenant. "This is General +Clark's brigade of Marmaduke's division. You can see General Clark if +you wish." + +"All right," said Yeager. "Show us in." + +The officer of the guard instructed one of his men to conduct the +guerilla band to the house occupied by General Clark as headquarters, +near the centre of the town. The streets were swarming with Confederate +soldiers, and long lines of cavalry horses were hitched along the +sidewalks or tied to their picket lines in the middle of the streets. +Some of the soldiers were little better clothed than the guerillas, in +civilian garments of various hues and cuts, while others wore threadbare +suits of butternut jeans, and others still, many of them, were attired +in new uniforms of Federal blue, doubtless recently captured. + +As they approached General Clark's headquarters, Jim suddenly left his +place and, spurring up beside Yeager, exclaimed, earnestly, + +"Say, Cap, honest, I've got to be goin'. It's almighty important fer me +to get to Lexington." + +"It's almighty important fer you to stay with me till you've saw General +Clark," replied Yeager, gruffly. "Now, don't be foolish or you'll git +hurt." + +Jim was pale to the lips but, looking around, he saw the short man +following close after him and he continued riding beside Yeager. Arrived +at headquarters, the column halted, and the Captain dismounted and +entered. In a few moments a Confederate corporal with two men came out +and, walking over to Al and Wallace, ordered them to dismount. Then the +corporal noticed that their hands were tied behind them. He jerked out a +jack knife and cut the cords on their wrists, which were swollen and +bleeding. + +"How long have you been tied that way?" he demanded. + +"Since before noon, when we were captured," replied Wallace. + +The corporal glanced at the guerillas about him. + +"That's a fine way to treat helpless prisoners," he exclaimed, angrily. +"It 'ud take a gang like you-all, who dassent fight in the open, to +torture a kitten,--if yeh ever had nerve enough to catch one." + +Some of the guerillas looked ugly, but they dared do no more in the +midst of a Confederate camp, and in great indignation the corporal +marched his squad and prisoners through the doorway and into the +presence of General Clark, who was seated at a table, with Yeager +standing before him. + +"These are the prisoners, General," said Yeager, importantly. + +"Yes, I see," replied General Clark, dryly, as he measured the evident +youth of the captives. Then he continued, addressing Wallace, + +"Where have you boys come from?" + +"From Dakota, where we have been fighting Indians," returned Wallace. + +The General looked disappointed. + +"Oh, is that it?" he asked. "You don't know much about matters around +here, then?" + +"No, sir," Wallace answered. "We don't know anything about them. We were +coming down the Missouri on a barge, straight from Dakota, when we were +taken." + +"Well, Captain," remarked the General, leaning back in his chair and +glancing at Yeager. "I don't see that your prisoners are of much value." + +"Mebbe not," replied Yeager, somewhat crest-fallen. "But you'd better +see the feller that told me about 'em. Mebbe he knows somethin' more." + +General Clark sent out the corporal and in a moment the latter returned, +leading Jim forcibly by the arm. The short, broad-shouldered guerilla +followed them. The deck hand was trembling visibly and his eyes were +wild but he was evidently striving to maintain his composure. + +"What do you know about these prisoners?" demanded General Clark. + +"I don't know nothin', General," answered Jim, his voice shaking. "Only +they're Yanks, an' I thought they ought to be turned over. I didn't +expect,--" he stopped short. + +"Didn't expect what?" + +"I--I didn't expect they'd be examined none, ner that I'd be dragged +into it. I thought they'd--they'd be shot." + +"In the regular Confederate service we do not shoot prisoners of war," +replied the General, turning a coldly significant glance upon Yeager. +"And why," he continued, addressing Jim, "didn't you want to be dragged +into it, as you say?" + +The deck hand's eyes wavered and he made no reply. + +"What are you so alarmed about?" persisted the General, leaning forward +and watching him suspiciously. + +Al cleared his throat. + +"Pardon me, General Clark," said he, "but I believe you will find on +inquiry that this man is a deserter from your service." + +Jim started as if he had been shot. + +"It ain't so!" he cried, wildly. "I ain't never been in the Confederate +army." He made an involuntary step toward the door, but his guard pulled +him back firmly. + +"Why do you think that?" asked General Clark of Al. + +"He was a deck hand on the boat I ascended the Missouri on," replied Al, +"and I had trouble with him. That's doubtless why he hoped to have me +shot. I judge that he was in the Confederate service only by threats and +boasts that he made to me, and he was probably in an Arkansas regiment." + +"An Arkansas regiment?" the General asked. "We have a whole division of +Arkansas troops with us,--Fagan's." + +A curious, gurgling gasp came from Jim's throat. His face was chalky. + +"I never heerd o' Fagan," he sputtered. "Ner I ain't been in Arkansaw in +all my life." + +"You are not convicted," General Clark said, calmly. "But the matter is +worth investigating." + +He called the sergeant of the headquarters guard and directed him to +have Jim placed in close custody, and the deck hand was led away, +reeling and apparently almost fainting. Al never saw him again; and +though by chance he heard long afterward that Jim had, in fact, been in +an Arkansas regiment, he could never ascertain whether the young fellow +paid the penalty of death for his violation of his oath of enlistment. + +When Jim had been led away, the General turned to Al