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diff --git a/old/60157-0.txt b/old/60157-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index aea083d..0000000 --- a/old/60157-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8844 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of On the Plains with Custer, by Edwin L. Sabin - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: On the Plains with Custer - The Western Life and Deeds of the Chief with the Yellow - Hair, under whom Served Boy Bugler Ned Fletcher - -Author: Edwin L. Sabin - -Illustrator: Charles H. Stephens - -Release Date: August 24, 2019 [EBook #60157] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON THE PLAINS WITH CUSTER *** - - - - -Produced by Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - - - ON THE PLAINS WITH - CUSTER - - SECOND EDITION - - - - -[Illustration: AND NOW AT FULL SPEED PASSING NED ALSO HE LEANED, -INDIAN-WISE] - - - - - ON THE PLAINS - WITH CUSTER - - THE WESTERN LIFE AND DEEDS OF THE CHIEF WITH - THE YELLOW HAIR, UNDER WHOM SERVED BOY BUGLER - NED FLETCHER, WHEN IN THE TROUBLOUS YEARS - 1866–1876 THE FIGHTING SEVENTH CAVALRY HELPED - TO WIN PIONEER KANSAS, NEBRASKA, AND DAKOTA - FOR WHITE CIVILIZATION AND TODAY’S PEACE - - BY - EDWIN L. SABIN - - _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY_ - CHARLES H. STEPHENS - _AND PORTRAITS_ - - - “The bravest are the tenderest,— - The loving are the daring.” - —BAYARD TAYLOR - - - [Illustration] - - - PHILADELPHIA & LONDON - J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY - - - PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER, 1913 - - - PRINTED BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY - AT THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS - PHILADELPHIA, U. S. A. - - - - - TO THE ARMY WOMEN - - MOTHERS, WIVES, AND SWEETHEARTS WHO - WORKED AND SMILED AND WEPT AND PRAYED - WHILE SOLDIERS MARCHED AND FOUGHT - - - - -FOREWORD - - -This is a story of Ned Fletcher, and the Seventh Regular Cavalry, -United States Army, when upon the Western plains they followed the -yellow-haired General Custer. Yet it is not all a story of fighting; -for to be a good soldier does not mean that one must serve only to -fight. Indeed, there are worthy battles other than those with lead and -steel, horse and foot. Every earnest citizen is a good soldier. General -Custer was as great in peace as in war; in his home as in the field, -and he loved his home duties as much as he loved his other duties, -which is token of a true man. - -General Custer is real to-day. Men and women live who marched with -him. As to Ned Fletcher, who may say? A little girl named Fletcher -was captured by Cheyennes and Sioux, as Ned’s sister was captured; -and Chief Cut Nose called her “Little Silver Hair.” General Custer -would have rescued her, as official records show. Two little children -were found in the Cheyenne village on the Washita. In the battle here -a bugler boy was wounded just as Ned was wounded. Aye, and at Fort -Wallace a little bugler boy was slain. So that boys served in the old -Seventh Cavalry, under General Custer. As a brave boy, Ned might have -been there, even though by a different name. - -General Custer has left his own story of his plains days in Kansas and -Nebraska. It lies before me. Mrs. Custer, his comrade of garrison and -camp and march, has written several books about him. They lie before -me. There is a biography by one Captain Whittaker, written at the -close of the last battle, near forty years ago. With General Sheridan -and General Custer upon their campaign against the Cheyennes and the -Kiowas was a newspaper reporter, Randolph Keim, who also wrote a -book. Chapters have there been, in other books and in magazines, and -pamphlets of time agone; and, as I say, men and women are now alive who -knew the general. From all these more information should be sought. No -one pen can describe so fine a thing as a Man. - -So this book must tell of the Custer whom Ned the boy and youth saw; -and of affairs in which he took part during that final struggle when -the white race would supplant the red race, on the plains of north and -south. In the narrative of these years I have tried to show how the -white race felt and how the red race felt; for each had their rights -and their wrongs, and each did right and did wrong. Out of the result -came general good, that the church and the school-house might rise and -people might work and play in peace, where formerly stood only the -unproductive hide lodges, and the main thought was war and Plunder. - - EDWIN L. SABIN. - - Coronado, California, June 1, 1913. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - I. A WAIF ON THE PRAIRIE 17 - II. AT OLD FORT RILEY 34 - III. THE SEVENTH TAKES THE FIELD 48 - IV. SATANTA MAKES A SPEECH 67 - V. IN BATTLE ARRAY 79 - VI. THE ABANDONED INDIAN VILLAGE 89 - VII. SCOUTING WITH CUSTER 104 - VIII. PAWNEE KILLER PLAYS TRICKS 114 - IX. DANGER ON EVERY SIDE 129 - X. SAD NEWS FOR THE ARMY BLUE 142 - XI. GRIM DAYS ALONG THE TRAIL 153 - XII. PHIL SHERIDAN ARRIVES 160 - XIII. THE YELLOW HAIR RIDES AGAIN 173 - XIV. THE WINTER WARPATH 180 - XV. “WE ATTACK AT DAYLIGHT” 192 - XVI. “GARRYOWEN!” AND “CHARGE!” 204 - XVII. AFTER THE BATTLE 215 - XVIII. TO THE LAND OF THE DAKOTAH 227 - XIX. SCOUTING AMONG THE SIOUX 236 - XX. RAIN-IN-THE-FACE VOWS VENGEANCE 249 - XXI. SITTING BULL SAYS: “COME ON!” 256 - XXII. OUT AGAINST THE SIOUX 264 - XXIII. LOOKING FOR SITTING BULL 274 - XXIV. SITTING BULL AT BAY 290 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - - PAGE - - And now at full speed passing Ned also he leaned, - Indian-wise _Frontispiece_ - - Major-General George A. Custer 12 - - “Tell this chief that if another man of his crosses the - river my men will advance” 133 - - The big Indian was a fair mark, but the bullet must not hit - Mary 213 - - “Here, take that to Captain Benteen, and don’t spare your - horse” 289 - - - - -[Illustration: By Courtesy of The Century Company - -MAJOR-GENERAL GEORGE A. CUSTER - -From a Photograph by Brady] - - - - -CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE - - -GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER - - Famous American soldier and cavalry leader in the Civil War - and on Indian campaigns afterward. A loyal citizen, a tender - son, a devoted husband. Family name “Autie”; otherwise called - Armstrong; by war correspondents styled “the Boy General”; by - the soldiers nicknamed “Old Curly,” and “Jack”; entitled by the - Indians “the Yellow Hair,” “the Long Hair,” or, in full, “White - Chief with the Long Yellow Hair.” - - Born at New Rumley, Ohio, December 5, 1839. - - Father: Emmanuel H. Custer, of Maryland. - - Mother: Maria Ward Kirkpatrick, of Pennsylvania. - - Spent his boyhood at New Rumley, on the farm, and with his - sister at Monroe, Michigan. - - Educated at New Rumley, at the Stebbins Academy (Monroe) and - the Monroe “Seminary,” and at the Hopedale, Ohio, Normal School. - - Appointed to West Point Military Academy, 1857. - - Graduates last in his class, 1861. - - Assigned as second lieutenant, G Company, Second United States - Cavalry. - - Three days after leaving West Point reports for duty with - General McDowell’s army, on the morning of the battle of Bull - Run. - - Soon detailed as aide-de-camp and assistant adjutant-general on - the staff of General Philip Kearny. - - Second lieutenant, Fifth United States Cavalry, 1862, under - General Stoneman. - - Serves briefly with the Topographical Engineers, 1862. - - Appointed aide-de-camp on the staff of General McClellan, June, - 1862, with rank of Captain. - - After McClellan’s removal is appointed first lieutenant, Fifth - Cavalry. - - On waiting orders, at Monroe, winter of 1862–’63, woos and wins - his future wife, Elizabeth Bacon. - - Reports for duty as first lieutenant with M Company, Fifth - Cavalry, Army of the Potomac, April, 1863. - - Appointed aide-de-camp to General Pleasanton, commanding First - Division, Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac. - - June, 1863, at the age of 23 appointed brigadier general of - volunteers, in command of the Second Brigade (the “Michigan” - Brigade), Third Division, Cavalry Corps, under General - Kilpatrick, and distinguishes himself at the battle of - Gettysburg. “The boy general with the golden locks.” - - Slightly wounded at Culpepper, September, 1863. - - Married, February 4, 1864, at Monroe, Michigan, to Elizabeth - Bacon, daughter of Judge Daniel S. Bacon, and takes his bride - with him to the brigade headquarters camp. - - By Sheridan, the new cavalry commander, is given the advance in - the various raids. - - Transferred to command of the Second Division of Cavalry, and - finally September, 1864, to that of the Third Division. - - October, 1864, aged 25 is brevetted major-general of volunteers, - for gallantry. The youngest in the army. - - Continues to lead the Third Division of cavalry, which is - conspicuous for its discipline, its dash, and the long hair, - cavalier hats and flying red neckties of its men, copied after - the well-known Custer garb. - - Eleven horses are shot under him, in battle. In six months - his division captures 111 pieces of field artillery, 65 - battle-flags, and 10,000 prisoners including seven generals. - It does not lose a flag or a gun or meet defeat. - - April 9, 1865, he receives flag of truce conveying the first - word that General Lee is considering surrender. Thus “the boy - general” has fought through from Bull Run to Appomattox. - - At the close of the war is ordered with a division of cavalry - to Texas. - - Offered the command of the cavalry of the army of General - Juarez, Mexico, in the conflict with Emperor Maximilian; - but by Congress is not permitted to accept. - - In 1866 brevetted major-general in the regular army, for war - services. - - October, 1866, appointed lieutenant-colonel to command the - Seventh United States Cavalry, and ordered to Fort Riley, - Kansas. - - Five years of service, 1866–’71, on the plains of Kansas, - Nebraska, Colorado and Indian Territory, resulting in the - subjugation of the Kiowas, Arapahos, Cheyennes, Comanches and - Apaches in that district. - - From 1871 to 1873 stationed with his regiment in Kentucky. - - Spring of 1873 ordered with his regiment to Fort Rice, Dakota, - for operations among the Sioux. Occupies the new post of Fort - Lincoln. - - Engages in campaigns along the Yellowstone River, and explores - and exploits the Black Hills. - - June 25, 1876, aged 37, killed with five companies of his - cavalry from which only one man, a Crow scout, escapes, in - the battle of the Little Big Horn, Montana, with 3000 Sioux. - - - - -ON THE PLAINS WITH CUSTER - - - - -I - -A WAIF ON THE PRAIRIE - - -In every direction wide stretched the lonely brown prairie-land of -north central Kansas, 1866. From horizon to horizon not a house of any -kind was to be seen, nor even a tree except low lines of willows and -occasional cottonwoods marking the courses of streams. Late November’s -pale blue sky bent mildly over, the steady plains breeze rustled -the dried weeds and the sun-cured carpet of buffalo-grass; and Ned -Fletcher, trudging wearily, felt that he was a very small boy in a very -large world. - -However, he was not afraid of the largeness; and as he hastened as fast -as he could, with ear alert for sunning rattlesnakes and eye upon a -vast herd of buffalo grazing far to the northeast, he was rather glad -of the loneliness. Moving objects, ahorse, might mean Indians, and -Indians he did not want. Ah no, no, no. - -Ned was bare-headed, his tow hair long and matted as if it needed -cutting and combing. But who had there been, in the Indian camps, to -cut or comb a white-boy prisoner’s hair? He wore on his body a tattered -fragment of stained blanketing, his head thrust through a slit. One -foot was supplied with an old moccasin that lacked part of the sole; -the other foot had nothing. As he hurriedly walked he limped. - -Where he was he did not know. He was still in Kansas, he believed, -although one part of this flat prairie-country looked much like -another. Since his escape from the Sioux he had been trying to travel -straight east; but he had sneaked down crooked stream-beds and had -slept some, and now exactly where he might be or how far he might have -come, he could not tell. - -Somewhere on before were the settlements of the Kansas frontier, out -of which was creeping westward the Kansas Pacific Railroad, bound for -Denver. North was the Republican Fork emigrant trail to Denver, and -south was the Smoky Hill trail. With these, and with the outlying -ranches and hamlets which were liable to be encountered, it did seem to -Ned that by hook or crook he would be rescued if he only kept going. - -Suddenly he stopped short, with lame foot upraised, and peered. He was -all ready, like prairie-dog or other timid wild animal, to disappear. -This was what alarmed him: the grazing herd of buffalo, resembling a -great tract of black gooseberry bushes, had broken and were on the run! - -As everybody in the far West knew or ought to know, running buffalo -were frightened buffalo; and the question naturally would be: “Which -has frightened them—white hunters or Indian hunters?” Upon the answer -might depend much, even life. - -Ned’s heart thumped inside his bony chest, under the thin blanket, and -he glanced about for hiding-place. - -The creek-bed was too far; the earth around was flat and sandy and -bald; but near at hand was a curious circular hollow, like a dimple in -the brown face of the prairie. Crouching and skimming, Ned darted for -it, and plunged in. - -This was a buffalo-wallow. In the beginning some old buffalo bull, -tormented by flies, had pawed and horned and turned up the sod of -a soft spot in the prairie, and there had taken a good roll. Other -buffalo bulls had followed him, enlarging the hole as they enjoyed -their mud-baths. Now, in late November, the wallow was dry, but it was -two feet deep and fifteen feet across. - -Behind the sloping edge of the wallow Ned lay close, and peeped over. -He was a brave boy, but he shivered with excitement. After he had -escaped, and had come so far, and was almost within touch of white -people, was he to be re-captured? He couldn’t stand it—no, he couldn’t -stand it, unless he had to. When they have to, people can stand a great -deal. - -The buffalo were increasing in size rapidly, as with their peculiar -headlong rolling gallop they came thundering on. There were several -thousand of them; the beat of their hoofs merged into a dull roar; over -their torrent of black backs floated a yellow spume of dust. - -Gazing beyond them anxiously Ned searched for the hunters. He thought -that he saw them—some horsemen, veiled in the dust as they so furiously -pursued. Were they white horsemen, or red? Then he saw, to his relief, -that the course of the tossing herd was past his wallow, not over it. -He would not be trampled to death, anyway; and perhaps he would not -be seen. And then he saw that a single buffalo had separated from the -flying herd, and that had paired off with it a single horseman, to ride -it down. _They_ were heading almost directly for the wallow. - -Ned flattened himself as flat as a horned toad or a lizard, and -motionless, watched. He did not dare to stir his head, he dared -scarcely to breathe. Indians, as well he knew, had eyes very keen for -any movements against the surface of the ground. - -The buffalo was running gallantly—head down, tail curved, heavy -fore-quarters propelled by light hind-quarters. In its rear pursued the -hunter. Ned, peering through a screen of weeds, fastened eyes upon him -to read him. He wore a hat; good! He wore a shirt or coat; pretty good! -He held a revolver; very good! He rode like a white man; hurrah! - -Heart beating afresh, Ned waited a minute longer, to make certain. - -How the buffalo ran! How the hunter rode! It was a big bull buffalo. -Ned could see his shaggy head, like a lion’s; he fancied that he could -see his tongue as it hung foamy and red; almost could he see his -glaring eyeballs and hear his panting breath. The horseman—yes, he was -white!—was leaning forward, lifting his long-legged bay to the race. -His right hand held high a heavy revolver, his left hand gathered the -loosely drawn reins; his broad-brimmed hat flared in the breeze that -he made; his hair, yellow and free, streamed backward. He gave a wild, -exultant halloo, and his horse, lengthening with leap after leap, -fairly was eating the space to the straining, lumbering quarry. It took -a fast horse to do this; but the buffalo was wounded, for now from his -red tongue was dripping something redder still. - -Ned had just concluded that the hunter must be a soldier, for his -trousers-seams, showing between boot-tops and shirt or coat, bore broad -stripes, when he realized also that this chase, like the rest of the -chase, was passing his wallow; and that if he did not make himself -known he would not be seen. Another minute, and buffalo and rider would -be by, and the chances were small that they ever would notice such a -small thing as he, behind them. With a spring, out rushed Ned; waving -his arms and calling, he ran forward across the prairie. - -His thoughts and eyes were on the rider—that white man rider. He was -regardless of the buffalo, now—but the buffalo proved not regardless -of him. Into the very path of the onward scouring chase went Ned, -waving and shouting; and veering at sharp tangent the buffalo instantly -charged for him. The buffalo’s little tail flicked up, in half-cocked -manner, his shaggy head dropped lower, and he made a savage lunge at -what he thought was a new enemy. - -Ned paused not for parley. An enraged buffalo bull coming full tilt -won’t listen to talk, and the fact that Ned was only a boy made no -difference to this big fellow. In a sideways jump Ned dodged and turned -and made for his wallow again. - -This seemed the thing to do. Now he forgot about the rider and thought -about the buffalo. He had small hope of beating him, for a buffalo -can run as fast as an ordinary horse and this buffalo was very angry. -Ned imagined that the hot breath of the great animal was burning his -back—that the hard stubby horns were grazing him there; his legs were -weak and his feet heavy; and nervously glancing behind him, as he ran, -he stumbled, sprawling head over heels. When he should stop rolling, -then what? - -He stopped, and scrambling for his feet he looked quickly, poised on -hands and knees, before he should rise. His next movements depended -upon the buffalo. The buffalo had halted, as if surprised. He was -almost towering over, so huge he stood; he was surveying Ned, his -matted hump high, his bearded hairy head low again, his tongue dripping -crimson froth, his red-streaked eye-balls standing out amidst his -matted locks, his throat rumbling, his forehoofs flinging the dirt in -defiance. As soon as he could debate a little over what had upset his -new enemy, he would charge again. - -Ned, crouched on hands and knees, stared at the buffalo; the buffalo, -rumbling and pawing and bleeding, stared at Ned. - -But the rider—the rider! With rapid thud of hoofs he galloped. “Keep -down, lad! Keep down!” he shouted, in clear ringing voice. Ned never -forgot how he looked, as with bright yellow hair floating, crimson -necktie-ends at his throat streaming, black hat-brim flaring, wide -blue eyes in bronzed moustached face blazing, bridle free and revolver -levelled, like a whirlwind he passed the great beast—firing as he did -so—and now at full speed passing Ned also he leaned, Indian-wise, -grasped Ned under the arms and with strong heave hoisted him right up -to the saddle. - -For an instant longer the horse, with Ned thus suspended beside him, -careened on. Then in response to vigorous command and tug of gauntleted -hand holding both revolver and lines, he wheeled and stopped. Giddy, -clinging desperately to the buckskin waist, Ned gazed before. The great -bull was prone, feebly kicking his last. Ned looked up, into a face -looking down. It was a handsome, manly face; lean and deeply tanned, -with sunny blue eyes, broad high forehead, straight nose, flowing -tawny moustache, firm cleft chin, all under a large soft-brimmed black -slouch hat, from beneath which the bright yellow hair fell in long -curly waves to the shirt collar. This shirt collar was generous and -rolling, of blue flannel with a white star at either point in front. -Under the collar lay a long soft tie of crimson silk, its ends loosely -knotted and hanging down outside a fringed buckskin coat. Between skirt -of coat and tops of riding-boots showed dusty trousers of army blue, -with broad yellow stripes down the seams. Altogether, to Ned’s quick -and wondering eye he was a most attractive and remarkable individual. - -Looking down, while Ned looked up, he smiled heartily, and said: - -“Well, we got the buffalo before he got you, didn’t we? Let’s see.” - -With a “Whoa, Phil! Steady, now!” to the horse, he carefully lowered -Ned and set him back upon the ground; then swinging easily off he -dismounted, and leaving the horse to stand, with revolver ready he -approached the buffalo. But the buffalo was stone dead. - -“All right,” he called back, to Ned, who was anxiously watching. -“Hurrah! He’s a big fellow, isn’t he! And there come the dogs! Hi!” -and raising a cow-horn from its sling to his lips he blew a stirring, -rollicking blast. “Watch them leg it! The pace was too hot for them, -this time. Well,” he spoke, more directly, to Ned, “come over here, -and tell me about yourself. You’re a white lad, aren’t you? My name’s -Custer—Autie Custer; what’s yours?” - -“Ned Fletcher,” faltered Ned. “I’m a white boy, but I’ve been captive -with the Indians. Now I’m escaping. You—you’re an officer in the army, -I guess.” - -“What makes you think so?” The query was quick and crisp—with blue eyes -twinkling behind it. - -Ned hesitated. His gaze strayed to the blackish specks, said to -be dogs, rapidly nearing across the prairie; and returned to this -straight, lithe, square-shouldered figure, standing there so -fascinating in face and form and garb. Ned could not tell exactly why, -but he felt that this man was every inch a soldier and a leader. If he -wasn’t an officer he ought to be, anyway. So Ned hazarded: - -“By those stripes—and you’ve got stars on your shirt collar.” - -The blue eyes twinkled merrily. - -“Oh, those stars don’t count for anything. That’s a sailor shirt. And -maybe I stole the pants. My wife calls me ‘Autie,’ the men call me -‘Jack,’ but once in a while somebody calls me ‘Colonel,’ so I suppose -I’m a sort of an officer, after all. But here—if you’re a white boy -you’ve got to have something on. Aren’t you cold? You must be cold. -Take my coat. Captive to the Indians, you say? Where? How did that -happen? Put on that coat, and tell me. I’ll be cutting out this -buffalo’s tongue. Did you ever see a buffalo’s tongue cut out? It’s -quite a job, isn’t it! Hi! Hello, pups! (For the dogs were arriving.) -Down, Maida! Down, Flirt! Blucher! Good dog, Byron! Where’s Rover? Oh, -yes; I see. Hurry, Rover, or you’ll be too late. There! That’ll do. -Next time you hunt with the old man you’ll save your wind for the final -spurt, won’t you!” - -The dogs were splendid animals: three gaunt, rough-coated stag hounds, -a deer hound, a fox hound or two. They came in panting and eager, -whining and gambolling and sniffing right and left. Colonel Custer -knelt and whipping out his hunting-knife pried open the dead bull’s -mouth and slashed at the thick tongue. - -Ned didn’t want to put on the buckskin coat, but he had been ordered -to, so he did, and dropped the ragged blanket. The coat almost covered -him. While the dogs nosed him and excitement still reigned, he answered -the questions. - -“The Dog Soldiers killed my father and burned the ranch and took my -mother and sister and me away with them. My mother is dead—they made -her work too hard (and Ned choked up), and I don’t know where my sister -is but I’m going to find her.” - -“Where was the ranch?” - -“On the Bijou in Colorado.” - -“How long ago?” - -“About a year. I was traded to the Sioux. But when I had a chance I ran -away.” - -“From their village?” - -“No, sir; on the march.” - -“Who were the chiefs?” - -“The Sioux chief was Pawnee Killer, and the Cheyenne chief was Cut -Nose. I ran away from Pawnee Killer. My sister’s out with old Cut -Nose’s Cheyennes, I think.” - -“Where do you want to go, my boy?” - -“Anywhere, so that I find my sister.” - -“All right.” Colonel Custer had finished cutting out the tongue. Now -he wiped his knife on the buffalo’s wool, and stood. “We’ll take you -back to Riley, first. That’s where I live—Fort Riley. It isn’t far; a -day’s ride. We’re out on a little scout. There comes my orderly, now. -The lazy fellow! Eh, Phil?” and the handsome bay horse, thus addressed, -pricked his ears. “First we leave the orderly, then we leave the dogs, -and we kill a buffalo and pick up a boy! That will be something to tell -the old lady when we get back.” - -About this handsome, energetic army officer was an air so happy-go-lucky -and boyish that Ned, another boy, found himself already loving him. - -Now the orderly galloped up. He wore fatigue cap and blouse and -trousers, of the regulation service blue; and by yellow braid and -chevrons and the brass horn hanging from his shoulder he was a bugler. - -He arrived dusty and red, his horse much blown; pulling short he -saluted, trying not to stare. Colonel Custer drew himself up very -tall and straight and military, surveyed him sternly and spoke -gruffly—although Ned felt certain that those blue eyes held a twinkle. - -“Take this boy on before you, Odell. Where’s the rest of the troop?” - -“Yes, sir. Following the buffalo, sir.” - -“Where have you been?” - -“Trying to catch up with you, sir.” - -“Oh! I see.” And as Colonel Custer turned, to his own horse, and tied -the buffalo tongue to the saddle, Ned fancied not only the twinkle in -the eyes but a smile under the yellow moustache. - -“Well, boy, you’re to get aboard with me, the general says,” said -Bugler Odell. “Give me a grip on ye and I’ll help ye up. But you ought -to have coverin’ for your legs. It’s cold, ridin’. Use that blanket, -now, I see lyin’ there.” - -“No. I’ve got enough,” asserted Ned, eyeing the blanket fragment -disdainfully. The heavy buckskin coat fell below his knees, and he was -used to the cold air. - -“Yes; wrap that piece of blanketing around you, or you’ll wear a hole -through Odell’s saddle-skirts,” bade Colonel Custer, as he vaulted -astride his own saddle. - -“You hear what the general says,” reminded Bugler Odell, soberly. -“Fetch the blanket and come on, now.” - -So Ned, understanding that it was the custom, evidently, to obey -whatever the man with the yellow hair directed, gingerly lifted the -fragment of dirty blanket, and approached the bugler’s stirrup. With -one foot upon it, and the trooper hauling him stoutly, he right soon -was seated before the low pommel, where he tucked the blanketing around -his legs. - -“Ready?” queried the bugler. “Here we go, and you’d better hang tight, -for the general won’t wait. That hoss o’ his is a tarrer.” - -“The general? Is he a general! He said he was colonel,” stammered Ned, -perplexed, as following the man with the yellow hair away they went, at -jolting trot which speedily broke into a smoother gallop. - -“Who? General Custer? Sure, he’s left’nant-colonel o’ regulars, -commandin’ the Sivinth Cavalry; but he was brigadier-general and brevet -major-general o’ the volunteers in the war, and the youngest one in the -whole army, too. Yes, and it’s brevet o’ major-general o’ regulars he’s -just been given. So ‘general’ he’s to be called, and don’t you forget -it.” - -“_General_ Custer! Oh, I know _General_ Custer! He was the ‘boy -general’!” exclaimed Ned, excited. “My father knew him, I mean. He was -my father’s general. Now I remember. I didn’t think, at first.” - -“Well, he’s a good soldier and a fine man,” commented the bugler, -succinctly; “and of the Sivinth Cavalry he’s goin’ to make a regiment, -or I’m much mistaken.” - -The carcass of the dead buffalo bull had been left behind. The prairie -before was free of other buffalo, for all the great fleeing herd had -vanished. General Custer, riding superbly, his crimson tie ends and his -yellow hair streaming together, his dogs panting on either side and at -his heels, was rapidly increasing his lead; his young horse was a racer -and a thoroughbred, and the trooper’s horse was heavy and ordinary. -Clinging tight to the mane with his hands and to the saddle-flaps with -his shins, Ned, secure and not a whit afraid (he had ridden bare-legged -and bare-back too often, with the Indians) enjoyed the gallop, but -wished that they might be nearer to “the general.” - -Black specks, moving about over the surface of the prairie, appeared -before. The general slackened pace, and as the bugler and Ned -approached he ordered, over his shoulder: - -“Sound the rally.” - -Bugler Odell attempted to salute, to pull his horse down to a trot, and -to raise his bugle to his mouth—all in a moment. But the horse shook -its head and champed and tugged, and the bugle, swinging between the -man rider and the boy rider, wedged fast. Odell muttered several angry, -chagrined remarks. - -“I’ll blow it,” offered Ned, friendly. “Shall I?” - -“You!” grunted Trooper Odell. “It’s the rally, by the bugle, the -general wants. If you’ll hold this hoss a second, now——” and red and -flustered he hauled hard. - -“I’ll blow it. I can,” repeated Ned, eagerly, anxious to show his -mettle and to help the embarrassed Odell. - -As the obstinate horse pranced the bugle swung free again, jerked -fairly around so that Ned needed only to reach and grab it. He promptly -applied it to his lips (while clutching tight with his one hand and -his two shins), and blew the rally the best that he could. Clear and -passably regular pealed the high notes. - -“Good enough, b’gorry!” muttered Odell. “But what’ll the general say? -Give me that horn.” - -The moment that the last note died away the general had wheeled his -horse, to gaze. - -“Who blew that call?” he shouted. - -“I did,” announced Ned, bravely. “Mr. Odell was managing his horse, and -he didn’t say I might but I did.” - -“The boy took the horn before I could stop him, sir,” explained the -flurried Odell. “I’ll blow it now, sir. This pesky hoss——” and Bugler -Odell jerked savagely at the bit, pulling his mount to its haunches. - -“He blew it mighty well, then,” declared General Custer. “Try it again, -boy. Put more force behind it, so those soldiers yonder’ll hear. We’re -sounding the rally for them to come; see?” - -Tremendously Ned blew—glueing his lips and puffing his cheeks and -popping his eyes. Far pealed the notes, across the brown prairie. And -now the specks must have heard, for by twos and threes they were -coming, ever growing larger, and turning into mounted men. - -The general jogged easily, with Bugler Odell and Ned close behind him. - -“Where did you learn the bugle?” he demanded. - -“From my father,” answered Ned, proudly. “He knew all the army calls.” - -“He did, did he? Where’d he learn them?” - -“In the war. He was a bugler.” - -“What regiment?” - -“Sixth Michigan Cavalry.” - -“What!” General Custer stopped his horse, as he turned in the saddle -and scrutinized Ned, his blue eyes shining. “Was he a Michigander? In -my old brigade, then! He was one of my boys! The son or daughter of any -of my boys is like one of my own family. Of course you’ll come with me -to Fort Riley. What do you want to do?” - -Sudden resolve seized Ned. - -“I’d like to join the army, too, and hunt Indians until I find my -sister.” - -“You shall,” declared the general, enthusiastically. “I’ll enlist you -as a bugler with the Seventh Cavalry, and we’ll hunt Indians together -and find your sister, I’m sure. Shake hands on it.” He skillfully -reined his restless bay to the side of the troop horse and extended his -hand. With a strong grip his nervous gauntlet closed warmly about Ned’s -slim scarred fingers. “Now tell me more about your father.” - -So, as they rode slowly, biding the arrival of the soldiery, Ned did: -relating to this singularly young general (the youngest, had said -Bugler Odell, in the whole army, commanding men, like Ned’s father, -almost twice his age) the story of how Mr. Fletcher, after the War, -had moved to the frontier of Colorado Territory and had located upon -a ranch; how outlaw Cheyennes and Sioux, called “Dog Soldiers,” had -raided the ranch, killing him in the field, burning the buildings and -carrying off Ned, Ned’s mother, and his sister who was eight. - -While the general was asking questions, the other soldiers, responding -to the “rally,” began to arrive. - - - - -II - -AT OLD FORT RILEY - - -Early came a lancer, bearing the swallow-forked guidon, his steed blown -and wet. The soldiers gathered about him. - -Foremost of the riders was a man not a soldier; at least, he looked -more like a handsome, gentlemanly desperado. He sat easy and lithe and -broad-shouldered; from under his wide-brimmed black hat, fell down upon -the shoulders long, curling light hair. Belted about his waist was a -pair of ivory-handled revolvers, one at either thigh. He wore shiny, -flexible boots reaching to the knee; tight-fitting white doe-skin -riding-breeches; a fine blue-flannel shirt open at the throat, and -trimmed down the front with red; around his throat was loosely knotted -a blue silk handkerchief; upon his hands were well-fringed gauntlet -gloves. His skin was fair, with just a touch of sun-brown; a long -blonde moustache drooped along either side of a firm clean chin; his -nose was a bold hawk nose, and as piercing as the eyes of a hawk were -his eyes of steely blue. Altogether, he seemed a man to be reckoned -with. - -“Well, Bill,” addressed the general, buoyantly, “I didn’t mean to -desert you fellows, but I needed exercise.” - -“I see,” nodded Bill, gravely. His keen, steely eyes noted the buffalo -tongue; they read every detail of Ned’s face and figure; and swiftly -sweeping the horizon they returned to him. - -“Killed a big bull and found a small boy,” continued the general. “Ned, -this gentleman is Mr. James B. Hickok, better known as Wild Bill. He’s -a valuable friend to have.” - -Mr. Hickok reined forward his horse, and offered Ned his hand. - -“How do you do?” he spoke, politely. His voice was soft, but vibrant, -and Ned liked him. “Count me at your service.” - -Ned was certain that Mr. Hickok was not making fun of him; and, -abashed, he shook hands. Whereupon Mr. Hickok gracefully reined his -horse back to the general. - -All the soldiers had arrived. “By their blanket-rolls and haversacks, -they must be on a scout,” thought Ned, “and not merely on a hunt.” -Among the last to arrive was another young officer—a captain, said the -double bars of his shoulder-straps. - -“All right, Hamilton. Now that you’ve shown us you’re safe, we’ll go -on,” called the general, still in joking frame of mind. That he had -distanced all his company and had an adventure pleased him immensely. - -With quick gesture he waved his hand, and accompanied by Mr. Hickok -trotted to the fore. Captain Hamilton escorted at one side of the -column, as two by two the soldiery strung out. Behind the general rode -the lance-corporal, and Bugler Odell, Ned holding tightly to him. Now -and then Bugler Odell let information drift over Ned’s shoulder. - -“That be Wild Bill,” he said, speaking guardedly. “’Tis the name he -likes best. He’s chief scout for the general, and peace-keeper all -’round, for he’s boss o’ Riley, I tell ye. Six-foot two he stands in -his socks; ye can span his waist with your hands. Quickest shot with -the pistol I ever saw; chain lightnin’ can’t beat him. But you wouldn’t -think he was such a tarrer, to speak with him. And when he’s mad he -doesn’t talk much louder or say much more; yet you bet wan word and wan -look from him be plinty to make the worst badman on the trail calm down -and say, ‘Certainly, Bill. Excuse me, Mr. Hickok.’ He served in the -Kansas troubles before the War, when the free-soil men and the slavery -men were makin’ the border a red-hot place. He was a Union scout out -here durin’ the War, too, and fought at the battle o’ Pea Ridge down in -Arkansas. Wan time, in Sixty-wan, alone in a room he was attacked by -ten border-ruffians, hand to hand, and when it was over they were all -dead and he was ’most dead with eleven buckshot in him and thirteen -other wounds.” - -“Is he a soldier now?” queried Ned, awed. - -“Nope; not what you might call a reg’lar soldier. He’s a border-man—a -frontiersman. Some might call him a disperado, behind his back; and -some a gambler; but anyway, he’s got the bravery and the nerve, and his -word is good as gold, and that’s the kind o’ men needed out in this -country.” - -They rode on, while Ned pondered over the character of the terrible -Wild Bill Hickok. He had appeared as such a mildly speaking, -gentlemanly individual, that Bugler Odell’s description did not seem to -fit. - -“The Sivinth Cavalry be gettin’ its share o’ good men,” resumed Bugler -Odell, confidentially. “Yon captain—he’s a foine wan, and a great -joker. Captain Hamilton, I mean. Sure, he’s a lieutenant-colonel, -from the War; but he ranks as captain o’ Reg’lars, by appointment to -the Sivinth. His grandfather was a big man by the name o’ Alexander -Hamilton. Ah, the Sivinth be officered entirely by generals and -colonels and majors; and titles be so thick they make your head swim. -I’m only plain sergeant, but some o’ the enlisted men be generals, by -courtesy, as ye’ll find out.” - -“Right you are,” agreed the lance-corporal. “The War left many a man -with soldierin’ as his only job.” - -Wild Bill was an accurate scout, for as the sun was setting they all -sighted directly ahead, high upon a table-land backed by hills, an -irregular group of buildings, the windows flashing above the level dun -expanse below. Between were trees, marking a stream. - -“There’s Riley,” announced Bugler Odell, pointing. “Below is the Smoky -Hill Fork o’ the Republican, and the line o’ cottonwoods runnin’ to -north’ard be the Republican itself. The post sits in the elbow o’ the -two, where they join and make the Kaw or Kansas.” - -As they approached Ned gazed curiously. The post made quite a showing, -and everybody in the column seemed glad to be getting back. Now the -flag-staff of the post, with the colors still floating, showed clearly. -The general stirred restlessly in his saddle, as if eager to shorten -the distance. The dogs, which had been ranging far and wide, galloped -further ahead, and further, anon halting to look hopefully behind them -and see that the column were surely coming on. - -Suddenly across the rosy-purple glow making lovely the flat landscape, -wafted high and sweet the notes of a bugle at the post. All the column -listened—or appeared to listen. - -“’Tis retreat; boom goes the avenin’ gun and down comes the flag,” -explained Bugler Odell, as if Ned did not know. - -But Ned did know, and he nodded to himself; for this was one of the -army calls taught him by his father. - -The long notes died amidst a dull “Boom!” by the evening gun; and Ned -saw the flag slide down the tall pole. - -“Faith, we’ll be locked out,” chuckled Odell, as a joke. “The general -won’t like that; he’s wantin’ to be home with his wife.” - -“Sound the trot,” bade the general, curtly, without turning head. - -Bugler Odell did so; and through the clattering column rang the brisk -voice of young Captain Hamilton: “Trot—march!” Away they trotted, all, -canteens jingling, carbines jolting, saddles creaking, horses grunting. -Close before was the sparse timber of the Republican River, flowing -from the north; this river they evidently must cross, as the post was -upon the other side. - -“Give them Garryowen, Hamilton,” called the general. And he added, -aside: “Then they’ll have supper hot.” - -Captain Hamilton nodded at Bugler