and asked, + +"You wear no uniform. Why not?" + +"I am not enlisted in the army, sir. I am too young." + +"Ah! You would not be in our service," the General returned, with a +smile. "But you are a Union sympathizer?" + +"Yes, sir, I am," replied Al, firmly. + +"Well, you appear to be a pretty bright boy," the General observed, +shrewdly. "I think it will be as well not to have you at large for a few +days. Corporal, lock these young men in that brick storehouse a block +below here, on the left side of the street. Mount a guard, give them +supper, and keep them securely till further orders." + +As they were being marched out, they passed the short guerilla who had +championed them in the morning. He was lounging by the doorstep. Al +motioned to him and he caught step with them. + +"We are very grateful to you for taking our part down there where we +were captured," said he. "We'd have been killed if it hadn't been for +you." + +"Maybe," said the other, somewhat embarrassed. "But I didn't like the +way you were taken." + +"How do you mean?" + +"Oh, havin' that dough-faced shipmate o' yours come in to give yeh +up,--pervidin' we'd shoot yeh!" + +"It was a low-down trick," said Wallace. + +"I should say it was! I'm glad you tipped off the General to the kind of +a pup he is." + +"Why are you so set against him?" asked Al. + +"Aw, I just don't like his looks," returned the bushwhacker. "Yeh kin +see he's yellow, an' I sized him up fer a deserter when he got in such a +sweat to pull out." + +"What's your name?" asked Al, as the man stopped, evidently not +intending to go as far as their prison with them. + +The bushwhacker looked at him suspiciously. + +"You needn't be afraid of me," Al insisted. "Perhaps we can do you a +good turn sometime." + +For a moment longer the other hesitated, then answered, + +"My name's Bill Cotton," and, turning, he walked away. + +The boys were soon securely locked in their prison with a sentry before +the door. It was a small brick building near the river bank, and all its +windows were boarded up with heavy planks except a small square one +facing the river, the sill of which was about six feet above the floor. +They had been confined but a few moments when the corporal returned, +bringing a quantity of hardtack, a chunk of bacon, a pail of drinking +water, two blankets and a small box of ointment. + +"There," said he, as he handed the various articles to the boys, "fill +yerselves up an' rub some o' this yere grease stuff on yer wrists. It +ain't the best; lard an' marigold juice is the best, but I ain't got +none, so I jest bought this in a store. I reckon it'll help some." + +The boys thanked him warmly. + +"That's all right," he replied. "I hate to see prisoners abused. I found +out how it felt myself, once. This is a kind of a nasty hole to put you +in but you'll likely be let out o' here an' paroled in the mornin', when +we start fer Glasgow." + +"Are you going to Glasgow?" asked Al, suddenly interested. + +"You bet we are," confided the corporal, sociably, "an' some o' Joe +Shelby's boys with us; got orders this evenin'. There's quite a bunch o' +your Yank friends up there, an' a big grist o' muskets, too, an' we want +the whole lot." He smiled genially at the boys in anticipation. + +Al became alert and, therefore, cautious. + +"I've understood Glasgow is a pretty strong position," said he, +carelessly. "You'll have to have a large force to take it." + +The Corporal laughed. "Oh, we've got plenty," he rattled on. "There's +our whole brigade,--Clark's,--an' five hundred men from Jackman's +brigade, of Shelby; an' then old General Joe himself is goin' up this +side the river, so I've heard, to bang the town in front with artillery +while we bust in the back door." + +"Well, I'll bet there are enough of our fellows there to hold it, +anyhow," declared Al, stoutly. + +"No, there ain't; there ain't above a thousand Yanks there," answered +the corporal, with conviction. "An' we'll have four thousand. Besides +that, they don't know we're comin', an' we'll gobble 'em before they +wake up." + +"That does seem like pretty big odds," admitted Al. "Still, I think +they'll hold you." + +"No, they won't," repeated the corporal, as he stepped through the +doorway, key in hand. "Well, I got to be goin'. Bye-bye, Yanks. Sleep +tight." + +The key turned in the lock and he was gone, leaving the boys to +themselves. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE DEFENCE OF GLASGOW + + +As soon as their kindly but indiscreet jailer was out of hearing, Al +exclaimed in a whisper, that the sentry might not overhear, + +"Wallace, we must get out of here somehow and up to Glasgow to warn our +garrison. It may not do any good; I'm afraid the Johnnies will be too +many, but our boys mustn't be surprised if we can help it." + +"No, indeed," agreed Wallace, fervently. "But how are we to get away?" + +"We'll see," returned Al. "Hold me up while I look at this window. Be +mighty quiet, so the sentry won't hear us." + +Wallace bent his back, and Al stepped on it and felt the iron bars of +the high window overlooking the river. Every one was firm and solid. + +"We can't get through there," he whispered, after descending to the +floor again. "It would take two weeks' work to loosen one of those +bars." + +Total darkness had fallen by this time, for in the middle of October +night comes much earlier than in the months of July and August, during +which the boys had been campaigning in Dakota and Montana. They started +around the room in opposite directions, feeling of the boarded windows. +When they came together again, Wallace said, + +"There's one over here may do. The planks are spiked fast to the window +sill, but the sill seems to be rotten or loose." + +He crept again to the window referred to, followed by Al. They found +that by working the planks back