Odell; and now as the column was -splashing into the ford Odell blew a lively lilt. It was one of the -merriest, most stirring tunes that Ned ever had heard, and he resolved -to learn it. It put life into the whole column. - -“That’s a new wan to ye, I’ll wager,” remarked Odell, having paused as -for breath. “’Tis an Irish song that the general likes, and it’s the -march o’ the Sivinth Cavalry.” - -The post was above the opposite bank. It stood forth clear in the -crisp air, and among the buildings Ned could see figures scurrying -to and fro. Some of them were women. Away sped the dogs, floundering -through the shallows, and scrambling up the ascent, racing for supper. -Next out scrambled the horses, climbing the steep, beaten trail that -led from the river-bed to the flat plateau above; and at trot the -returning column soon rode into the army post of old Fort Riley. - -Bleak it was; composed of bare but substantial barracks and officers’ -quarters, two stories high, of whitish stone laid in plaster. These -buildings, lined with verandas, faced inward, forming a broken -square. Outside the square were several other buildings, of stone and -boards—being, as Ned was soon told, the store-houses and stables. - -As soon as the column halted, the general nimbly dismounted, and -leaving his horse for his orderly and the dismissal of the column for -Captain Hamilton, he made straight for two women who were standing -expectantly awaiting him, and overwhelmed by the barking dogs. - -One he kissed gladly, while to the other he gave his free hand. - -“Here we are, Libbie,” Ned heard him say. “Ready for Lizzie’s best. -I’ve brought her a buffalo tongue—a big one. And a recruit, too.” With -his arm about the woman’s shoulders he beckoned to Ned. “Oh, Ned! Come -here.” - -Ned went slowly forward. He was ashamed of his rags. - -The woman whom the general was treating so affectionately was small -and dark-eyed and sweet; the other woman was a pretty girl, plump and -roguish and very curly-headed, with a profusion of dancing golden hair. -She was smiling across at Captain Hamilton, who now had dismissed the -column. - -“Ned, one of these ladies is my wife Mrs. Custer, and the other is our -guest, Miss Diana,” informed the general, a twinkle in his blue eyes. -“You can guess which is which. I picked Ned up on the prairie, at the -same time I got the buffalo—and when the buffalo was about to get -_him_,” he explained, to the twain. “He wants to be a soldier, and I -think we’ll make a bugler of him. What do _you_ think?” - -“Oh, you poor boy!” exclaimed the dark-eyed little woman, holding to -Ned both her hands, while Miss Diana smiled brightly upon him. “Is he -lost, Autie?” - -“Same old story,” answered the general, soberly. “A waif from another -Indian raid. I’ll tell you about it. But he’ll stay with us, and we’re -going to find his sister for him. She’s all that’s left—somewhere out -among the tribes.” - -“Oh!” gasped both women. - -“He can come right along with us, can’t he?” queried Mrs. Custer. “He -must be hungry and he ought to have some clothes.” - -“N-no, he’d better stay with Odell,” decided the general. “I’ll have -the quartermaster outfit him. He must mess with the other men. He’s to -be enlisted as a bugler.” - -Old Fort Riley proved a bustling place. It had been located in the fall -of 1852, and rebuilt in 1855 to afford protection to the settlers who -were passing westward up along the Kansas River Valley. Before it was -christened in honor of General Bennet C. Riley it had been called Camp -Center, because it was supposed to be the geographical center of the -United States. Now it was rapidly filling up with the recruits for the -new Seventh United States Cavalry. Many other people also were flocking -through by ox-team, mule and horse. The rails of the westward creeping -Kansas Pacific branch of the Union Pacific Railroad had approached, to -continue on and on, to Denver. - -The post was upon a broad table-land high above the rivers, without -a tree or a shrub, where the wind always blew. The Republican River, -flowing down from the northward, and the Smoky Hill, flowing in from -the westward, joined currents; and below the fort rolled eastward the -noble Kansas River, in a beautiful valley dotted with settlers’ farms -and threaded by the new Kansas Pacific Railroad. Westward from the -fort could be seen other farms, along the Smoky Hill, and the town of -Junction City. - -Despite the bareness and the windiness (which were nothing strange to -Ned, who had lived on the Colorado plains) Fort Riley had its charms. -The air was fresh, the view was wide, and with the many soldiers and -the frequent arrivals by stage and by horse or wagon, things were -constantly happening. - -In fact, wherever the general chanced to be, something was bound to -happen. He made matters lively—especially when he was off duty. He and -Mrs. Custer were great chums; and, next to her, he liked horses and -dogs—but which the better, it was hard to say. He had a complete pack -of dogs: fox hounds (the old one called Rover) from Texas, where he -had been stationed after the war; a pair of deer-hounds, one of whom -was named Byron; Fannie a fox terrier; stag-hound puppies, Maida and -Blucher; and a bow-legged white bull-dog named Turk, who was the deadly -rival of Byron. He had three horses, splendid ones, named for army -friends; Jack Rucker was a thoroughbred mare from Texas; Phil Sheridan -was a blooded colt from Virginia; and Custis Lee, a pacing horse, very -fast, was ridden usually by Mrs. Custer. - -The post headquarters, where lived the general and family, was the -best of the double two-story stone houses about the parade-ground. -It frequently echoed with song and laughter and merry cries, and the -general’s hunting-horn. The household was composed of the general and -Mrs. Custer, Lizzie the faithful black cook, who had been with the -general in the South through the War, and a little negro boy who -wanted to be a jockey. Then of course there were the dogs. In the other -half of the house lived Major Alfred Gibbs and family. Major Gibbs was -a portly, carefully-dressed man, who had been a soldier since 1846. He -ranked next to General Custer. - -In his house the general was the same rollicking, active spirit that -he was when ahorse; on duty at the post or afield, and mingling with -the soldiers, he acted the strict officer. He might joke with the other -officers, but all the men understood that he was the chief, and that he -would brook no intrusion upon his military dignity. Thus, although they -called him (out of his hearing) the “old man,” and “old Jack” (because -of the initials G. A. C., for George Armstrong Custer, on his baggage), -they saluted promptly, and obeyed instantly, and tried no jokes on -_him_! - -Through the long winter officers, recruits and horses were arriving -almost daily at Fort Riley, to bring up the Seventh Cavalry roll. -Ned grew to know them all. The yellow-haired, boyish General Custer -remained in command; for although he ranked as lieutenant-colonel, -his superior officer of the regiment, Colonel Andrew Jackson Smith, a -major-general and a veteran, who dated back to 1838, was kept on duty -elsewhere. Therefore “old Jack” held the reins at the post—and the -soldiers were speedily brought to know it. - -Of the younger officers Ned liked especially his Captain, Louis -M. Hamilton—who was also a lieutenant-colonel; First Lieutenant -Tom Custer, the general’s light-hearted younger brother, a -lieutenant-colonel who had enlisted in the war at sixteen and wore -two medals for enemy’s flags captured; Captain Myles Keogh, who had -served the Pope as well as in the Army of the Potomac; Lieutenant Myles -Moylan the adjutant; and the young second lieutenants who were called -“shave-tails” and “tad-poles” and “plebes.” - -Wild Bill, the frontiersman scout, was at the post frequently, passing -up and down, by horse or stage, along the trail west. He was as -particular in his dress as was old Major Gibbs; everything that he -wore was of the finest material, from the ruffle-pleated soft white -shirt and broad-cloth in Junction City to the blue flannel shirt and -riding-breeches on the trail. No matter how dressed, he was always the -same quiet, courteous personage—but he never was seen without the two -ivory-handled revolvers ready at his hips. Report said that he could -shoot to the centre without sighting; and could shoot backward over his -shoulder or under his arm, with an equal deadliness. - -All the winter the soldiers were steadily drilled, and put under -constant discipline. “Whipped into shape,” said Bugler Odell. Some men -complained, and some deserted; but the better men realized that the -strict training was necessary. - -Bugles were ringing from early till late. Two buglers were attached -to each company. Ned found himself assigned to the company of Captain -Hamilton, and he was glad of that. Now he wore the bugler’s uniform, -which had narrow double strips of yellow down the trousers, and yellow -braid across the chest. It really was a uniform equal to that of any -officer; but—— - -“All stripes and no authority,” with a laugh declared Odell, who was -chief bugler. “That’s what they say o’ the trumpeter.” - -The winter passed without any Indian fights, but with the Seventh -Cavalry getting ready. The railroad trains arrived, and excursionists -were more plentiful than ever: some wanted to hunt buffalo and some -wanted to see Indians, and some wanted to look for land. Rumors -reported that the Cheyennes and the Sioux and the Arapahos to the -westward were not keeping their promises; and that this spring they -would oppose the further advance of the railroad through their hunting -grounds. The settlers of western Kansas were becoming alarmed again. -The Seventh Cavalry must protect them, and the Smoky Hill stage and -emigrant route to Denver, and the railroad survey. - -Soon was it known that as quick as the spring opened the Seventh -Cavalry would take the field. By this time Ned, under the teaching of -Chief Bugler Odell, was a thorough trumpeter. Reveille, sick call, mess -call, stables, boots and saddles, the assembly, drill, fire, trot, -charge, tattoo, taps—he knew them all. He had learned “The Girl I Left -Behind Me”; and he had learned “Garryowen”—— - - “Our hearts so stout have got us fame, - For soon ’tis known from whence we came - Where’er we go they dread the name - Of Garryowen in glory.” - -That inspiring tune to which had charged the Custer Third Brigade in -the War, and which was now adopted by the Seventh Cavalry. - -So, having been by Odell pronounced a “credit to the regiment,” Ned -felt himself a soldier and ready with the other soldiers. - - - - -III - -THE SEVENTH TAKES THE FIELD - - -“It’s like this,” said Odell, after mess. “We’re bound to go. Those -’Rapahos and Cheyennes and Kiowas and ’Paches and Sioux out yon are -ready to act mean again, and the army’ll have to calm ’em down. By -their treaty o’ Sixty-foive didn’t they promise to keep away from the -overland trails, and not camp by day or by night within ten miles -o’ any of ’em, or visit any white settlement without permission -beforehand? And what did they do? Only last summer they went on their -murtherin’ raids, time after time, and the treaty not a year old yet. -Didn’t they kill and rob right and lift through the settlements o’ the -Saline and the Solomon, jist west o’ here, drivin’ the farmers out? And -haven’t they been botherin’ the stage road up along the Smoky, and the -southwest travel by the Santy Fee Trail, and threatenin’ the railroad -advance?” - -“They blame it on old Cut Nose and Pawnee Killer’s band of Dog -Soldiers,” spoke somebody. “Those Dog Soldiers weren’t there to sign -the treaty, and they say they aren’t bound by it.” - -“Who are those Dog Soldiers, except the worst rascals out of all the -tribes?” grunted Sergeant Henderson, who had fought Indians before the -Sixties. “I know ’em.” - -“Well, this country belonged to the Indians, first, didn’t it?” pursued -a recruit. “We’re crossing it without asking ‘by your leave,’ and we’re -settling in the midst of it and taking all we can get. I hear buffalo -are scarcer than they used to be, too, since the whites opened up the -country. That’s what the Indians depend on for a living—the buffalo.” - -“Ah, now, mebbe you’re right, and I think myself the Injuns are treated -a bit shabbily, at times,” responded Odell. “There are rascals on both -sides. But what would ye do? Save back all this western country jist -for the Injun to hunt on? Wan Injun needs about ten square mile o’ -territory, and he laves it the same as he found it. The white man takes -a half square mile—yes, and much less—and he stays with it and improves -it; and twinty white men and their families can live in the space -required by wan Injun jist for huntin’ whilst the women do the work.” - -“As long as there’s a trail unfenced, when the grass greens in the -spring and the willow and cottonwood buds swell, the Injun—and -specially the young Injun—will grow uneasy,” quoth Sergeant Henderson. -“Spring is war time, summer is visiting time, fall is hunt time. In -winter the Injuns are glad to have the Government take care of ’em. -We’re pushing two railroads through, whites are getting thicker, -Injuns are being bossed by the Government and cheated by traders and -crowded by settlers, and they see nothin’ for ’em but to clean the -country out—if they can.” - -Wild Bill had ridden at canter into the parade ground, and across to -headquarters. At the veranda of the general’s house he pulled short, -and swung to ground, as if he had been sent for. Then he entered. - -When he came out, presently, he was riding away in a great hurry, when -the sergeant hailed him, passing. - -“What’s the news, Bill?” - -“Sharpen your sabres,” spoke Wild Bill, briefly, without drawing rein. - -He rode on, and turned into the stage road which led west, up the Smoky -Hill River. Evidently he was carrying dispatches to Forts Harker and -Hays, the new Seventh Cavalry posts that were guarding the further -advance of the Kansas Pacific. - -Wild Bill had spoken to the point, as always. He wasted no words. -Before the afternoon drill, there had spread through the post like -wildfire the word that the Seventh Cavalry must be prepared to take the -field, equipped for service, within a fortnight. - -This was great news. Old Fort Riley seethed with it. Now in these the -days of early March there was a sudden increase of mounted drills -long and hard; an effort at target practice with the stubby Spencer -repeating carbines—proving that most of the men shot no better than -they rode; shoeing of horses and tinkering of wagons at the fort -smithy; and grinding of sabers on the post grind-stones. - -Passing a grind-stone Ned noticed private Malloy busily engaged in -applying the edge of an unusually long sabre. Malloy was the “striker” -or officer’s handy-man on duty at the general’s house. He looked up at -Ned, and, wiping the perspiration from his brow, grinned. So did the -soldier who was turning for him. - -“Do you recognize the big toad-sticker?” queried Malloy. - -Ned doubtfully shook his head. Malloy obligingly handed it to him. - -“Look at it an’ heft it. It’s the general’s. Thought mebbe you’d seen -it hanging on his wall. ’Tis one captured in the War; an’ the noise of -the grinding sort o’ reminded him he wanted it whetted up. ‘Malloy,’ -said he, ‘polish that big scalping knife o’ mine along with the rest of -’em.’” - -“Can you swing it?” bantered the other soldier. - -Ned lifted the sabre and examined it. It was as long as he was tall; -was far longer and heavier than regulation. On the bright blade were -letters engraved: - - Do not draw me without cause; - Do not sheathe me without honor. - -What a sword! No, Ned could not swing it. He handed it back. - -“That’s a real Damascus steel, they say,” informed Malloy’s helper. - -“Is the general going to take it on the march?” asked Ned, expectantly. - -“No, I reckon not,” answered Malloy; “but he would if he wanted to, -I’ll wager—just as he wears his hair long an’ his tie red. He’s a great -man for having his own way, is old Jack.” - -“Headstrong, you might call him,” added the other man. “Like chasin’ a -buffalo, alone and ’way off from his command, an’ not knowin’ but that -Injuns are right over the next ridge.” - -The yellow hair and quick voice of the general were everywhere, as -with prompt eyes and mind he oversaw the post preparations. For now -was it known that this was to be an important march, wherever it led; -with infantry and artillery as well as cavalry, and with Major-General -Winfield Scott Hancock himself accompanying. The purpose, it seemed, -was to have a talk with the Indians, and to show them that the United -States was ready with soldiers to protect the white people on the -plains. - -General Hancock was the commander of the Military Department of the -Missouri. His headquarters were Fort Leavenworth, on the Missouri River -at the eastern border of Kansas. From Fort Leavenworth were coming the -artillery and most of the infantry. In all there would be about 1400 -men, thought Odell. - -The expedition gave to Fort Riley a war-like appearance. First the -scouts began to collect. Wild Bill was there anyway; and came in, among -others, a young scout named Cody—Bill Cody. He had been at Riley, off -and on, before. With his flowing dark hair, his wide black eyes, his -silky moustache and goatee and his buckskins and weapons, he looked -indeed entitled to considerable respect. - -“Do you know that man?” had asked Odell, of Ned. - -“No.” - -“He’s a good wan. He’s Pony Express Bill. That’s what they used to call -him. Was the youngest pony express rider on the line. Faith, he rode -when he wasn’t any older than you, my lad, carryin’ the mail across -the plains. Now he ranks up with Wild Bill and the rist o’ the scouts. -And they do say he’s the best buffalo hunter, white or red, west o’ -Leavenworth.” - -There also was a squat little Mexican, swart and pock-marked and very -homely, whom everybody styled Romeo because his name was Romero. And at -the last sauntered in a big-nosed bluish-eyed man, with much brick-red -hair and whiskers mingling, whose title was California Joe. - -California Joe never was seen without his greasy black slouch hat -on his abundant hair, and his short, black briar pipe between his -whiskered lips. Baggy trousers were tucked deep into dusty boots, and -a venerable cavalry overcoat was draped over several layers of other -garments. He rode a large mule, which he declared beat a horse “all -hollow.” As he lounged about, he was ready to talk to anybody. By his -numerous quaint remarks he plainly was an odd character. - -The arrival of the troops from Fort Leavenworth brought a squad of -Delaware Indians, as more scouts. They were from their reservation -near to Fort Leavenworth. The chief was Fall Leaf, a well-built, -fierce-looking old man, war chief of the Delaware tribe, and a great -fighter. Of the train he grunted: “Heap good! Went whiz! Beat buffalo -and pony.” Of the telegraph he said: “No understand, but heap good. -Heap swift! Like arrow or bullet between wide places; but heap better.” -His nephew General Jackson was another member of the squad. General -Jackson was slender and small, but brave. - -The troops who arrived by train from Fort Leavenworth were one battery -of light artillery, and six companies of the Thirty-seventh Infantry, -with a company of engineers, for laying bridges. They pitched their -tents outside the post. - -At the same time arrived also General Winfield Scott Hancock and his -staff, including General Smith. General Hancock was the department -commander in the field; but General Smith, as colonel of the Seventh -Cavalry, commanded the march. A round-faced, heavy moustached, -energetic man proved to be General Smith, who would fall to and do -things himself in order to have them done right. He had made a great -reputation in the late war. - -All of the officers were glad to shake hands