and forth they could move the portion of +the casing to which they were fastened. In a few moments they had an +opening large enough at the bottom for them to crawl through. + +"This is mighty lucky, but let's wait a while," cautioned Wallace. +"There are too many people moving around, and the sentry is wide awake +yet." + +They waited one hour, and then two. The sounds of voices and footsteps +gradually died away outside. For a long time their guard walked back +and forth on the ground before the door, then they heard him fling +himself down with a grunt. + +"It'll be an hour and a half at least before he's relieved," whispered +Al. "He'll doze or sleep." + +They waited fifteen or twenty minutes longer, then cautiously pulled out +the bottom of the planks and propped them with a small piece of board +they had found on the floor, so that they would not spring back. Then +one at a time they crept through the narrow opening. Once outside, they +tip-toed toward the river. + +"I can't swim," whispered Wallace. "My arm hurts like fury since it was +tied back this afternoon." + +"Then if we can't find a boat along here somewhere, you'll have to stay +or run off in the woods," replied Al. "It will be a long pull for me, +but I'll try to swim the river before I'll give up getting to Glasgow." + +They made their way along the bank for some distance and presently, as +luck would have it, came to a small row-boat pulled out on shore. They +could find only one oar in it but they worked the boat down to the +water, got in and shoved off. The rapid current carried them quickly +away from the Arrow Rock bank and then, by vigorous paddling, Al +succeeded finally in bringing the boat to the opposite shore a mile or +so down stream. They stepped on land and pushed the boat out again to +drift on down river. + +"Now I know the country from here to Glasgow like a book," said Al. +"I've been over it often with father. There's a road up here somewhere +on the bluffs, and when we strike that we can keep on going, right into +Glasgow. We'll have to hurry, though, for Clark's men will surely be +crossing pretty soon now, and we must get ahead of them." + +It was now about eleven o'clock of the night of October 14, and the boys +were on Arrow Rock Point, fourteen or fifteen miles from Glasgow. But at +four the next morning, footsore and weary, they came to the picket post +at the bridge on the Boonville road across Gregg's Creek, near the +southern edge of town, and fifteen minutes later they were conducted +into the presence of Colonel Chester Harding, Jr., who, with a +detachment of his regiment, the Forty-third Missouri Volunteer Infantry, +and a few militia and citizen guards, was holding the place. + +"Where have you come from?" inquired Colonel Harding, as soon as they +had introduced themselves. + +"From Arrow Rock, sir," answered Al, somewhat breathless in his +eagerness. "We were taken from a boat on the Missouri River early +yesterday by guerillas and conveyed to Arrow Rock, where we were +imprisoned; but we escaped last evening and have come here to tell you +that Arrow Rock is occupied by Clark's brigade and part of Shelby's +division, of Price's army, who intend to attack Glasgow to-day." + +Colonel Harding's face expressed surprise and concern. + +"Are you sure of what you say?" he asked. "Are the rebels at Arrow Rock +part of Price's main army?" + +"Yes, sir, they are," Al assured him, positively. "We were examined by +General Clark himself, and we later learned from one of his men that +they will attack Glasgow to-day. They are going to use artillery from +the west bank of the river and troops on this side, with artillery, too, +I suppose. They claim they will bring about four thousand men." + +Colonel Harding arose and walked the floor. "If they do," said he, "I +fear they will defeat us. I have expected to be attacked by +bushwhackers, perhaps in large numbers, but not by Price's main column. +However, we will give them the best fight possible; and I thank you +heartily for the information you have brought me. My troops are already +bivouacked in battle positions, but I will warn them to be ready for +immediate action." + +He put on his hat and started to the door, then turned back to Al. "I +see you are in civilian clothes," he remarked. "Do you want to fight if +there is an engagement?" + +"Indeed I do, sir," replied Al, earnestly. + +"Are you enlisted?" + +"No, sir. I am not old enough." + +"That is unfortunate," observed the Colonel. "You know, according to the +rules of civilized warfare, a man not regularly enlisted in the service +of a belligerent is liable to be punished by death if he fights in +battle and is captured. In case we should get the worst of this +encounter, you see you may be in a bad way unless you are in the +service." + +"I shall fight, Colonel, and take my chances," replied Al, firmly. "I +can't stand by and see the Union flag fired upon without shooting back." + +"That is the right spirit, my boy," said Colonel Harding. "But be +careful, and if you see things going against us, you had better try to +get yourself away quietly." + +"I lived in Glasgow until two years ago, sir," Al answered. "I think I +shall be able to manage in case of disaster. Can we get guns? Private +Smith, here, is on sick furlough, and my revolver I hid in the boat when +we were brought to shore by the guerillas." + +"Go to the court house and ask the ordnance officer," said the Colonel. +"There are thousands of stands of arms there. Good luck to you." + +He turned and went out and the boys followed immediately, turning +however, toward the court house. They were provided, Al with a musket +and Wallace with a revolver, as he could use only his right hand. The +silence of early morning was brooding over the town as they emerged from +the court house, for the watchful troops around could do nothing but +wait for the enemy's blow to fall. But as they paused on the sidewalk, +the deep boom of a cannon resounded across the river, echoing back from +the bluffs, and a second later a shell crashed into the side of a +building about half a block away. They could hear the window glass +spatter on the ground in a jingling shower. + +"There goes Joe Shelby's opening gun, if that reb corporal was right," +exclaimed Al. "Come on!" + +Wallace followed him and they ran south toward the bridge on the +Boonville road across Gregg's Creek, by which they had come in an hour +or so before. At a street corner they encountered three companies of +infantry going on the double-quick to the same point, with canteens +rattling against their bayonet scabbards. The boys fell in behind the +first company and kept on, until the column deployed into line along +the creek bank and the men threw themselves on the ground behind bushes +or whatever other cover offered. The bridge had been stripped of its +plank flooring by the picket guard, and only the bare stringers now +remained, offering no footing for an attacking column. + +"My, but that's hard work, runnin' that way," panted a stout man beside +Al. "Wonder what the rebs are doin'?" He raised himself on his elbows +and peered ahead. + +On the crest of the hill across the narrow valley two field guns frowned +on the bridge, the cannoneers standing motionless at their posts, +seeming to wait only the command to open fire. In front of them, long +lines of dismounted cavalry were reaching out, like slowly unfolding +ribbons, against the brown face of the hill. Al and Wallace watched them +curiously. Would they never cease to extend? All at once an officer on a +black horse darted up to the two field guns as if shot out of the woods +behind. They could see him point his arm toward the bridge, gesturing +emphatically. Then the cannoneers sprang to life, two vivid streaks of +fire spurted from the muzzles of the guns and Al felt, rather than +heard, a terrific explosion which seemed to take place all around him at +once. Following it came a sensation of intense, numbing silence that was +at length pierced by the thin, liquid vibration of a bugle, blowing +somewhere far off, "the charge." Then gradually other sounds came to his +reviving ear-drums, and he realized that a shell had burst directly over +his head, though he was unhurt. He glanced at Wallace, whose eyes looked +dazed. + +"Wasn't that awful?" whispered Al. + +"Awful, yes. Awful," repeated Wallace. He seemed almost beyond words. +But he suddenly hitched up on his knees, exclaiming, + +"There, look! They're coming!" + +Al turned his eyes to the front. The long, ribbon-like line of +Confederates was pitching forward down the hill and out across the floor +of the valley toward them. Two flags, fluttering blotches of red and +blue, tilted forward above it. Little ripples ran back and forth along +the line, like the wind ripples in growing wheat, as the men strained to +keep alignment; and ahead of them whirled a shrill, ear-piercing wave +of sound more united, more defiant and more formidable than any Indian +war-whoop the boys had ever heard. It came to their senses that they +were listening for the first time to that heart-chilling "rebel yell" of +which they had so often been told. + +An officer walked rapidly along behind their own line, his voice, +high-keyed with excitement, striving vainly to be reassuring. + +"Now, boys, now, don't get scared," he kept repeating. "Hang it all, +hold your fire, men! Hold your fire!" + +All at once the volume of yells ceased. Al and Wallace looked to the +front and saw that the whole line of the enemy had stopped, rigid as a +fence. Even as they looked, a volley blazed along the line as if fired +from one gun. The fat man beside Al dropped his musket and began to cry, +frantically, + +"Oh, oh, oh, my shoulder! Oh, oh, oh, my shoulder!" + +There was no time to heed him. Through the wall of smoke before them, +created by the volley, again broke the Confederates on the run, their +dreadful yell preceding them, the two frayed battle flags eddying above +the smoke like the masts of catboats in a seaway. + +"Lord, Al, they don't fight like Indians!" gasped Wallace, hoarsely. + +As a photograph on the brain there came to Al a flashing recollection of +the broad plain fronting Tahkahokuty, bathed in the sunlight, with the +Sioux swooping and circling before the steadily advancing troops. + +"No," said he, briefly. + +The officer came behind them again, running, and bellowing above the +uproar, + +"Company, rise! Fire by company! Ready! Aim! Fire!" + +A volley as steady as that of the enemy flamed along the front of the +company. Al was conscious of a vague surprise that in such chaos the men +could maintain a discipline so machine-like. But the enemy's charging +line did not appear even to waver. + +"Load! Fire at will! Commence firing!" howled the officer, jumping into +the air to look over the heads of his men at the enemy beyond the +creek. "Fast, boys! Fer Gawd's sake, put it into 'em fast!" + +The muskets began to rattle in a disjointed way, Al's among the rest, +while Wallace's revolver popped viciously. Everything in front was +veiled in thin white vapors, and the men in the charging line resembled +shadows, dancing upon a curtain. But the Confederates, like a stampede +of buffalo, held to their headlong course. Shortly the officer bawled, +in a voice almost tearful, + +"No use, boys! They're flankin' us. They're across the creek, up and +down. Come back; back to the buildings!" + +Most soldiers fear being flanked more than death itself in front. The +men cast terrified glances toward the enemy, streaming past beyond their +wings, and broke like sheep for the rear, where the outlying houses of +the town looked down a gentle