with General Custer, the -youngest of the whole bevy except a few “tads” fresh from the Academy -or just appointed from the civil life. - -But among the most interesting of the new-comers was a little Indian -boy who had been captured from the Cheyennes when, on Sand Creek, -at Thanksgiving time, 1864, the Colorado volunteers attacked Black -Kettle’s village of Cheyennes and Arapahos and shattered it. The -Cheyennes and Arapahos claimed that the attack had been a massacre; and -they had demanded that the whites return the little boy and his sister -to them. Now General Hancock had brought the little boy along, to -return him and thus show the Indians that the heart of the Great White -Father at Washington was good toward them. The little boy had been -taken care of in the East and spoke English, and except for his color -was like any white boy. - -“Sure, ’tis foolishness,” declared Odell, at mess. “The Injuns will -only think the Government be afraid of ’em, and they’ll take the lad -and do nothin’ in return. What of all the white captives they hold? -What o’ Ned’s sister? Do ye see ’em returnin’ her?” - -“Well, but wasn’t that Sand Creek fight a big mistake on the part of -the soldiers?” asked the talkative recruit—who had been a lawyer before -he enlisted. “As I understand, the charge was made on a friendly -village that had hoisted the United States flag for protection.” - -“This whole Injun question is a problem, anyhow,” quoth Odell. “If you -treat ’em as you’d treat white men, they don’t understand, because -they live by different rules. And if you treat ’em as red men, and -fight fire with fire, then you have to do things that a white man ought -not to do. At Sand Creek the white men took revenge jist as red men -take revenge; and while it wasn’t exactly a civilized way to foight, -nivertheless it gave the settlers peace for a time, b’gorry.” - -Hearing this discussion gave Ned a great thought. What if General -Custer would have the little Indian boy traded for Ned’s sister? What -if! Perhaps that was the plan. But before he ventured to ask the -general, he found out. - -General Hancock was a fine large, very military man, with grayish -mustache and short goatee; and he looked and acted as if he were indeed -the one to behave so gallantly, as he did, in the Mexican War and at -the battle of Chancellorsville in the Civil War. Ned had paused, to -watch him and General Custer walking briskly and talking together, as -they crossed the parade-ground. General Custer suddenly caught sight of -Ned, standing, and with impulsive gesture waved him forward. - -Ned squared his shoulders, in military step paced over, and -intercepting the two officers put his heels together, pulled in his -chin and his stomach, and saluted. They acknowledged the salute—General -Hancock eyeing him keenly. Ned was glad to feel that he was neat and -soldierly. So he waited. - -“This is the lad whose sister is held by the Cheyennes,” was saying -General Custer, “and concerning whom I addressed you the communication -suggesting that the Government trade the Cheyenne boy for her.” - -“I see,” replied General Hancock. “The War Department, as I was obliged -to inform you, decided that such a course was unwise considering that -the treaty agreement to return the boy was made without any proviso of -such a nature. I’m sorry, my lad,” he proffered to Ned. “But we’ll try -to get back your sister, just as soon as we can.” - -Ned’s heart had leaped, only to fall again. He could not speak. General -Custer must have read his disappointment, for he said, quickly: - -“I understand you can blow the bugle pretty well now, boy.” - -“Yes, sir. I think so, sir.” - -“Know all the calls; every one?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“And Garryowen?” The Custer blue eyes danced. - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Well,” continued General Custer, “you may report at post headquarters -as headquarters bugler. But I require a _good_ one. Remember that.” - -“Yes, sir. I will, sir,” stammered Ned. His heart again thumped, his -joy choked him, he knew that he was like a beet. - -A bugler, selected in turn from the company buglers, always was on -duty at headquarters as the orderly bugler; but Ned had been omitted, -until he knew the calls perfectly. Now at last he was chosen; he was -entitled to take his bedding to the orderly’s room at the headquarters -building; he would stay there and sleep there, and would be near the -general constantly, to blow calls for the post and to go on errands -wherever the general or the adjutant might send him—or where Mrs. -Custer, either, might want to send him. Some of the buglers liked this -duty; some didn’t, though all liked a chance at the kitchen and Eliza’s -cooking! But for Ned it wasn’t the cooking, especially: it was being -there with General Custer. - -Another company of the Thirty-seventh Infantry arrived, and also -several companies of the Thirty-eighth Infantry, a colored regiment. -They were a strange variety of soldiers; many of them right from -plantations down south, and not yet disciplined to army life. They were -to garrison the post while the Seventh Cavalry was absent! - -Now at the close of March the expedition was ready to start. Cartridge -boxes and belts were full, clothing repaired, horses shod, and -according to the cavalry the infantrymen (who were called “doughboys”) -all had their shoes resoled. Ned well knew that the general was -outfitted better than anybody; for at headquarters he had seen Mrs. -Custer flying busily about the house, gathering things to stow in the -stout blue mess-chest bearing the letters “G. A. C., 7th Cav., U. S. A.” - -In the little room which was his as orderly bugler or trumpeter Ned -awoke early, full of eagerness. This was the day of the start, and he -must do the starting. According to the trumpeter orders, written by -the adjutant and tacked on the wall, and to the clock, “First Call” -was not due for twenty minutes. So he must wait, until at the exact -second he issued forth into the pink dawn, before the office, as it -was called. Standing erect and soldierly at the foot of the steps, -facing in all directions, he blew on his battered brass bugle from the -quartermaster’s supplies the warning “First Call.” - -In due time the company buglers began to gather, around the flag-pole; -until as the sun rose it was time for the reveille. At word from the -sergeant of the guard (who yawned) all put bugles to lips and sounded -the initial note. “Boom!” belched the morning gun; up to the top of -the pole sped the flag, floating out gloriously; and through the -bright morning air pealed, from the buglers beneath it, the rollicking -reveille: - - I can’t get ’em up, I can’t get ’em up, I can’t get ’em up this - morning, - I can’t get ’em up, I can’t get ’em up, I can’t get ’em up at all; - The corp’ral’s worse than the private, the sergeant’s worse than the - corp’ral, - The lieutenant’s worse than the sergeant, and the captain’s worse - than them all. - -At the same moment, from the infantry and artillery camp also pealed -its reveille. - -There was a brief pause; and next must be sounded the “Assembly.” Out -from the barracks poured the men, buttoning coats and clapping on caps, -to form their companies. The sergeants called the roll, and reported on -the “present, absent, or accounted for.” - -Smokes were wafting upward from the chimneys of company cooks, and of -wives and servants in officers’ row, and soon Ned, now alone, from the -parade-ground must sound “Mess”: - - Soup-y, soup-y, soup-y, not a single bean; - Coff-ee, coff-ee, coff-ee, and not a bit of cream; - Pork-y, pork-y, porky, and not a blamed streak o’ lean! - -So, too, he sounded “Stables”: - - Come off to the stable all ye who are able, - And give your horses some oats and some corn; - For if you don’t do it your colonel will know it, - And then you will rue it, as sure as you’re born. - -And “Sick Call”: - - Go get your pills, go get your pills; - Go get your pills, go get your pills; - Go get your pills, go get your pills; - Go get your pi-lls. Go get your pills. - -However, there were few sick men, on this day when the Seventh Cavalry -was to march. - -The remainder of the garrison calls, such as guard-mount and fatigue, -were assigned to the colored infantry bugler, for the infantry now -succeeded to the routine at old Fort Riley. The cavalry had something -better. - -While on an errand to the general’s house, Ned heard the preparations -there. Before the steps of the veranda stood the General’s horse Phil -Sheridan. Within, the general was saying good-by to Mrs. Custer. Ned -could hear him assuring the “old lady” (which was Mrs. Custer’s pet -title, aside from Libbie) that it was to be a short campaign; that the -Indians would be afraid to make trouble, and that he would be back very -soon. - -“Sho’ he will, Miss Libbie; he’ll be back ’foh we know it,” comforted -Eliza. “Anyway, this campaignin’ on the plains ain’t wuss’n campaignin’ -in Virginny. You know that, don’t you?” - -Out came the general, clanking in his spurs and sabre. Not now was he -wearing his buckskin coat; he was clad in the full fatigue uniform of -a lieutenant-colonel of cavalry. He still wore his black slouch hat, -with gold cord and tassel. His dogs raced before him, overjoyed at the -prospect of a gallop. Evidently they were to go. - -From headquarters issued Adjutant Moylan, ready to mount. Equipped -with his own sabre and revolver, like any trumpeter, Ned stiffened to -attention. - -“Sound boots and saddles,” ordered the adjutant. - -Ned put to his lips his bugle, and blew loud and clear the spirited bar -of “Boots and Saddles.” Hither and thither scurried the soldiers, for -the stables, to saddle and bridle; and it looked as if some of them had -already done so. The teamsters clapped the final harness on their mules -and led them at a trot for the traces. - -General Custer, blue-eyed, golden-locked, bronze-faced, slender but -wiry, stood on the veranda of his house, tugging at his gauntlets as -he watched the bustle. Mrs. Custer stole out, with the pretty Diana -(suspiciously red-eyed, Ned imagined) and pressed beside him. He placed -his arm about her. From the door behind peered the black face, turbaned -with a red bandanna, of Eliza. - -“To horse,” bade the adjutant, of Ned. - -Ned sounded “To Horse.” Out from the stables jostled the troopers, -leading their horses to form the company lines. - -The general stooped hastily and kissed Mrs. Custer. Down the steps -he clanked, his slouch hat at a cavalier angle, his officer’s cloak, -yellow lined, floating and beneath it showing his crimson tie. He took -the reins from the negro boy and vaulted upon Phil Sheridan. - -Adjutant Moylan mounted, and Ned swung aboard his special horse -Buckie, at a trot to follow across the parade-ground. - -The companies were formed and waiting, each man at the head of his -horse. The infantry drums and bugles also had been sounding; all the -tents had been struck, and the lines of blue and white were standing at -a carry, in a “right dress.” - -“Prepare to mount!” shouted General Custer, drawing sabre. - -“Prepare to mount!” repeated the company commanders. - -Every trooper turned, put left boot into stirrup, and hand upon mane -and saddle, waited. - -“Mount!” - -With one motion the blue blouses upheaved, and were in the saddle. A -few horses plunged, but they were held in line. The wagon teamsters -were in their seats, their lines taut, their whips poised. On the steps -or porches of all the officers’ quarters women were waving and trying -to smile (and some were succeeding and some were not); outside the post -could be heard the commands of the infantry and artillery officers. - -“Sound the advance,” bade the general, curtly. - -As Ned did so, he was answered by the bugles of the infantry, in -similar call. - -“Fours right—march!” The new band rode bravely to the front. Whirling -his horse, the general, followed by his bugler, trotted briskly to -take the lead. All the companies, forming fours, fell in one behind -another, the swallow-tail cavalry guidons of white and red fluttering -gaily in the breeze. - -The new band blared in a tune. No “Garryowen” this time, but “The Girl -I Left Behind Me.” - - The hour was sad I left the maid, - A ling’ring farewell taking; - Her sighs and tears my steps delayed— - I thought her heart was breaking. - In hurried words her name I blessed, - I breathed the vows that bind me, - And to my heart in anguish pressed - The girl I left behind me. - - Then to the east we bore away, - To win a name in story, - And there, where dawns the sun of day, - There dawned our sun of glory; - Both blazed in noon on Alna’s height, - When in the post assigned me - I shared the glory of that fight, - Sweet girl I left behind me. - - Full many a name our banners bore— - -It was a tune as inspiring as “Yankee Doodle,” but sweeter. - -The expedition made a great sight. First rode a squad of the picked -scouts—Delawares and white men—headed by Wild Bill clad in showy -fringed buckskins. Scout “Pony Bill” Cody did not accompany. He was -reserved to guide another detachment to Fort Hays. - -After the line of scouts came the commanding officers and their staffs. -General Hancock was only representing the department, to talk with the -Indians, but he frequently dashed up and down the march, inspecting. He -and General Smith made an active pair, prompt to criticize. - -The infantry, long Springfield rifles at a slant over shoulder, -canteens clinking at hips, with the artillery and the pontoon train -rumbling behind, formed one column. A detachment of recruits from Fort -Leavenworth, to be distributed among the Southwest posts, had joined -only just in time. They were under young Lieutenant John A. Hannay of -the Third Infantry. - -The Seventh Cavalry, following their band, formed the other column. -General Custer and his adjutant, Lieutenant Moylan, led; and close -behind the general rode Ned, the orderly bugler. Behind Ned was the -color guard—Sergeant Kennedy with the great silken Stars and Stripes, -another sergeant with the broad blue, yellow-fringed standard of the -Seventh Cavalry, and the two guards who completed the four. - -The general staff, and the cavalry officers of course, and the -artillery officers and most of the infantry officers were horseback; -save old Major Gibbs, who was fleshy, and who had been badly wounded -years before in an Indian fight. He rode in the ambulance. Young -Lieutenant Hannay, with his recruits, must walk. - -Glancing back from his saddle Ned thrilled in his heart as he saw the -long blue columns, with flags large and small floating over, and the -wagon train, the white hoods drawn each by six mules, filing after. - -The cavalry seemed the least showy, for all the troopers were so loaded -down with blanket rolls, and frying pan and tin cup, and canteen, and -haversack stuffed with hardtack, and seven-shot carbine, and saber, -and studded cartridge belt with butcher-knife thrust through it, and -revolver holsters, and lariat and picket pin slung to saddle, that -really the riders looked like traveling peddlers! - -As for the other column—Odell and Sergeant Kennedy and such veteran -cavalrymen had laughed among themselves, when they heard that Indians -were to be chased with artillery and a pontoon train. - - - - -IV - -SATANTA MAKES A SPEECH - - -Save for the Custer dogs, who were constantly chasing rabbits and -wolves, with now and then an antelope, the march west was not -exciting. After a time signs of the railroad ceased, and there were -only the stage stations, with occasional ranches, and with one or two -settlements. - -Ninety miles along the Smoky Hill route was another Seventh Cavalry -post, Fort Harker, formerly named Fort Ellsworth. This was not much -of a fort, being composed of just a few bare, sod-roofed log cabins, -bravely floating the Stars and Stripes. Still further west were Fort -Hays and Fort Wallace or Pond Creek. However, increased at Fort Harker -by two more troops of the Seventh, the expedition turned off south for -Fort Larned, seventy miles across country, down by the Arkansas River -and the old Santa Fé Trail into New Mexico. A wagon road branched off -for it, from Harker. - -At Fort Harker the expedition was met by a tall, bearded, soldierly man -who, Ned speedily heard as the word traveled through the column, was -Colonel Jesse H. Leavenworth, son of the older army man for whom Fort -Leavenworth was named, and formerly an army officer himself. - -“He served out on the Colorado plains during the war,” at noon halt -explained Sergeant Kennedy—whom Ned much liked. “Commanded the Rocky -Mountain Rangers. A fine officer, they say. Now he’s the agent for the -Comanches and Kiowas, down at Larned. There’s another army man and -agent, too, at the same place: Major Wyncoop. His Injuns are Arapahos, -Cheyennes and ’Paches. Each agent blames t’other one for damage done.” - -“How big is Fort Larned?” queried Ned. - -“Well, Larned’s a fair post, but nothing like Riley, in size. Lots of -Injuns come in there, for their supplies and to trade buffalo-robes. -Stages and emigrants stop there, too.” - -The weather continued mild and pleasant, and the march might have -seemed only a practice march, had it not been for the scouts now riding -more widely in front and on the flanks, examining the landscape. By -this might it be known that the real Indian country had been reached. - -However, no Indians at all came near the march. They still were in -their winter villages, awaiting the signal of the bursting willow buds -and the greening grass. On duty regularly at headquarters tent, Ned -could not help but hear most of the conversation; and he heard Colonel -Leavenworth talking with General Custer. - -“My Indians are mostly camped down south, on the Texas border,” was -explaining Colonel Leavenworth. “It will be hard to get them up this -far, until they draw their rations. Satanta is coming, though, to tell -you what he thinks.” - -“The red rascal,” accused General Custer, roundly. - -“N-no, he’s a smart Injun. He’s quite a man, Custer,” declared the -colonel. “I can count on Satanta, and he’s the chief of the Kiowas. -The Injuns you fellows want to look close after are that crowd of -Wyncoop’s. I understand Wyncoop has sent out word for them to come in -to Larned and meet you in a council.” - -“Well, we’ll hear what old Satanta has to say, and what the others have -to say; but Hancock is out to make it plain that _we_ have something -to say, too,” answered General Custer. “We’ll smoke the peace-pipe—and -if they want war we can give it to them in any shape, by horse, foot -and artillery. That’s my understanding of the situation and I’m ready -to turn my Seventh Cavalry loose, if necessary. After a winter of -drill and discipline they’re in fair shape. They need only one fight, -shoulder to shoulder, to make a real regiment of them.” - -The terraced plateaus bordering the Smoky Hill Fork had been left -behind; the flatly rolling plains grew sandier and sandier; and, -finally, four days out of Fort Harker, on the seventh of April was -sighted again a garrison flag streaming red, white and blue in the -prairie wind. - -Here, then, where the Pawnee Fork River from the West emptied into -the Great Bend of the Arkansas, was Fort Larned, guarding its section -of southwestern Kansas, and the Santa Fé Trail travel to Colorado and -New Mexico. Rather similar to Riley was Fort Larned, being constructed -partly of stone. It was the agency for the Arapahos and Cheyennes and a -few Apaches, who hunted north of it, and for the Kiowas and Comanches, -who hunted south of it. Hither the Indians brought in thousands of -buffalo robes, to trade for sugar, coffee and cloth and trinkets. - -It might be expected that camped about Fort Larned would be Indians; -but there was not one tipi in sight, except a few rude tents sheltering -some half-breeds or squaw-men as they were called—traders and -hangers-on. It was reported that up the Pawnee Fork about thirty miles -was a winter village under Chief Pawnee Killer of the Sioux and Chief -White Horse of the Cheyennes, but the march was not continued here. -When the troops went into noon camp outside the post, General Hancock -and his staff were met by Agent Wyncoop, of the Arapahos, Cheyennes and -Apaches. - -“The tribes of my agency are peacefully inclined,” proclaimed Major -Wyncoop, hotly. Whereas Colonel Leavenworth, standing near, smiled. -“They rarely have committed any offences against the laws, and they -have been charged with crimes perpetrated by other tribes. They have -suffered heavily because of the Kiowas in particular, who are the most -turbulent Indians on the plains and deserve punishment more than any -others. I have sent runners to the various villages, as requested, and -the chiefs have returned word that they will be in for a council on -April 10. If the commanding general will wait until then, which is only -three days, I am sure that everything will be adjusted satisfactorily.” - -“We will wait,” remarked General Hancock, tersely. “Colonel Leavenworth, -have you anything that you desire to say?” - -“Nothing more than I have already said, sir,” answered Colonel -Leavenworth. “I can only repeat that in my opinion the Kiowas and -Comanches are the ones who have been wronged—grossly wronged by having -had laid at their doors numerous misdeeds for which the other tribes -of this district are responsible and for which they should be severely -chastised. Here!” he added. “Here’s Satanta himself. He’ll speak for -the Kiowas.” - -From down the Santa Fé trail were approaching at a gallop a small party -of Indians, their blankets and head-dresses tossing in the clear air. -Foremost rode a man who might have been a soldier, for he wore a shirt -and a sabre; but feathers in his hair announced the Indian. Diverging -from the trail, to cross the level sandy sod, at a short distance -from the gathering he dismounted, on the edge of camp, and leaving -his horse (a superb bay, gaily decorated with paint and trappings), -accompanied by the other Indians, also dismounted, he advanced on foot. - -“Satanta!” ran a murmur; and officers and men stared openly. - -Ned, as well as everybody else in the West, knew of Satanta, the -celebrated war chief of the fighting Kiowas; leader in many a raid, and -crafty and eloquent. Of medium height, but burly and muscular, he bore -himself proudly. His black hair, stained vermillion at the parting, was -combed smoothly down upon either side of a rather good-natured face. -At the left it lengthened into a braid but at the right it was clipped -short—the sign of the Kiowa. An eagle feather was stuck through, above -the braid. His eyes were shrewd and twinkling, his forehead was broad -and high, and under a broad straight nose was set a thin-lipped, -straight mouth. From his chin grew a few bristles, but the majority -evidently had been plucked out. All in all, he had an intelligent face, -with a humorous touch to it. - -As he strode, with his powerful frame and heavy body he made a fine -figure. His sabre clanked against his bare legs, to his satisfaction, -and upon the bosom of his stained cotton shirt he wore a dangling -silver pendant. - -“Satanta! Satanta!” - -“How?” grunted Satanta, as the circle opened to greet him. He shook -hands all around; and with sundry “Hows?” his companions also shook -hands. - -The Indians stolidly seated themselves; so did the officers. From one -of his followers Satanta accepted, in princely fashion, a long-stemmed -pipe. It had been filled, and now with flint and steel it was lighted, -and starting with Satanta was passed about. Everybody in turn solemnly -took a puff. General Custer almost choked, for he did not use tobacco. - -“Let one of the scouts interpret,” bade General Hancock. - -“Romeo,” bade General Custer. - -“Tell him that we’re ready to hear what he has to say,” instructed -General Hancock, to Romeo the little Mexican. - -Romeo spoke a guttural sentence to the chief; Satanta grunted shortly. - -“He wants presents,” translated Romeo. - -“Presents will be brought,” answered the general. - -The preliminaries having been concluded, Satanta majestically arose, -for his speech. With shoulders back he stood, facing the half circle -of white men, his arms folded. He began to speak. As he proceeded, -Romeo the Mexican translated sentence by sentence, the chief each time -waiting for him to do so. - -“I call on the sun to witness that I will talk straight,” said Satanta. -“My tongue is not forked. It cannot tell lies. I understand that you -were coming down to see us. My heart is glad and I shall hide nothing -from you. I have moved away from those Indians who want war, and -I have come also to see you and speak with you. The Kiowas and the -Comanches are not those who have been fighting. The Cheyennes are the -ones who fight. They fight in the day, and not in the night. If I -had been fighting, I would have fought by day, too. Two years ago I -made peace with your chiefs, Harney, Sanborn and Leavenworth, at the -mouth of the Little Arkansas. This peace I have never broken. I have -not done anything and I am not afraid. I am ready to listen to good -words. We have been waiting a long time to see you, and we were getting -tired. All the land south of the Arkansas belongs to the Kiowas and -Comanches, and I don’t want to give any of it away. I love the land -and the buffalo, and will not part with it. When your soldiers come -through the land, they kill many buffalo and let them lie. Is the -white man a child, that he should recklessly kill and not eat? When -the red men kill game, they do so that they may live and not starve. I -want you to understand well what I say. Put it on paper. Let the Great -Father at Washington see it, and let me know what he says. I hear a -great deal of good talk from the teachers that the Great Father sends -to us, but they never do what they say they will do. I don’t want any -of the medicine lodges (schools and churches) in my country. I want my -children raised as I was. We thank you for your presents. We know you -are doing the best you can. I and my head men also will do the best -we can. You are all big chiefs. When you are in the country we go to -sleep happy and are not afraid. I have heard that you intend to settle -us on a reservation. I don’t want to settle,” and Satanta’s voice was -high. “I love to roam the prairies. There I feel free and happy, but -when we settle down we grow pale and die. I have laid aside my lance -and shield and bow, because I feel safe in your presence. I have told -you the truth. I have no little lies hid about me, but I don’t know how -it is with you. Are you as clear as I am? A long time ago all this land -belonged to our fathers. Now when I go beside the river I see camps of -soldiers on its banks. These soldiers cut down my timber; they kill my -buffalo; and when I see that, my heart feels like bursting. As I came -here to-day, upon the trail I picked up a little switch that had been -torn up and thrown away. It hurt me to see this. I thought, if this -little twig had been allowed to grow, it would have made a mighty tree, -to shelter my people and supply them with shade and wood. The white -men destroyed it.” Satanta here made a wide gesture. “But as I look -around over the prairie I see that it is large and good, and I do not -want it stained with the blood of the whites. If the treaty brings to -us prosperity, as you say, we will like it all the better. But if it -brings us good or ill, we will not abandon it. When I make a peace, it -is a long and lasting peace. I have spoken.” - -When Satanta had finished, a murmur of approval, in satisfied grunts, -arose from the other Indians; and even the officers exchanged words of -admiration. Satanta had made a great speech. - -“Tell him,” quoth General Hancock, to Romeo, “that we have heard, and -are glad to know that he is our friend. We do not come in war, but in -peace. Tell him that in token of our friendship we give him the uniform -of a great white chief.” - -At a sign by the general another officer brought forward, to Satanta, -the coat and sash and hat of a major-general. They were of a style that -had been changed by later regulations but this made no difference to -Satanta, who seemed much pleased with the epaulets and the double row -of brass buttons, and the red silk sash, and the cocked hat adorned -by a black curling plume. He immediately donned the new rig, to strut -about, bare-legged, in it, dragging his sabre. - -Presently he and all his braves, after procuring what they could at the -fort, took the trail whence they had come. - -“That, gentlemen, was a marvelous speech. It would be a credit to a -white man,” commented General Hancock, impressively, to the assembled -audience. - -“I’ve known Satanta or White Bear ever since I was a small boy and -followed my father about, out here on the plains,” said Colonel -Leavenworth. “I regard him as the greatest Indian. He lives in style at -his tipi. Has a brass horn that he blows for meals, and a carpet, and -brass-studded lapboards to eat from.” - -“In my opinion Satanta is a rascal, gentlemen,” spoke quietly Wild -Bill. “Nobody can deny that he makes a big talk; but deeds count, in -this country—and if that fellow doesn’t make more trouble, at his first -chance, I don’t know Injuns. He’s smart, and he’s crooked as a prairie -dog burrow.” - -Ned kept his eyes open for the figure of Pawnee Killer. He hoped that -Pawnee Killer would visit, from the village, and might be made to tell -General Hancock or General Custer where his, Ned’s, sister was. - -“No Injuns will come in till the tenth,” asserted Sergeant Kennedy. -“’Tisn’t Injun etiquette to appear before the date of the council.” - -“The infarnal rascals may not come anyhow,” declared California Joe, -wagging his head. “They’re the onsartinest liars that ever was created. -But we’re goin’ to have our hands full without ’em, for some sort of a -pesky storm is breedin’. Do ye mark how geese are flyin’ south, ’stead -o’ north? Mebbe they think it’s fall ’stead o’ spring; but I never -ketched wild honkers bein’ mistook on dates.” - -The day was warm and sunny—almost too warm. The evening stayed clear, -while the camp peacefully slept, but the morning dawned with a haze and -a chill wind from the north. Speedily the haze thickened, the wind grew -colder; and before breakfast was over the snow was sifting faster and -faster. - -It was a big storm for the ninth of April. All day the flakes fell -furiously, while the cold increased. By night the snow was eight inches -deep. Long before night the officers and men had piled on all the -extra clothes that they could find, and were huddled about wrapped in -overcoats and blankets, handkerchiefs bent over their ears. California -Joe made a comical figure, his wide-brimmed sombrero tied down with a -rope into a coal-scuttle shape, so that its brim on either side touched -his shoulders. Around his neck was a red tippet that looked as if it -once might have encircled an Indian’s waist. The tail of his cavalry -overcoat was singed by camp-fires. On his feet were gunny-sacks wrapped -tightly about, to make a bundle, and his hands were deeply buried in -his overcoat pockets while under the scoop of his hat issued volumes of -smoke from his black pipe. - -He looked funny, did California Joe; but not all things were funny. Of -course, there were no tents or fires for the horses. They were tied -along a picket rope stretched from stake to stake; and here they turned -tail to the cutting wind and shivered and shrank, as the snow piled -upon their backs. Yes, and undoubtedly they would have perished, if -General Custer had not ordered that they be given double rations of -oats, and that the guards pass up and down, up and down, during the -night, whipping them to make them move. Twice Ned stole away to inspect -Buckie; and found him doing as well as possible. - - - - -V - -IN BATTLE ARRAY - - -With stiff lips Ned at sunrise time blew first call for a cavalry camp -pretty well frozen up; and the cheery notes of reveille failed to -awaken much enthusiasm among the soldiers. At assembly for roll-call -the men fell in wrapped to their noses, their overcoat-collars turned -high and clothes tied down over their ears. - -However, the snow had ceased, the sun was peeping out, and evidently -the storm had passed. Now the April sun would soon lay bare the plains. - -General Custer had not seemed to mind the storm; and out of it had -gained some fun, as usual. Ned heard him telling a joke, with great -peals of laughter, to his brother Colonel Tom Custer and several other -officers. - -“Ha-ha-ha!” How they all roared and chuckled, none more loudly than the -general himself. - -Nobody expected that the Indians would come in to-day, which was the -tenth, for the snow and the cold would keep them housed. Two soldiers -rode away with a dispatch-bag crammed with letters from officers and -men, for Riley and the East; and the general’s letter to Mrs. Custer, -which Ned delivered at the very last moment, must have been the -fattest of all. No dispatch bearer went from march or camp without, as -appeared, a letter from the general for Mrs. Custer. He kept a regular -diary. - -The sun shone, but the weather remained biting cold. However, it was -thought that the Indians would come in on the morrow, which was the -eleventh. In the morning Pawnee Killer sent word that he had started -with his people for the fort, when they had discovered a large herd of -buffalo; so they had stopped to get meat. - -This excuse did not please General Hancock or any of the officers; and -even Major Wyncoop was hard put to explain why buffalo should be more -important than a council engagement. - -“They don’t mean to come in, gentlemen,” declared Wild Bill, to General -Hancock and Custer and others. “They’re playing for time; that’s all. -The first thing you know, they’ll have cleared out. It’s no part of -their intentions to hold any sort of a pow-wow. This snow’ll fetch -along the grass; and after that, look out!” - -“If they don’t come to us, we’ll go to them,” announced General -Hancock. “We’ll give them twenty-four hours more to keep their -promise.” - -The general was as good as his word. On the evening of the next day -orders went forth through the camp to prepare for an early march on the -following morning. - -This evening several Dog Soldier chiefs, led by Tall Bull, a Cheyenne, -did come riding in, out of the sunset glow, for supper and the little -Cheyenne boy. A young man named Edmond Guerrier acted as interpreter. -His father had been a French-Canadian trapper at old Fort Laramie on -the Platte, and his mother had been a Cheyenne woman. Like his father, -he had married a Cheyenne, and he lived with the Cheyennes whenever he -wished to. The commander at Fort Larned and Major Wyncoop recommended -him as a first class interpreter. - -The talk did not amount to anything, because the chiefs said nothing of -importance. But they spent the night as guests of General Hancock, in a -tent put up for them. - -Early in the morning the visiting chiefs left, taking with them the -little Cheyenne boy, who hung back and whimpered. - -“He’s white, now,” commented Wild Bill, watching. “In a month he’ll be -red, and in six Cheyenne’ll be the only tongue he knows.” - -“Fust thing they’ll do’ll be to peel those store clothes off’n him, an’ -put him into blanket an’ leggins,” spoke California Joe. “Tomorrer you -wouldn’t recognize him.” - -Now all was ready for the march onward to the village. Soon after the -Indians had left the clear notes of the “General” rang from bugles of -cavalry, infantry and artillery. Down, in a twinkling, fell flat every -tent. The canvas was quickly roped into square packs, and passed into -the wagons. Speedily ranks were formed, the cavalry mounted, and on up -Pawnee Fork of the Arkansas, from Fort Larned marched the troops. - -The route followed the river, which, willow and alder bordered, wound -crookedly. The scouts rode ahead and on either side—Fall Leaf and his -braves being especially vigilant, for all the Western Indians were -their enemies. - -Moving figures were sighted, before. They were Indians, but they -kept out of hailing distance. A great smoke arose, which according -to some opinions in the column was caused by the Indians burning the -buffalo-grass so that there would be no forage for the expedition. -Then, toward evening, when the Indian village was yet ten miles -distant, down from above came galloping another party of chiefs and -warriors. - -They were escorted in by Wild Bill, and were introduced to General -Hancock. Pressing their horses to the horses of the white men, they -shook hands. - -“There’s Pawnee Killer!” exclaimed Ned, excited as he peered. “See him? -The man with the yellow shield, on the spotted horse.” - -General Custer heard the words, and reined back a moment. - -“The scouts all say that he won’t tell you anything about your sister,” -warned the general. “It’s very likely he doesn’t know. But we’ll find -her. Maybe not this week, or next, but sometime; we’re on the right -track to do so.” - -“Yes, sir,” answered Ned, earnestly. - -The chiefs’ party had turned and were riding along with the commanding -officer’s staff; their painted ponies pranced nimbly; blankets and -fringes shook in the breeze. - -Night was falling, the march had covered twenty-one long miles, and the -infantry soldiers were well weary. So within nine miles of the Indian -village the column went into camp, upon the banks of the Pawnee Fork. - -Not till then did Ned have opportunity to get near Pawnee Killer. He -was not afraid of the chief, now; for did he not carry a six-shooter -revolver and wear a sabre, and besides, was he not a soldier, in the -uniform of the United States army? However, he felt sure that Pawnee -Killer would recognize him. And at last, in the dusk, as Pawnee Killer, -blanket wrapped, was stalking by, Ned hailed him, in Sioux, with a -short: - -“How, kola?” (Hello, friend?) - -Pawnee Killer halted, glanced aside. - -“How?” he said. - -“You know me, Pawnee Killer?” - -“No;” and Pawnee Killer would pass on. - -“Wait. Where’s my sister?” - -Pawnee Killer impatiently shook his head. Not a muscle of his dark face -changed. How Ned hated him, at that moment: hated him, for the wrongs -received—for memory of slain father and mother, and hard camp life of -himself and his sister. He scarcely could keep his fingers off his -revolver, could young Ned, standing there returning glare for glare. - -“Heap fool. White boy heap fool,” grunted Pawnee Killer, -contemptuously, and drawing closer about him his blanket, he stalked -on. Ned sprang a step after him; then stopped short. He must not be -hasty. He must wait. General Custer had promised him, and he, Ned, was -only one victim among many. Yes, he would wait, and depend upon the -general. - -Before taps it was understood throughout the camp (for gossip traveled -fast, especially when California Joe was about to carry news among -the fires) that Pawnee Killer and White Horse were to spend the -night as guests of General Hancock; and that in the morning all the -chiefs of the village should assemble in the camp for the council. -Therefore early in the morning—but not until after he had heartily -breakfasted—Pawnee Killer rode out, to bring, he said, the other chiefs. - -The camp waited. - -Nine o’clock, or when the sun was three hours high, was the hour set -for the council. Nine o’clock came and passed, but Pawnee Killer and -the other chiefs did not come. Then it was that a new chief arrived, -riding briskly in from the direction of the village. Bull Bear was his -name, according to California Joe; a Cheyenne. - -Met by Wild Bill, he was conducted straight to General Hancock’s -headquarters, and another of the many talks was held. California Joe, -loafing near the Custer tent, where stood on duty Ned the orderly -bugler of the Seventh Cavalry, laughed in his shaggy whiskers. - -“Those thar Injuns never mean to meet the soldiers in