slope toward them. They were not +panic-stricken, but, as in one man, the instinct awoke in them to cover +their flanks and save themselves from the dreaded attack in rear. With +the enemy hard behind them and filling the air with exultant yells, they +swarmed into the buildings, like bees into their hives, smashing +through doors and windows in their haste and from these new havens of +refuge they resumed their interrupted fire desperately. + +Al and Wallace, with five or six soldiers, made for a brick residence +standing back in a shady garden. By main force they tore a pair of +blinds from a shuttered window, crushed in the glass and sash with +flailing musket butts, and leaped through, landing upon the plush carpet +of a handsome parlor. The men swept up a polished mahogany table and +three or four rosewood chairs and jammed them into the vacant window, +then opened fire feverishly upon the enemy, who were already tearing +down the fence pickets in front of the house or leaping over them. The +Confederate line of battle had dissolved into groups during the +impetuous pursuit and the men, so dauntless in their advance across the +open fields, looked doubtfully at the yawning windows and doors of the +houses, each spitting fire, upon which they had now come. They +discharged a patter of harmless shots, then began to seek cover behind +trees, fences, or stones. + +There was a sergeant among the men with Al and Wallace. He peered +through the rosewood chair-legs cluttered in the window, and cried, + +"They're takin' cover, boys. We can hold 'em now. Here, Jones, +Throckmorton, Schmidt,--get upstairs. Shoot down at 'em;--drive 'em +back." + +Al raised his voice. "This is the house of Doctor Falkner," he said. "I +know him well; he is a Union man. Treat the house as well as you can, +boys." To Wallace he added, "My father sold him all this furniture and +these carpets." + +The soldiers glanced at him curiously. This regard for property in the +midst of battle was unusual. But the Sergeant answered, as he thrust his +musket barrel through the chair legs, + +"Sure, we'll treat it as well as we can." + +The Confederates beyond the front fence seemed all at once to have +become tired. They declined to be coaxed or urged forward by their +officers, but from behind their hiding-places they kept up a constant +pop-popping of muskets and carbines which gradually reduced all the +doors and windows on that side of the house to kindlings. Framed +pictures on the opposite walls were punctured, and here and there light +from the adjoining rooms shone through holes in the plastering. A +soldier in the parlor was desperately wounded and lay in a stupor on a +spot of the plush carpet which was sopping wet with blood, his head +pillowed on a gay silk sofa cushion. Now and then other soldiers dodged +into or out of the house through doorways on the side opposite to the +enemy, and once the officer who had directed the fight at the creek came +in, but finding the Sergeant in charge, left immediately. Time seemed to +stand still. The little garrison, wrapped in the absorbing occupation of +pumping lead at the almost invisible enemy in front, took no note of its +passage. + +Outside, a steady, rattling roar seemed to envelop the whole town and +country around, pierced constantly by human voices, shouting, pleading +or commanding, now near and again distant. Once Al, his throat parched +with the choking fumes of confined powder smoke, darted back to the +kitchen in search of water. While he was drinking he heard a slight +creak and rustle, audible in the uproar by reason of its very lightness, +and, looking around, he saw a woman standing on the top step of the +cellar stairs, her hand on the door knob. He had to look twice before he +knew her, for when he had last seen her, her hair, now iron gray, was +brown, and her face, now wrinkled, was smooth and youthful. + +"Why, Mrs. Falkner!" he stammered. "Why, are you here?" + +She peered at him. "Al Briscoe!" she exclaimed, in a trembling voice. +"What on earth--why, how you've grown!" + +She uttered the commonplace remark almost mechanically. She seemed +hardly to know what she was doing. + +"Mrs. Falkner, you are in great danger here," cried Al. + +"No, no; I am down cellar. I am safe if the house doesn't burn. Is it on +fire?" + +"No, but it is being riddled with bullets." + +"That is not so bad as fire," she answered, putting her hand weakly to +her head. "You will try to keep it from burning, won't you, Al?" + +"I will do all I can, Mrs. Falkner," he answered, and before he could +say more she pulled the cellar door shut and disappeared. + +He ran back to the front of the house. The Sergeant was peeping +excitedly past the edge of the parlor window. Directly he drew back, +crying, + +"They're tryin' to get between us an' the next house!" He jabbed a +commanding forefinger at Al and Wallace. "Here, you--you; jump upstairs. +Shoot at 'em from the back windows. Stop 'em!" + +The boys leaped up the broad, easy front stairway, three steps at a +time, wrenched open a bedroom door at the top and ran to a window +looking out over the back porch. Down along the side fence they could +see a dozen or more Confederates running, crouching low. They were +making for the porch. The boys fired simultaneously and they saw one man +drop, then wriggle off through the grass. Wallace's revolver continued +to bark while Al was reloading his musket, but the Confederates cast +frightened glances up at their window, and before he was ready to fire +again they had run back to the other side of the house once more. The +boys looked over the back yard and the town behind it, and their eyes +caught the roof of the court house, rising above the trees. A column of +black smoke was pouring from it, with a dull glare of flames through and +below it. Al caught Wallace by the arm. + +"See! The court house is on fire!" he cried. "And all those thousands of +arms are in it." + +Wallace looked at the burning building, then apprehensively back at Al. + +"I wonder if a shell did it, or if it's Colonel Harding's orders?" + +"There's no telling," answered Al. "If it's orders, it means that we're +whipped and the court house is being burned to keep the rebs from +getting the arms. Listen! Isn't the fire slacking up?" + +It was true. The deep boom of the Confederate artillery had died out +from among the confused noises of the battle; and as the boys hearkened, +the continuous rattle of musketry diminished until only scattered, +individual shots could be heard. Then these ceased and a silence +followed, almost painful to the ears after the uproar. + +"What can it mean?" asked Wallace, in an uneasy tone. Then he went on, +hopefully, "Perhaps the Johnnies have given up the attack." + +They walked to the stairway and, as they went down, saw that the +Sergeant had opened the shattered front door and was standing on the +porch outside, while a Confederate officer, with a bit of dirty white +rag tied to the point of his sabre, was advancing up the walk toward +him. Something seemed to warn Al to keep out of sight and he stepped +into a corner where he could hear but could not be seen. + +"What do you want?" demanded the Sergeant, gruffly, as the Confederate +reached him. "Be quick, or we'll open fire again." + +"Your commander has surrendered the city and garrison, Sergeant," +replied the Confederate, who wore the insignia of a major on his coat +collar. "You are prisoners of war. You have made a very gallant defence. +Permit me to congratulate you." + +"Surrendered?" cried the Sergeant, in utter amazement. "Man alive, we +haven't begun to fight! We'll show you whether we've surrendered. Get +back to your lines, sir, before we fire!" + +He stepped into the house to slam the door in the Major's face, but the +latter raised his hand with a gesture of authority. + +"Just a moment," he said, soothingly. "I tell you the truth. Colonel +Harding has surrendered. We have broken through your lines on the north +and east of the city. There was nothing else for him to do." + +The Sergeant's face was purple with rage. + +"Well, I'll be--" he began, but he was interrupted by the entrance of +his own Captain, who laid a restraining hand on his arm. + +"Frank, it's all over," exclaimed the Captain, in a broken voice. "We've +surrendered, Frank." + +He dropped his hand with a despairing gesture, and two big tears rolled +from his eyes and coursed down his cheeks into his long, black beard. +Then he straightened up and flashed an indignant glance at the +Confederate officer. + +"At all events, sir," he exclaimed, "you did not break through my line." + +The Confederate bowed his head gravely. + +"No, sir;" he replied, "we did not. You have fought nobly, splendidly, +against superior numbers. The whole garrison has covered itself with +honor." + +The Captain seemed to be struck by his antagonist's politeness. + +"Anyway," said he, "it is not so hard to surrender to a gentleman." + +"Thank you, sir," the other answered. "Courage deserves at least the +meed of praise. And now you will please be good enough to assemble your +company from these various buildings and march them, under arms, to the +vicinity of the court house. The building was fired by your men before +we got in and it is now burning, but the formal surrender will occur as +near to it as possible." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +REUNITED + + +Al waited to hear no more, but slipped through a convenient doorway and +out into the kitchen. He was just going to the cellar door when he heard +Wallace's voice behind him. + +"I'm going to stay with you, Al," he said. "Where shall we hide?" + +Al turned like a flash and caught his friend by the shoulder. + +"No, you don't, now, old fellow!" he exclaimed. "I'm outlawed, and you +'re not going to put yourself deliberately in the same fix; no, indeed! +You're going out and surrender with the rest of the garrison; and no +doubt the whole lot of you will soon be paroled, for I don't believe the +rebs will want to carry a crowd of prisoners very far." + +"Well, I'm going to stay with you, anyhow," persisted Wallace, doggedly. + +"Wallace, don't be a fool!" cried Al, impatiently. Then, seeing that he +must exercise diplomacy to make his friend follow the safer course, he +went on, "Don't you see that it would be harder for two of us to escape +than one, especially when you are disabled? I know Mrs. Falkner. She +will hide me until I can get away, but she could not so easily hide two +of us. Just give me your revolver and ammunition; that's all I want, and +you take my musket and surrender it, so there'll be no question about +your being unarmed. Nobody but Colonel Harding knows I'm here or who I +am; and, if it comes up, you can tell him I've cut out and escaped, +probably up-river." + +"Al, I hate to do it," said Wallace, hesitatingly. + +"You needn't. It's best for us both," insisted Al. "Now go; time is +precious, and good luck to you." + +They gripped each other's hands in a firm farewell and Al stepped to the +cellar door and opened it. Then he turned and shook his finger at +Wallace smilingly. + +"Mind, now; if you're paroled, I'll see you in St. Louis inside of ten +days, and we'll have lemonade together, with ice in it, at the ice-cream +parlor near Third and Olive Streets." + +He closed the door behind him and felt his way down the cellar stairs, +his heart by no means as light as he had tried to make Wallace believe. + +"Mrs. Falkner! Mrs. Falkner!" he called, softly, on reaching the bottom. + +There was no answer. + +"Mrs. Falkner!" Al repeated. "It's Al Briscoe. I'm in trouble." + +He heard the rustle of her dress as she came