ary council -whatsomever,” he asserted. “Fust thing we know, they’ll all be gone, -skedaddled. An’ I’ll bet my ol’ mule agin a pound o’ baccy that the -women an’ children are leavin’ already. If we want to ketch that -village, we got to get thar mighty quick.” - -Evidently this was General Hancock’s opinion. He had been trifled with -long enough. Bull Bear, with a stolid but well-fed expression, rode -away as had Pawnee Killer and other chiefs. And presently General -Custer, striding quickly back from the conference, bade, in satisfied -tone, to Adjutant Moylan: “We’re off. Strike the tents.” - -The infantry bugles were ringing the “General,” and Ned hastened -to join for the cavalry. Down came the tents. And with “Boots and -Saddles” and “To Horse” the Seventh Cavalry was prepared for the march -or for battle. - -Again the expedition was put in motion, and went clanking and creaking -and rumbling across country, ascending along the Pawnee Fork as if this -time bound right through to the village. - -Now the formation indicated that General Hancock, likewise, was -prepared for peace or war. The infantry took the advance, with the -artillery and engineers close behind, the river protecting the left -flank, and the cavalry protecting the right. The scouts rode ahead, -for they were the eyes of the column. And well did the doughty General -Hancock use caution; when only a few miles had been covered, back came -galloping Wild Bill, with hand high, as signal to halt. At the same -moment, almost, rounding a turn in the route the heads of the columns -emerged into a wondrous, startling sight. - -The vista opened out, with never a tree or a shrub to break it, until -it was cut sharp by a motionless battle-line. There they sat, upon -their ponies, bay, black, white, and spotted—half a thousand Indian -warriors, all panoplied for fight. Shields shone white, yellow, and -red; lances floated crimson tufts; great war-bonnets of feather crests -brightly tinted almost covered the riders; war-paint streaked face and -body and pony; and the glitter of rifle and revolver showed that the -array was armed like the white men. - -Midway between the two parties were the scouts, in extended order. The -Delawares had dropped their blankets from their shoulders and naked to -the waist they sat alert and restless, eager to fight. Fall Leaf held -aloft his rifle and shook it tauntingly. - -Up and down the line of mounted warriors were riding the war chiefs -gesturing and talking, as if keeping their men in order. But General -Hancock had not been idle. Instantly his aides had spurred to right -and to left, bearing his commands. The infantry and artillery bugles -pealed shrill; and on came the aide to instruct the cavalry. Pulling -his yellow moustache, General Custer waited impatiently. - -Arriving, the aide (he was a young lieutenant) reined his horse to its -haunches, and saluted. - -“The commanding general sends his compliments, sir, and directs that -the cavalry form line of battle on the right.” - -“Troops right front into line. Two troops in reserve,” spoke the -general, instantly, to his adjutant, Lieutenant Moylan; and he nodded -at Ned to blow the call. His blue eyes were flaming; he looked happy. -Away spurred Lieutenant Moylan, down the column of fours, bearing the -orders. Bugle after bugle took up the strain. Out to right trotted the -fours, extending the cavalry front, by troop after troop, until six -were on the line. Two composed a second line, as a reserve. - -The infantry also had double-quicked into company front, and company -after company had come upon the battle line. Into the center had -wheeled at a gallop the artillery, and had unlimbered. - -“Companies—load!” - -With rattle and thud the long Springfield breech-loaders remodeled from -the muzzle-loaders of the Civil War came to a “load,” and prepared for -the “aim, fire.” - -“Draw—sabres!” The general’s voice rang high. - -With rasp of steel six hundred sabres flashed in the morning sun. - - - - -VI - -THE ABANDONED INDIAN VILLAGE - - -Recalled by one of the aides, the scouts had slowly ridden back, the -Delawares especially being reluctant to leave the fore. As they passed, -General Custer called out, to Wild Bill: - -“Is it a fight, Bill?” - -“Looks peculiar,” answered Wild Bill, jogging on. He was not a man of -many words. But California Joe neglected no opportunity to talk, and -obligingly pausing, in front of the cavalry, from his mule he took up -the conversation. - -“If we do fight it’s goin’ to be the gol-durndest fracas ever you got -into. Those Injuns seem to think they can whip the hull Yewnited States -army. An Injun’ll beat a white man runnin’, every time, so I ’spect -our best holt is fittin’; but marcy on us, look at ’em! Thar ain’t -’nough of us to go half round. It’s a big thing, I tell ’ee, an’ if -we lick those varmints we got to get up an’ dust. Mebbe it won’t be -fittin’; mebbe it’ll be jest wipin’ ’em out. But they got a powerful -lot o’ weepons, furnished ’em by the Injun department to kill soldiers -with. See those rifles, will ye? They’ll outshoot these hyar sawed-off -carbines o’ yourn. Well, reckon I’ll jine the infantry,” and still -maundering on California Joe leisurely rode through an interval, and -posted himself elsewhere. His voice, amiably addressing all around him, -never ceased; but nobody longer paid attention to him. The crisis was -too acute, when two such lines, of the red and of the white, in battle -array faced one another. - -The plains back of the Indians’ line was dotted with more Indians, in -bunches, like reserves, and in little squads, as if for courier duty. -The chiefs had faced about, watchful of the soldiers’ line; and for a -moment intense silence reigned. Each line eyed the other, waiting for -the first movement. - -General Hancock, accompanied by Guerrier the interpreter, and Wild Bill -the chief of scouts, and by several officers of his staff, boldly rode -forward, halting when midway. Guerrier called with a loud voice, in -Cheyenne, and made sign, for a conference. Thereupon out from the ranks -of the Indians rode a party of chiefs, holding aloft, on a lance butt, -a white rag. At a signal from General Hancock, and the start of an -aide, General Custer advanced to take part in the interview. - -California Joe, poking forward again, coolly took his place before the -cavalry line, and proceeded to talk, as usual. - -“Now thar’ll be more palaver,” he announced, to all hearers, “an’ -meanwhile the village is packin’ up an’ skadoodlin’. Know those -’er chiefs? The big feller with the flag o’ truce is Roman Nose, -Cheyenne—an’ he ain’t no slouch, boys, either. T’others o’ the -Cheyennes are Bull Bear, White Horse, Gray Beard an’ Medicine Wolf; -rest are Sioux, bein’ that rascal Pawnee Killer, Bad Wound, Left Hand, -Little Bear, Little Bull, an’ Tall Bear That Walks Under the Ground. -Shakin’ hands, are they? Wall, reckon we don’t fight to-day. Mebbe next -time. Guess I’ll go see. Giddap!” And away cantered California Joe, -backward in nothing, to overhear the conference. - -The talk appeared to be satisfactory, for presently the chiefs returned -to their line, and the staff officers dispersed upon various errands. -General Custer rejoined his command. The Indian line had wheeled about, -and was riding away in a jostling, disorderly mass. The first orders -issued up and down the battle front of the whites indicated that the -march was to be resumed. - -Now in column again, the expedition followed the warriors. - -General Hancock seemed tired of the delays. No halt was made, little -was said (except by California Joe, who ambled along as he pleased, -discoursing right and left, and to himself); the scouts, in compact -body, and the general and staff, led; the troops plodded behind; and -at last, toward sunset, in a curve of the stream, before, appeared the -crossed poles of many white lodges, welling evening smoke. - -“Thar’s yore village,” yelled California Joe, to the cavalry which -he evidently had adopted. “Three hundred lodges, half Cheyenne, half -Sioux. Fine place, too, ain’t it? Plenty wood an’ water an’ grass, an’ -those thar bluffs on north an’ west to fend off the wind. Trust an -Injun to make a good camp.” - -An aide came galloping to General Custer. - -“The compliments of the commanding general, sir, and he directs that -the cavalry go into camp on the right, half a mile before reaching the -village. Guards will be posted to prevent any communication between the -soldiers and the village. It is the general’s desire that the Indians -shall not be annoyed by visitors.” - -“Huh!” grunted California Joe. “Now, if that ain’t the most -_con_-siderate gen’ral I ever see. Mustn’t annoy the pore Injun, hey? -Wall, I’ll be horn-swoggled!” - -Little occurred, in camp, during the evening, except that Roman -Nose (who indeed was a fine-looking Indian, tall and powerful, -broad-chested, and beak-nosed), Grey Bear and Medicine Wolf of the -Cheyennes came in, and soon two of them left, mounted on cavalry -horses. From the conversation between the general and Lieutenant -Moylan, Ned learned that the squaws and children had run from the -village, because they feared so many white soldiers; or, at least, thus -had claimed the chiefs; and now two of the chiefs had been sent to -overtake them and bring them back. - -The night settled crisp and dark, with the moon hidden by drifting -clouds. Not a sound issued from the direction of the Indian village, -where dimly gleamed the white skin lodges of the Cheyennes and the -Sioux. Ned blew “Tattoo,” and “Taps” for lights out; and the cavalry -camp as well as the infantry and artillery camp, went to bed. General -Custer’s tent had been pitched by itself, near to General Hancock’s. -The little “pup” tent of Ned was beside the tent of the adjutant, -Lieutenant Moylan. And all was still. - -Ned had been sound asleep, in his blankets, when suddenly he was -wakened by a voice, speaking low but distinct. - -“Moylan! Moylan! Oh, Moylan!” - -“What is it?” and Lieutenant Moylan stirred. - -“It’s I—Custer. Open up.” - -“Yes, sir.” - -Lieutenant Moylan hastily arose, and fumbled at the flaps, untying -them. Ned peered out, the dim figure of General Custer was just visible. - -“Don’t make a light,” he said. “The regiment is ordered to move out, -at once. Guerrier has come in from the village and reports all the -warriors saddling to leave in a hurry. The general wants us to surround -the village and nip that movement in the bud. The best way will be for -us to notify the company commanders, one at a time, and they can tell -the first sergeants. You take one battalion and I’ll take the other. -Fletcher will follow me. No noise, mind. Have the men saddle up and -fall in without bugle signals or any other signals, if possible. Sabres -held to prevent clanking.” - -The general was not kept waiting long, where he stood by the tent -flaps; speedily Lieutenant Moylan was treading with silent, hasty foot, -in the one direction, and Ned was following his leader in the other. - -Amidst the serried canvases occurred a resurrection as the captains -sought the first sergeants, and the first sergeants passed rapidly from -tent to tent, whispering through to the men. With astonishingly little -confusion or noise the horses were saddled, the companies were mounted, -and all was ready. - -A slight bustle from the remainder of the camp indicated that the -infantry and artillery also had been awakened and were being put under -arms. - -This was exciting; and as off they rode, at a walk, in long column, -through the still night, Ned, behind the general and Adjutant Moylan -and Guerrier the interpreter, thrilled with it. They were going to -surround the Indian village; and there might be a fight. - -Every sabre was tucked between leg and saddle-flap, so that it would -not clink. All in silence proceeded the shadowy column. Orders were -given in a whisper, and by whisper passed from troop to troop. The -moon was almost full, but luckily the clouds concealed it constantly. -In the distance before flickered the red light of a camp fire, at the -village; it was made the guide. - -The column swung in an oblique change of direction, to strike the -village from above. This was a good move, for if the Indians tried to -escape, they would be forced to run right into the infantry, at the -camp. - -“Do you think they suspect we’re coming, Guerrier?” in low tone asked -the general. - -“I do not think so,” answered Guerrier. - -“We’ll have to watch sharp for an ambuscade, Moylan,” prompted the -general. “Our visit may not please the red gentlemen.” - -Now the column was near. The moon peeped out between clouds, and then -could be seen the glimmer of the white buffalo-hide lodges amidst the -grove of willows and cottonwoods by the river. - -“Have each rear troop deploy, in succession, as skirmishers, forming -a continuous line facing inward, around the village,” ordered the -general, to the adjutant. “But quietly, remember.” And back rode -Lieutenant Moylan, carrying the instructions. - -Skillfully the great circle was formed; for when, suddenly, out -from the clouds burst the moon, shining like a light-house on an -island of the sky, it revealed the cavalrymen sitting motionless on -their motionless horses, in a great fringe; and in the center was -the ghostly village. Just a little breeze sighed softly through -the cottonwoods, while the stream flowing through grove and village -murmured music. - -A horseman rode from down the line. It was the regimental surgeon, Dr. -Coates—a jolly man, always eager for adventure. - -“By thunder! Believe they’re all asleep yet,” he whispered, excited. - -“What do you think, Guerrier?” queried the general, ill at ease. - -“Can’t tell. Maybe,” answered the half-breed, peering from his pony. - -“Well, we can go in and see. I’d like to know whether we’ve captured a -deserted village, after all.” - -“Sweet Auburn, loveliest village of the plain,” quoted the doctor, who -was given to saying such things. - -“Nothing very sweet about an Indian village, doctor,” retorted the -general. “I’ll just take you along, to prove it. Tell the officers to -have their troops wait at a ready, Moylan, while we take a nearer look. -Come back at once. I want you with me.” - -The adjutant quickly started the word down the circle, and returned. - -“We’d better all go in,” bade the general, dismounting. “The bugler, -too. I may need him. Leave your horses here.” - -Quickly Ned swung from Buckie. Quickly swung from their horses also the -doctor, and the lieutenant, and Guerrier the interpreter. They left the -animals in charge of an orderly, and trudged forward afoot. - -The general and Guerrier led. The moonlight made walking easy, and -staring hard at the tents, step by step they advanced, across the open -space separating the cavalry circle from the village in the middle. -Nothing happened. As before, silence, broken only by the slight breeze -and the tinkling water, reigned. - -Guerrier called out loudly, in Cheyenne. Instantly a dog barked, and -another, and another, until a furious angry chorus rent the quiet -moonlight. - -“Many dogs,” he said. “So I think they still there. Dogs would go, too.” - -“Call again.” - -He did so. The doctor had nervously drawn his revolver. - -“Then why don’t they answer?” - -“Guess they wait, in the trees; and when we get nearer, maybe they -shoot. No like this.” - -“That’s a comforting idea,” blurted the general. “But we’ve gone too -far to back out with honor now. Let’s investigate those first lodges.” - -He drew his revolver. Lieutenant Moylan drew his, and Ned imitated. The -butt of the heavy Colt’s six-shooter felt good to his hand. Once more -they stole forward, this time more cautiously. Ned’s heart beat with a -thumpity-thumpity; but he was not afraid, where the general led. - -The general dropped to hands and knees, as example to the others, and -thus crept to the nearest of the little bunch of lodges. Occasionally -he stopped, and listened; and then stopped and listened all, holding -their breaths. Still from the trees sped no arrow, belched no sudden -shot, pealed no shrill, exultant voice; and from the lodges issued not -a sound. - -“I believe every soul has fled,” spoke the general, more in ordinary -tone, and somewhat as if relieved. He arose to stooping posture. -Guerrier advanced quickly to the first of the lodges, pulled aside the -mat that closed the entrance, and stepped within. One after another -they followed. The lodge was empty of inmate. - -The familiar odor of Indian—of smoked skins and kinnikinnick or the -leaf and tobacco mixture used by the Indian in pipes, of dogs and of -grease, smote Ned’s nostrils. Yes, he had been saturated with it, -himself, in his days of captivity. A fire was still burning low in the -center of the lodge, shedding a faint light, so that they could see -about them. And gaze about them they did, the doctor the most curiously -of all. Things had been left as if the owners had just stepped out. -Soft buffalo robes covered the ground; the robe beds were in place, -with the head rolls for pillows; the parfleches or boxes of hard -bull-hide were carefully stowed away along the edges of the tent, as -customary, and they were full of Indian handiwork. Paint-bags, hide -ropes, moccasins—everything was there, awaiting use. And over the -smouldering fire was hanging a kettle, which gently simmered with a -steam that smelled extremely good. - -This attracted the inquisitive doctor’s nose and eye, and he proceeded -to investigate. - -“Great Scott!” he said. “What is it—soup? Where’s a ladle, or spoon, or -something? Here; I’ve found one. You fellows dragged me out without any -lunch. I’m hungry. Wait. I’ve always wanted to try Indian cooking. It -ought to be first class.” He probed about in the kettle, and with his -horn spoon extracted a chunk the size of his fist. “What do you suppose -this is,” he queried, holding it up and turning it about. “Um-m! -Delicious smell.” - -“Taste it,” bade the general. - -“I will.” And the doctor did. He smacked his lips. “Excellent! -Excellent!” he exclaimed, and munched it down with great satisfaction. -“Must be buffalo, cooked by a new process.” - -“Here’s Guerrier,” spoke the lieutenant. “He’ll know.” - -Guerrier had vanished, on further tour of inspection; now he re-entered. - -“What’s this meat, Guerrier?” asked the doctor, eagerly. “Try it. Take -my spoon.” - -Guerrier willingly enough plunged the spoon into the kettle, and hooked -a piece the largest yet. He set his teeth into it. - -“Why, it’s dog, of course,” he informed, eating away. - -“Dog!” gasped the doctor. “Thunder and Mars! Ugh! Why didn’t somebody -say so?” And out he rushed. - -Ned had suspected the same, but he had not been asked. Now chuckled and -swayed the general and the lieutenant, smothering their glee. - -“Let’s look further,” quoth the general. “There may be other surprises. -Any sign of the Indians about, Guerrier?” - -“No. Village deserted,” answered Guerrier. - -They emerged from the lodge, into the moonlight, and rummaged here and -there. Guerrier disappeared again. - -“In my opinion,” remarked the general, “that half-breed knew of this -all along. He was supposed to report to headquarters the first token -that the village was being abandoned. Instead, he waited, to let the -Indians clear out, then he reported. You know, his wife was in the -village; and so he wanted to make her safe.” - -“Humph!” grunted the doctor and the lieutenant. - -The general went poking about; so did the others. One lodge did not -have any fire; its interior was dark, when the general stuck his head -in; and picking up a splinter of wood he lighted it, for a torch. Then -in he boldly went—only to call back, handing the splinter forth again. - -“Light this, will you, doctor? It blew out on me.” - -The doctor hastened away, to light the splinter at a lodge fire, and -Ned waited for him. The general must have been moving in the dark, -inside, for Ned heard a quick exclamation from him, and he thought that -next he caught a strange