toward him, saying, + +"Al Briscoe? In trouble?" + +"Yes," he answered. "The city has just surrendered. I have been +fighting, though I am not an enlisted soldier, and if the Confederates +catch me I shall very likely be shot. Will you hide me for a little +while until I can escape from the city?" + +"Why, of course I will, Al," exclaimed the kind-hearted lady, forgetting +her own distress of mind in concern for him. "I am only too glad to help +you. What time of day is it?" + +"It is about noon, Mrs. Falkner." + +"Then you will hardly dare to venture out before dark," she said. "Till +then you can stay in the cellar. If you feel your way, you will find a +pile of boxes in the corner back here which you can hide behind, if you +wish. But I am living alone in the house, except for old Dinah, and she +ran away up town when the battle began. I think no one will suspect that +you are hiding here. Are you hungry?" + +"I have not eaten since last evening, in Arrow Rock," Al admitted. + +"I will see if there is anything to eat upstairs," said Mrs. Falkner. "I +suppose the house is completely wrecked?" + +"Not altogether," Al replied, "but it is in pretty bad shape." + +The lady went upstairs and presently returned with some food and a +candle. + +"Oh, everything is torn to pieces!" she groaned, as she handed these +things to Al. "I don't know how I shall ever repair it, all alone, as I +am." Then she continued, "You can see to eat by this candle and then +you had better put it out, in case any one should look down the cellar +stairs. Then, if you want to sleep, I will keep watch; and after dark I +will waken you, and you can go to an old cave I know of, in a clump of +bushes not far back of the house." + +"Yes, I know the cave," said Al. "It's the very place. Your son Frank +and 'Chucky' Collins and I made that cave. We used to have a pirates' +den there." + +He smiled up at her as he bit into a pink slice of cold ham, the first +he had tasted in months. + +"Oh, did you, Al?" asked Mrs. Falkner in a low voice. She was silent a +moment, then went on, slowly, "The Collins boy is in the rebel army. +Frank--Frank--was killed at Prairie Grove." Her voice broke. + +The smile vanished from Al's face. + +"Oh, Mrs. Falkner!" he exclaimed. "How sorry I am. Poor old Frank! And +your husband--Doctor Falkner?" + +"Is a surgeon in Sherman's army," she said. "So long as he is left to me +I should be thankful, for I am only one of thousands who have lost sons +or husbands in our Nation's cause. What of your own parents, Al?" + +Then he told her of his father's death and Tommy's capture and of his +mother and Annie in St. Louis. For some time they talked, then Mrs. +Falkner returned upstairs, while Al lay down behind the pile of boxes +and was at once wrapped in the profound slumber of exhaustion. + +No one disturbed the lonely house during the remaining hours of the day +nor the early ones of the following night, for most of the Confederate +army was farther uptown or in bivouac outside its limits. Sometime +toward morning Mrs. Falkner awakened Al and conducted him cautiously to +the cave, leaving him there with an ample supply of food for several +days. The next day and night passed and Al still lay in his cramped +refuge, undisturbed, but very stiff and uncomfortable and eager to get +out and away. + +During the second day Mrs. Falkner came to the cave and dropped a note +down to him through a crack in the roof. In it she informed him that +Colonel Harding and his command had been paroled the day before and +marched away toward Jefferson City accompanied by an escort, to be +delivered within the Union lines, wherever these might be met with. The +last of the Confederate troops, she wrote, had just left, crossing the +Missouri on steamboats and marching away westward, to join General +Price's main army. The town was still quiet, but every one feared that +gangs of guerillas would soon swoop down upon it; and she advised Al to +make his escape as soon as darkness came. + +Taking his revolver and such of his remaining food as he could +conveniently carry, he accordingly crept out of his hiding-place soon +after nightfall and made his way to the southeastward, following the +country roads and keeping his direction by the stars. About six o'clock +the next morning he arrived on the river bank opposite Boonville. Making +inquiries of a negro, he found that the town was in possession of Union +troops, and he soon crossed the river on the ferry. To his surprise and +delight, the paroled garrison of Glasgow was just coming into town when +he arrived, Wallace among them. They were loud in their praises of the +kind treatment they had received at the hands of their captors, and +especially of the escort under Lieutenant Graves, which had brought them +down to the near vicinity of Boonville; for the Confederate soldiers had +shared their rations with the prisoners and made their march as +comfortable as possible in every way. + +At Boonville the paroled men separated to await exchange; and Al and +Wallace continued their journey together, going down to Jefferson City +in an army wagon and thence by the Pacific Railroad to St. Louis, where +they arrived safe during the second morning after leaving Boonville. + +"Wallace," said Al, when they stepped from the train at the station and +walked out into the street, where drays and omnibuses were rattling over +the cobble stones and busy throngs of people covered the sidewalks, "the +first thing we do must be to find an ice-cream parlor. We won't go to +Third and Olive; that's too far from here. But I want to drink that +lemonade with you. I allowed ten days, you remember, but now it is +only,--let me see,--five days. Then you will go out to Palm Street with +me and see how a surprise affects my mother and Annie and--" he +hesitated, then