voice, addressing the general in Indian. It -was a low, quavering voice; and he was not certain. He clutched his -revolver, listening, poised for action. Nothing more was said beyond -the lodge doorway; but the doctor seemed gone a very long time. At last -here he came, bearing the light. - -“Is that you, doctor?” spoke the general, quickly. “Watch sharp, when -you enter, and be ready for trouble. Cock your revolver. There’s an -Indian in this place. I stepped on him, and I hear him.” - -Through the doorway burst the doughty doctor, torch in one hand, cocked -revolver in the other. After him pressed Ned, revolver thrust forward, -eyes wide, heart thumping, but resolved, he, to play the man. - -The general was standing at the far side, his hunting-knife bared—for -in the dark his revolver would have been of little use. And there, -between him and the door, was the Indian—but perhaps not an Indian. It -was a little girl, lying wrapped in buffalo robe, on the floor. - -Ned stared, his breath short. For a moment he expected that he had -found his sister! Then a second look told him that this little girl was -black haired and swarthy skinned, not at all touching the fairness of -Mary. So he relaxed, disappointed. - -“Aha!” quoth the general, “I see. We won’t hurt you, my girl. I guess -she’s the more alarmed of the two. Where’s Guerrier? He ought to talk -to her. Fetch Guerrier, Ned.” - -Forth hustled Ned, and found Guerrier. When they came back, the doctor -was bending over the little girl, and petting her, while she continued -to roll her shy eyes, much alarmed, and would have hid her head in her -robe. - -“Deserted her, the cowardly ruffians,” denounced the general. “Ask her, -Guerrier.” - -Guerrier spoke to her in Cheyenne; she softly answered. - -“Yes,” said Guerrier. “Left her. She half white. She sick, too.” - -“I thought so,” murmured the doctor. - -“Find Lieutenant Moylan, bugler,” ordered the general, quickly, to Ned. -“Give him my compliments and tell him to call in the troop commanders -and have the village thoroughly searched. Also tell him to dispatch -a courier to General Hancock, informing him that the village is -abandoned.” - -Ned met Lieutenant Moylan just outside, and delivered the message. -However, the search revealed no other occupants save the dogs, and an -aged, crippled Sioux who had been unable to travel. In the moonlight -or in the lodges was there no sign as to which direction the fugitives -from the village had taken. - -The courier reported back to General Custer that a detachment of -infantry were being sent on, to occupy the village and hold it. Dr. -Coates in the meantime had tenderly ministered to the needs of the sick -little girl, and of the old man. There was nothing more for the Custer -cavalry to do here. With a brief statement of facts to the commander -of the infantry, marching in, leaving his troops to follow the general -galloped away for the camp, Ned, orderly bugler, and Adjutant Moylan, -following hard. But their horses were no match for Phil Sheridan; and, -as usual, the general beat. - -By the manner in which he rode, evidently he anticipated much work. - - - - -VII - -SCOUTING WITH CUSTER - - -General Custer wasted no time. Neither did General Hancock. So within -a very few minutes after the two generals were together at camp, plans -were complete. When the troops of the Seventh came riding in at a trot -their officers were met at once with the orders, from headquarters, to -prepare their commands for the trail. The Indians were to be pursued, -and this was cavalry work. - -“Light marching order. One hundred rounds of ammunition to the man, -but all other supplies cut down to the last necessary ounce,” were the -instructions, as delivered by Adjutant Moylan. - -So again was a bustle of preparation—filling of mess-chests, tightening -of horse-shoes, rolling of blankets, all in the light of camp fire and -moon. Before daybreak the Seventh Cavalry was ready: eight companies, -the band, and a squad of the scouts led by Wild Bill and Fall Leaf. - -The east was pink when General Custer, standing impatiently waiting for -the light, beside Custis Lee (to whom he had changed), spoke shortly to -Ned; and from the trumpet of the headquarters bugler pealed the bars -of “Boots and Saddles.” Willingly enough the Seventh Cavalry men again -formed lines, and mounted; for now they were rid of the “dough boys,” -and would travel fast and far, to catch the pesky Indians. - -A frost had whitened the ground, and had been marked by horse tracks, -so that at the village were many trails. But the Delawares ranged -hither-thither until, with a triumphant whoop, the youngest warrior of -all announced that he had found the real trail. - -The general’s sabre flashed in the beams of the rising sun. - -“By fours, right! For-r-r’d—march!” - -“By fours, right! For-r-r’d—march!” was repeated down the column the -command. The Seventh Cavalry was off, on its first independent scout. - -The fan-shaped line of the scouts, with Wild Bill and Fall Leaf to the -fore, held the advance, that they might read the trail. After, came -the cavalry, the general and his adjutant at its head, baggage wagons -toward the rear, and a rear-guard of one troop behind. General Custer -had again donned his buckskin hunting-coat, which was so comfortable -for him, and which would indicate hard work ahead. He looked as he had -when Ned had first seen him. And hard work ahead was the expectation, -for the Indians had gained a good start. - -At rapid walk of the horses rode they all. The trailing lodge-poles -of the fleeing village made a trail plain to every eye. A feeling of -satisfaction spread when, after a time, the scouts before started on at -a gallop, with wave of rifle and flutter of blanket, for a little grove -ahead. A faint curl of smoke could be sighted; and there was a glimpse -of moving forms. - -“Sound the trot,” promptly bade the general. - -At Ned’s bugle signal, “Trot—march!” was repeated down the eager -column. Away they spurred, ready to deploy into action. But after a -brief pause, to reconnoiter, the scouts had proceeded boldly. When -the column reached the place they found only the still burning fires -where the Indians had halted for hasty breakfast, and several ponies, -with packs, left tethered to the trees. And here was a strange Indian, -strutting about arrayed in a panoply of bright crimson feathers, while -the scouts looked on and laughed. - -However, this was only the Delaware General Jackson, Fall Leaf’s -nephew, who had arrived first at the grove and had made a capture of -the ponies. - -“Roman Nose!” he proclaimed. “Heap feather. Ugh!” - -“One o’ these pony packs belonged to Roman Nose, the Delawares say,” -explained Wild Bill, to General Custer. “That youngster’s as proud as -if he’d captured the chief himself.” - -There was nothing for which to stop here; and paying no more attention -to the ponies or the breakfast camp, allowing the Delawares to do what -they pleased with the packs, the Seventh Cavalry pressed on. Jackson -rode exultant, his braids ornamented with the Roman Nose feathers. - -“We’re out-trailing them,” asserted the general, to Lieutenant Moylan. -“The only question is, can we overtake them before dark? We’ve got to -do it.” - -The baggage wagons were dropped behind, with a squadron of two troops -to guard them. The three other squadrons traveled the faster, and ever -the trail led northward, as for the Smoky Hill Fork, or the Platte -beyond. - -Noon had passed, but there was no halt for dinner. General Custer -evidently was not a man to delay on the trail. Suddenly Ned realized -that it was not a question alone of capturing the Indians; it was the -bigger question of saving the settlers. From friendlies these Cheyennes -and Sioux had threatened to become hostiles, and their trail bent -straight not only for the Indian country to the north, but also for -the stage routes, and the settlements of the Smoky Hill Fork, and the -Republican, and the Saline, and all. - -The afternoon waxed and waned, and still never a glimpse of the Indians -was given. Presently the scouts in the advance slackened, hovered, -and spread to right and left, nosing like hounds. They were at fault. -Then was it seen that the trail suddenly had divided, out-flaring into -a score of smaller trails, which again split into other trails yet -smaller, as if the fleeing band had burst asunder. - -This was the Indians’ favorite trick, when closely pursued. A murmur -of vexation arose, while the column, halted, must sit and wait upon the -decision of the scouts. The general and his adjutant, followed by Ned -the bugler orderly, rode forward to inspect. Wild Bill joined them. - -“They’re throwing us off, general,” he announced, calmly. “I reckon all -we can do is to pick one of the middle trails and follow it and trust -to luck. Fall Leaf has a trail that we might as well take.” - -“Very well, sir,” agreed General Custer, brusquely. “We must do all -that we can, before darkness cuts us short.” - -“For-r-r’d—march!” On this trail out of the many rode the column; but -must pause frequently, while the scouts searched right and left and -before, as ever the sign lessened, like a stream at headwaters. At -five o’clock it had been reduced to a mere thread, for the Indians who -had made it had dropped off, one by one. Signal-smokes could be seen, -welling up in east, west and north, as the scattered parties spoke one -another. In the dusk must the Seventh Cavalry halt, to make camp, rest -the horses, and wait for daylight. The Indians had not been headed, -and hearts were heavy. Woe betide the Smoky Hill stage route, and the -ranches of central Kansas. - -The next day the trail was lost utterly in a dried water-course. Then -by night march toward the north star was struck the Smoky Hill River. -Beyond was the stage route. Colonel Robert West (who really ranked -as captain, but was colonel because of his Civil War record) was sent -forward with one company to find it. Then in the brightening gray the -camp slept; officers and men sprawled out under their blankets. Ned -never before had been so tired. - -Dreaming, as he slept, of facing Pawnee Killer again and with leveled -revolver frightening him into telling where little Mary was, up he -popped, startled out of slumber and dream by a quick “Bang!” of carbine -and the shrill hail by sentry: “Indians!” The corporal of the guard -repeated it. - -All the camp was in commotion. Orders issued thick and fast, from where -the general was standing, with sabre buckled on and eyes flashing. - -“Bring in those stray animals! Have those horses secured, major. One -platoon of each company with the horses. The other platoons fall in. -Sound the assembly, trumpeter.” - -A heavy mist hung low along the horizon; but through it could be -descried, dimly, almost a mile away, a group of moving horsemen. They -seemed to be riding rapidly for the camp. Wild Bill had reported at -once to headquarters, and peering through field-glasses, to him the -general spoke. - -“What do you think of them, Bill?” - -“They’re up to mischief, I should think,” coolly replied Wild Bill, -whose eyes were as good as the general’s glass. “Act as if they meant -to ride us down.” - -“Line of skirmishers ahead; main body in reserve,” murmured the -general, studying them. “By Jove! They’re as well disciplined as -regular troops! Let ’em come. All we want is a fair fight.” These -words, “a fair fight,” were among General Custer’s favorites. “Form -line of platoons, adjutant. Have the men take intervals, and lie down, -enclosing the camp.” - -Captain Robbins had been posted upon the knoll whence the sentry had -given the alarm. From him came reports that the enemy seemed to number -about eighty; presently he reported that the enemy had halted; and -next, the enemy had turned and were making off. - -“Pshaw!” exclaimed the general, in that brisk voice of his. “Confound -them! I was hoping they’d try closer quarters. Look into this, Moylan. -Send out a small detail, for a better view of those fellows. Not too -far, remember.” - -Gladly into the saddle sprang the young Captain Hamilton and Lieutenant -Tom Custer, and leading their detail raced out at a gallop. The mists -were breaking under the rising sun; and it could be seen that the -detail were galloping on and on, right into the waiting company before. - -“Hamilton must intend to settle the war,” quoth Adjutant Moylan. - -However, here galloped back again the detail. Pulling up short, Captain -Hamilton saluted the general. - -“Colonel West’s company, sir, confused in the mist. They mistook our -Sibley tents for Indian tipis, and were about to charge us.” - -“Plucky enough!” commented the general. “But West won’t hear the last -of this, for some time.” - -When, toward evening, Colonel West returned, with his weary company, he -reported that there was no hope. The Indians had struck the stage line, -and raiding right and left had crossed it. Probably all the bands and -tribes to the north would be aroused. This was war. - -Now the wagons had rolled in. To the bugles the Seventh Cavalry grimly -buckled on its sabres, and bridled and saddled. - -“Prepare to mount! Mount!” - -They mounted. - -“By fours, right! For-r-r’d—march!” - -Across the valley of the Smoky Hill they soberly jogged, their wagons -lumbering in their rear, for the stage route, and the frightened -stations. Presently they might turn east, upon the well-worn -wagon-trail, to follow it to Fort Hays. - -The first two stage stations were silent and abandoned. Along the route -was not a sign of life. The advance of the fleeing Cheyennes and Sioux -seemed to have swept the country clean. About the deserted appearance -of the valley was something ominously quiet. But the third station was -occupied. - -A little cheer arose from it as the column rode in; and a group of -stablemen and drivers stood out, to welcome. They were heavily armed, -and log stables and station house, under their sod roofs, were tightly -closed as if for a siege. At this point four stations had gathered in -mutual protection. - -“What’s the matter here?” demanded the general. - -“Matter enough!” spoke one in the group. “Hello, Bill. The Injuns -are out. They’ve crossed the line, goin’ north. Several parties of -’em, both Sioux an’ Cheyennes. Yes, sir. The lid’s off an’ the pot’s -bubblin’. One party had women an’ children, but the bucks are in their -war paint, an’ they’re raidin’ right an’ left. The stages have quit, -till things simmer down agin, an’ the settlers ought to be warned.” - -With parting word, and with grave face, issuing his crisp -“For-r-r’d—march!” repeated by the bugles, the general pressed on. - -On the second day they approached a station which, alas, presented a -different aspect. From afar it showed, beside the trail, blackened and -smoking and partially razed to the ground. - -“Lookout Station,” informed Wild Bill. - -“Bad work there,” quoth the general, abruptly, spurring Custis Lee. - -The Delawares arrived first, to nose about, and to stand surveying. - -“They’ve found something,” declared Wild Bill. - -He, and the general, and Adjutant Moylan galloped forward; Ned plugged -after; the column followed at a trot. - -Bad work, indeed. Much of the buildings was in ashes, still smouldering. -A portion of the heavy chinked log walls jutted up charred and ugly. The -Delawares were clustered, at one side, on the plain, examining a mass -difficult to determine, at a little distance. But a nearer view told. -The litter once had been human beings. - -“Scalped and burned,” said Wild Bill. - -Nobody else spoke a word. He and the general and the lieutenant -sombrely gazed. The doctor joined, horrified. The Delawares looked from -face to face, and waited. Ned stared, and choked. - -“The station gang, three of ’em,” announced Wild Bill. “Delawares say -they were staked down, alive. You can guess the rest.” - -“Are there any signs who did it—what Indians?” demanded General Custer, -sternly. - -Fall Leaf, who spoke English, shook his head. - -“No arrow, no moccasin, nothin’,” he grunted. “Come quick; capture -men; scalp, burn, go. Mebbe Cheyenne, mebbe Sioux. Make trail,” and he -pointed northward. - -There was nothing to do but to bury by the stage road the poor mangled -fragments. And at dusk the command rode into Fort Hays, fifteen miles. - - - - -VIII - -PAWNEE KILLER PLAYS TRICKS - - -Fort Hays was eighty miles west from Fort Harker, and Fort Harker was -ninety miles west from Fort Riley; so that now Fort Riley was one -hundred and seventy miles distant. Not much of a fort was Hays either, -composed, like Harker, of quarters and stables built of logs roughly -faced. It was located on the south side of the crooked Big Creek, which -between high clay banks flowed down to the Smoky Hill Fork River, -fifteen miles south. On the north side of the creek, and up stream a -little way, was the new town of Hays City, waiting for the railroad. - -Fort Hays was glad to see the column ride down, and pitch its tents -nearby. Back from its first campaign was the Seventh Cavalry, and -although it had not fired a shot, save the one by the picket, it had -many tales to tell to the Fort Hays garrison. - -Speedily up sprang like mushrooms the lines of dingy white army -canvas. There was a great letter writing spell. Couriers were about -to dash away with dispatches for General Hancock, and (what was of -more importance) with word to Fort Riley. The general, as usual, had -a regular journal to send. General Gibbs also hastened off; for in -the accumulation of mail awaiting at Fort Hays were letters from Mrs. -Custer and Mrs. Gibbs and other women left behind, stating that the -negro infantry there had mutinied and were behaving badly. However, -General Gibbs was the man to discipline them, and he really ought not -to attempt field service, anyway. - -Shortly after the Seventh had reared its tents, Scout Bill Cody came -riding in, and dismounted at headquarters. The orderly ushered him -into the tent, to see the general. When the general and Bill emerged -together, the general beckoned to Ned. - -“Mr. Cody has brought word, we think, of your sister. Cut Nose the -Cheyenne chief is reported to be west of here, with a little white girl -he has adopted. He took her with him into Monument Station, and calls -her Silver Hair, the station men say.” - -“Did they keep her, sir?” asked Ned, eagerly. Oh, what if——! - -General Custer smiled only sadly, and shook his head. - -“No, my boy. The station men could not do that.” - -“Was your sister a small gal, not more than a child; right pretty, with -flax hair?” demanded Scout Bill Cody, searching Ned out of wide steady -eyes as piercing as Wild Bill’s themselves. - -“Yes!” said Ned. “Her name is Mary. She’s eight years old.” - -“Well,” remarked Scout Cody, preparing to mount his horse, “her name is -Silver Hair now. Cut Nose has her. At least, he did have her. But she -was being well treated, they say. He’d made a sort o’ pet of her, the -old rascal. The station men tried to buy her from him; but he said no. -I’ll keep on the lookout for her. Maybe we can get her.” And dignified -of face, jaunty of poise, off rode Pony Bill Cody, on errand bound. -Thereafter Ned saw him frequently. He seemed to rank with Wild Bill -Hickok as an important figure at Fort Hays and Hays City. - -“Then she’s gone again, is she?” faltered Ned, to the general. “Cut -Nose still has her, has he, sir?” - -“Very likely. Yes, he took her, my lad,” answered General Custer, -gently. “But here,” he added, in abrupt fashion. “She’s being well -treated, didn’t Cody say? She was dressed like an Indian princess. -What do you think of that? That’s something for which to be thankful. -Think of other captive girls and women—how they’ve suffered. And we’ll -get her, if it requires all the Seventh Cavalry and the United States -treasury. Brace up, boy.” - -For Ned was crying. - -In due time dispatches arrived from General Hancock, who was still on -the Arkansas, trying to bring the principal chiefs in to council. When, -at dress