added, hopefully, "Tommy." + +The refreshing drink was pleasant but they fairly gulped it down, for +Al, now that at last he had reached his journey's end, was feverishly +eager to see his dear ones once more. So they hastened to Fifth Street +and boarded a north-bound horse car, which soon carried them to Palm +Street, though to Al in his impatience the journey seemed hours long. As +they came in sight of the house, Al saw his mother in the front yard, +transplanting some flowers from a bed to pots. Her back was toward the +street and the boys approached within a few feet without her hearing +them. Then Al took off his hat and stepped up behind her. + +"Excuse me, madam," said he, gravely, "but is this where Mrs. Thomas +Briscoe lives?" + +His mother turned and gave one startled glance at the brown-faced youth +before her, in his rough, travel-stained clothes, then dropped her +case-knife and flower pot on the ground, crying, in a voice thrilling +with joy, + +"Al, Al! My dear, dear boy!" + +The next instant she was in his arms and both of them were laughing and +crying at once. As soon as the first warm greeting was over, Al asked +fearfully, + +"Mother, have you seen or heard anything of Tommy?" + +He need not have asked the question, for at this juncture a straight, +boyish figure bounded through the front doorway, cleared the steps in +one jump and sprang into Al's arms. + +"What, Tommy?" cried Al, in amazed delight. "Can it possibly be you, so +big and strong? I would not have known you. How and when did you get +here?" + +"They sent me down on another boat after the _North Wind_ burned," Tommy +answered. + +"But how did you know to stop in St. Louis?" asked Al. + +"Why, I hunted up Uncle Will, of course, to have him help me get to +Minnesota, and then I was so glad to find that mama and Annie were +here," Tommy replied. "What a hunt you have had for me, dear old +brother!" + +"Yes, but now we are together again, so everything has come out for the +best, even though I didn't find you myself. Mother, where is Annie?" + +"She is in school," answered Mrs. Briscoe. "But she will be home at +three o 'clock. Tommy should be there, too, but he will not start until +next Monday. He is far back in studies for his age." + +"But he must have learned many things in the last two years which he +never could have learned in school," said Wallace, who had been warmly +and affectionately greeted by Mrs. Briscoe. + +"Yes, I did," admitted Tommy. "It was a great life up there among the +Indians, and Te-o-kun-ko was always very good to me, and so were his +squaw and the children. I think a lot of them all." + +"We were a little afraid you might grow to think so much of them and of +their life that you would not want to come back to us," said Al. + +Tommy glanced at him reproachfully. + +"Why, Al," he exclaimed, "how could you think I would ever care as much +for any one as for mama and you and Annie and--" a shadow crossed his +face, "papa," he added. + +Al, judging that his young brother did not yet realize any connection of +Te-o-kun-ko with Mr. Briscoe's death, and deciding not to explain it +until some later time, answered, + +"We couldn't be sure, Tommy, for you know such things have happened." + +"I was always sure," remarked Mrs. Briscoe, calmly, and, indeed, there +was no question that her mother's instinct had been correct, as it +almost always is. + +"Well," said Wallace, "with all the knowledge of the Indians and their +ways you have gained, you ought to make a capital scout." + +Tommy looked at him thoughtfully. "Perhaps I will--some day," he +replied. "But first I want to learn the things that other fellows know, +because I don't believe that without them, it is much use just to be +able to ride and shoot and track game and so on." + +"Now, Al," Mrs. Briscoe interrupted, turning toward the door, "we all, +your aunt and uncle, too, will be eager to know what has happened to you +in the last six months, especially since you started west from Fort +Rice. The last letter I had from you was the one you sent from there, on +the eighteenth of July." + +"There has been no chance to send you any since," replied Al. "And I got +your last letter, dated June 20, at Fort Rice on my way down from the +Yellowstone. So we shall all have much to tell each other. Although I +didn't succeed in rescuing Tommy in the way I hoped to do," he put his +arm affectionately over his small brother's shoulders, "I believe this +trip of mine has been good for me, and will be in the future for all of +us." + +And so, indeed, it proved, for the following year Al readily secured an +appointment to West Point through the hearty endorsements of General +Sully and other army officers whom he had come to know in the Northwest; +and the father of Wallace Smith, after the close of the war had brought +prosperity and new floods of settlers to the Minnesota frontier, was +able to help Mrs. Briscoe to such a profitable sale of her desirable +claim near Fort Ridgely that she had enough to live upon comfortably at +her sister's hospitable home in St. Louis, while Tommy and Annie were +completing their education in the excellent schools of that city, and +sometimes spending a vacation in cruising up and down the Mississippi on +Captain Lamont's fine steamer. Thus Al's unselfish enterprise on behalf +of his brother, begun under such discouraging circumstances, resulted, +directly or indirectly, in advancing the interests and happiness of +himself and all those dearest to him; and he never had cause for +anything but gratitude and rejoicing over the friends made and the +experiences gained during his adventurous Summer with Sully in the Sioux +land. + + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of With Sully into the Sioux Land, by +Joseph Mills Hanson + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42150 *** |