parade, Lieutenant Moylan as adjutant read to the assembled -troops the announcements or orders of the day, “by direction of the -commanding general” he included among them this special field order, -issued from camp near the Arkansas: - - II. As a punishment for the bad faith practised by the - Cheyennes and Sioux who occupied the Indian village at this - place, and as a chastisement for murders and depredations - committed since the arrival of the command at this point, by - the people of these tribes, the village recently occupied by - them, which is now in our hands, will be utterly destroyed. - -At that, delivered in Adjutant Moylan’s loud voice, from the troops -arose a cheer. - -“Well, ’tis war now, if ’twasn’t before,” declared Sergeant Henderson, -that evening, within hearing of Ned. - -“Why so, Pete?” asked one of the other soldiers. - -“’Cordin’ to Wild Bill, that village had $150,000 worth of stuff in it; -an’ d’ye suppose the Injuns’ll stand for the destruction of it all? Now -they’ll claim we started the war, an’ we claim they started it, an’ -what the end’ll be, nobody can say.” - -“In my opinion,” said Sergeant Kennedy, “General Hancock ought never to -have let that village-full get away from him. They played with him, and -held him off, and then they gave him the slip.” - -“You’re right,” agreed Henderson. “An’ now we’re up agin it, with the -Injuns loose in three hundred miles square o’ territory, an’ we chasin’ -’em. An’ won’t there be a great howl, from the agents an’ the traders -an’ the contractors, because the war is spoilin’ their business.” - -“Those traders and contractors are responsible for much of this -trouble, just the same,” asserted the lawyer “rooky” (who now was a -veteran). “They do not deliver the agency goods in quality and quantity -up to grade.” - -“That’s true,” nodded Odell. “Yez ought to see some o’ the stuff that -gets through to the Injuns. Shoddy cotton for wool; shirts ye can stick -your finger through, an’ suits o’ clothes that won’t hang together -while the Injun puts ’em on an’ that the Government pays the contractor -thirteen dollars for!” - -“Yes,” said Sergeant Henderson. “An’ the first thing the Injun does -with the pants is to cut out the seat. What do they want o’ suits o’ -clothes, anyway—one suit a year! An’ the government thinks to trade -’em this way for their lands an’ game an’ all that, an’ lets ’em get -cheated into the bargain.” - -“Huh!” grunted another member of the circle. “They don’t fare any -worse’n us fellows. Did you notice that bread served out to us -to-night? Talk about hard-tack! Cook says the boxes show it was baked -in ’61—six years ago! Even a mule won’t eat it.” - -“Sure,” answered Odell. “And didn’t wan o’ the boxes o’ salt beef -opened at the commissary contain a big stone, to make it weigh more!” - -General Hancock passed through back from the south. Then followed -another event. This was the arrival of the great General Sherman, who -was commander of the whole Military Division of the Missouri, whereas -General Hancock was commander only of the Department of the Missouri, -in it. Of course everybody knew of General William Tecumseh Sherman, -the man who had “marched to the sea.” And with General Sherman came, -in the same ambulance from Fort Harker, the end of the railroad, Mrs. -Custer and Miss Diana! - -General Sherman proved to be just like his picture, which Ned had seen -several times: a tall spare man, slightly stooped, with high forehead, -and long severe face, crisp full beard of russet color, and blue eyes. -“Brass mounted,” some of the soldiers called him; and the veterans -referred to him affectionately as “Old Bill.” When he smiled he was -very pleasant. - -The post and the camp turned out in a review to do him honor. However, -the best sight, to Ned, was the way in which, when the ambulance -stopped at the tent and Eliza’s black face peered out all agrin, with a -whoop the general rushed up and swung the happy Mrs. Custer to him. How -they chattered! - -The general busied himself making Mrs. Custer and the rest of the -household comfortable in special new tents, on Big Creek, nearer the -fort. For the Seventh Cavalry was ordered out again. Two companies were -left at Hays; the six others, 350 men and twenty wagons, marched forth, -into the north. - -Wild Bill remained behind to carry forward dispatches when some were -ready. Young Bill Cody was held to serve as scout for other cavalry. -But when the Seventh started Ned witnessed riding ahead as guide, -another young man, of fair complexion and handsome features and easy -seat. His name was Comstock—Will Comstock. Ah, yes; and a splendid -young scout he was, too, equal to the best; could speak Sioux and -Cheyenne and some Arapaho, and talk the sign language, and knew every -trail and water course. See that revolver he wears? Pearl-handled and -silver-mounted! One of the finest revolvers on the plains. He thinks a -heap of it, too, does Will Comstock. - -Thus by ears and by eyes did Ned learn the character of the new guide. - -The march was to be from Fort Hays and the valley of the Smoky Hill in -central Kansas north across the broad plains country 250 miles to Fort -McPherson on the Platte River in southwestern Nebraska. But although -through the center of this country flowed down the Republican River, -on whose upper waters 1000 hostile Sioux and Cheyennes were rumored -to be lurking, without a fight the Seventh Cavalry arrived at Fort -McPherson, named for General John McPherson, once commander of the Army -of Tennessee. - -Fort McPherson, in the Department of the Platte, was only a handful -of cedar-log cabins, helping to guard the Overland Trail and the new -Union Pacific Railroad, as in the south Fort Harker, Hays, and all -guarded the Smoky Hill trail and the new Kansas Pacific Railroad. It -was garrisoned by two troops of the Second Cavalry. - -Ahead of the Seventh Cavalry had arrived, by railroad as far as -McPherson, and thence by stage, General Sherman. He now was at Fort -Sedgwick, west, near to Julesberg of northeastern Colorado Territory. - -General Custer sent Lieutenant Moylan ahead into the post, with -dispatches for General Sherman, and to get any dispatches that might be -waiting. Lieutenant Moylan returned, meeting the column as it prepared -to make temporary camp. The adjutant had word. - -“Pawnee Killer and some of his Sioux are encamped about ten miles out, -general,” he announced. “A post scout just brought in the news.” - -“What are they doing?” - -“Nothing, I understand. They arrived about the same time we did. They -pretend to be peaceful.” - -“We’d better find out, then,” declared the general. “What do you think, -Comstock? Shall we try a conference?” - -“Corral the whole outfit, gentlemen, while you have the chance, is _my_ -guess,” answered Scout Will Comstock. - -“Well, I can’t adopt any harsh measures without orders,” replied the -general. “We’ve got to encourage the Indians to be friendly.” - -“All right,” said Comstock, rather gloomily. “I s’pose ’cordin’ to -those thar peace people out East, soldiers an’ everybody ought to wait -an’ let the Injuns shoot fust; an’ then if they miss, give ’em another -try, so as to keep ’em amused!” - -General Custer made no answer; but by the little smile under his tawny -moustache he seemed to agree with Comstock’s disgusted opinion. - -Word was sent to Pawnee Killer to come into camp, for a talk; and that -afternoon in he came. But the talk amounted to nothing. Soon was it -seen that the suave and crafty Sioux intended to find out what the -soldiers were up to, and not to tell what he was up to. General Custer -said to him that he must move his people in near to the forts, so that -they would not be mistaken for hostiles. Pawnee Killer blandly replied -that he would, as fast as he could. In order to please the visitors the -general directed that they be given sugar and coffee; and they rode -away again. - -None of the men believed what Pawnee Killer had said; and some rather -thought that the general had been foolish to treat him so well, and let -him think that he was hoodwinking the white chief. Upon the arrival, -again, of General Sherman, from Sedgwick, the Seventh was ordered south -to the Forks of the Republican, to find Pawnee Killer’s village. - -General Sherman rode with General Custer for fifteen miles, talking -matters over with him. Ned, behind, could hear much of the -conversation, and it showed matters to be considered serious. The -Sioux of the north were sending warriors down to join with the Sioux -and Cheyennes of the south; the Arapahos were uneasy, although Little -Raven and Black Kettle were promising to hold them steady; a friendly -band of Brulé or Burnt Thigh Sioux under Chief Spotted Tail had been -forced to move from the Republican Forks north across the Platte at -Julesberg—because, said Spotted Tail, his young warriors were getting -excited; and down on the Arkansas, Satanta, wearing the major-general -uniform that had been given him, had driven off the horse-herd from -Fort Dodge itself! Stage stations had been burned on the Platte River -route—yes, not far from Fort McPherson; and on the Smoky Hill route. -Union Pacific and Kansas Pacific Railroad surveying parties had been -attacked. On the Republican and other settled streams ranches had been -pillaged. It looked as though a real Indian war was brewing. - -By Eastern people the army on the plains was being much criticized. -Some of these people depended upon the Indian trade for business; but -some thought that the Indian was abused. It did not seem right to them -that General Hancock had destroyed the village on Pawnee Fork. The -Indians, said these people through the newspapers and in speeches, -should be left to the control of the agencies. The soldiers wished only -fighting. - -However, General Sherman appeared to be little influenced by the -criticisms of the Eastern peace party; although he did say, rather -angrily: - -“I tell you, Custer, there’ll be no peace on the plains until the -Indians are so subdued that they can be controlled by constables -instead of soldiers. Meantime the War Department ought to have complete -charge of the tribes. Now while we’re doing the fighting at one end of -the line to enforce our terms, the civil agents make a treaty at the -other end, on different terms. Then the treaty is broken and the work -must be done all over again. And if the agents and the traders are -to be permitted to supply the savages with arms, in defiance of the -orders of the military, I believe in withdrawing every soldier from the -district and letting the civil authorities settle affairs. We have a -hard enough task, without being called upon to face weapons furnished -by our own government.” - -All peaceful was that rolling plains country, during the four days’ -march of seventy-five miles down to the Forks of the Republican. -From the crest of each rise was to be seen the same vista before as -behind: the grasses, the June flowers, the willows and cottonwoods, the -sandstone uplifts, the long swells, with the only moving creatures the -elk, the antelope, the buffalo, the black-tail deer, the wolf, rabbit -and prairie dog. - -The Forks of the Republican also seemed deserted; but who might tell -here, as on the march, what Indian heads were peering from ravines, -over hillocks, or through bushes, spying upon the horses, the wagons -and the blue-bloused men. - -North to Fort Sedgwick, seventy-five miles, were sent with dispatches -for General Sherman, Major Joel Elliot and picked escort of ten -men. South to Fort Wallace, eighty miles, was sent for supplies a -wagon-train under command of Lieutenant (colonel, they called him) -William Cook and Lieutenant Samuel Robbins. Major West was escort. By -Colonel Cook went a letter to Mrs. Custer, telling her that she might -come back with him, by way of Fort Wallace, to the camp. - -Some of the men criticised this as not wise in the general, not safe -for Mrs. Custer. Indians surely were about, and they would take big -chances to make a white woman captive. Anybody who knew Mrs. Custer, -also knew that she would come. Fire, water or savages would not stop -her from trying to join the general. So there was dubious shaking of -heads, when the news leaked out. - -Yes, the Indians were watching. That was soon to be shown. However, -calm and sweet was the twilight. Gradually the western glow faded, -while busily grazed the horses and mules. The men lounged about, and -contentedly smoked and chatted. To and fro paced the sentries. The -stream rippled. Over it and over the wide prairie swooped low the -night-hawks. Scarcely a coyote barked. Even the general’s dogs found -nothing to do. - -At dusk the animals were brought in close and tethered along the picket -ropes. Stable guards were stationed for them. At half-past eight -Ned blew the long sweet call of “Taps.” The notes floated musically -over the wide expanse. Every light was extinguished; and amidst the -loneliness the camp of the Seventh Cavalry, United States Army, lay -down to sleep. The white tents glimmered; the horses and mules snorted; -the sentinels paced their beats. - -In his tent beside the adjutant’s Ned was wakened in a jump. It seemed -that he had just fallen asleep—but the interior of the tent was gray; -dawn was at hand. The smart crack of a carbine was echoing in his -ears—and now he heard a sharp, excited voice: - -“They’re here!” That was Lieutenant Custer, the general’s brother, -rushing past, warning the general. He was officer of the day. And out -rang a perfect volley of shots, and a great peal of shrill, savage -whoops. - -Grabbing bugle and belt Ned dived from his tent. He was in time to -witness the front of the general’s tent burst open, like a paper bag, -and General Custer come bolting through. The general wore a bright red -flannel night-gown—but he carried in his hand his Spencer rifle. He was -ready for business. - -On ran the general, toward the spot of the firing and the shouting. He -was no quicker than his men; they streamed from their tents, and clad -in shirts and drawers, but bearing cartridge-belts and carbines, they -rallied to the defence. Scarcely any orders were necessary, although -Lieutenant Tom Custer and all the officers were there to give them. The -voice of the general rose high, urging, commanding, cheering. His red -flannel night-shirt flamed hither and thither; his long bright locks -tossed like a mane; he wore no shoes or stockings. Ned saw him in a new -guise: Old Curly, the fighting Chief with the Yellow Hair. - -The carbines crackled, as in irregular line the troopers, lying or -kneeling, rapidly fired. Beyond, in the thin morning, the Indians -dashed swiftly back and forth. From the soldiers issued jeers and -threats and challenges, as well as lead. - -“I got one! I got one!” yelped the lawyer recruit. “No; I got two! -There goes another off his horse!” - -“Shut up!” growled Sergeant Henderson. “Do you think that every time -you fire you knock over an Injun? They only hang on the far side of -their horses, lad!” - -That was so. At the discharges from the carbines whole squads of the -scampering reds seemed to be swept from their saddles; when, no, there -they were, again, upright, and gesturing derision! It was enough to -fool any white man, fighting them for his first time. But many were the -jokes leveled at the recruits, by the veterans in the firing-line. - -However, the Indians didn’t succeed. There must have been two or -three hundred of them, attacking, while about fifty tried for the -camp horses. They had shot the picket. He was lying wounded. He would -have been scalped if his comrades had not run out and dragged him in. -After a few volleys from the Spencers of the soldiers the red enemy -retreated. They could be seen gathered about a mile away, in council. - - - - -IX - -DANGER ON EVERY SIDE - - -It could be seen that General Custer was thoroughly indignant. But -first he must ask about the wounded picket, who proved to be badly -hurt, not fatally. Then he must change his night-gown for a more -practical field costume. When he emerged from his tent, he was again -ready for business. - -“I’d like to know who those fellows are, and what they mean,” he -denounced, furiously, among his officers. “We’ve done nothing, to make -them attack us. Send out an interpreter, Moylan, and ask for a parley.” - -The Indians were still collected, upon their ponies, about a mile -distant. Their figures showed black in the dawn brightening across the -vast, boundless prairie. Where in the far east prairie met sky was a -strip of glowing pink. - -The interpreter, a squaw-man from Fort McPherson, with a Sioux wife, -rode out and on the river bank made circles with his horse. This -signalled: “We want to talk.” One of the Indians answered with the same -sign, and a part of them came forward. - -“Tell them that seven of us will meet seven of them, at the river, for -a talk,” directed the general to the interpreter. - -Riding forward again the interpreter cried across the space to the -Indians, and the matter was quickly arranged. - -“Captain Hamilton, you will assume command here,” directed the general. -“Keep the men under arms, and be ready to move forward to us at the -first signal by the trumpeter. Dr. Coates, you’d better come along with -the rest of us; you’re anxious to know the Indians. Moylan, Thompson, -Tom Custer, Yates, Johnson. Change your revolvers from your holsters -to your belts, gentlemen. Then you can get at them, in case of need. -Those fellows (and he jerked his head toward the Indians) are not to be -trusted, evidently.” - -They rode away, Ned of course accompanying. From the opposite direction -were approaching to meet them the seven chiefs. The river was the -conference point, for it lay about in the middle between the two -parties. Just before reaching it the general halted, and dismounted. -Dismounted all except Ned. - -“Hold these horses, orderly,” instructed the general, to Ned; “and -watch sharp. Watch the Indians, especially, and at the least trouble or -any sign of treachery you blow the ‘advance.’” - -“Yes, sir,” replied Ned. - -Surrounded by the seven horses he sat, their lines in his hands, while -the general and the other officers proceeded on, down to the edge of -the water. - -The banks on this side were smooth and grassy; on the other they were -cut by arroyos or ravines and grown with willows. So the officers -waited, for the Indians to cross to the open side. The chiefs also -dismounted, and began to take off their leggins, to wade. Through the -shallow current they boldly splashed, holding high their moccasins and -guns, out of the wet. - -“Huh!” from his horse suddenly ejaculated Ned, scarce believing his -eyes. For the leading chief was Pawnee Killer himself! - -But Pawnee Killer did not appear at all abashed, nor confused by the -fact that after having visited the general in camp at Fort McPherson -and having promised to be peaceable, he had tried here to steal the -column’s horses and to rush the camp. - -“How?” he grunted, shaking hands with the officers. And “How?” grunted -in turn all his squad. - -They were well armed. Usually in a conference weapons are left behind; -but this was a conference with the weapons ready. Ned sat intent, -gazing hard, to catch every movement of the seven chiefs and also of -the main party, at the distance. He could not hear much of what was -being said. He learned afterward that the general did not say anything -about the attack on the camp, but wanted to know about the village; -and that Pawnee Killer did not say anything about the village, but -wanted to know where the cavalry were going. And neither side found out -much about the other! - -While Ned was peering, and waiting, alert, he saw another Indian -suddenly step forth from among the willows, and cross as had the -chiefs. This was a younger Indian, fully armed. He shook hands all -around, saying “How?” Scarcely had he finished, and the talk was -continuing, when yet another Indian crossed, in exactly the same manner. - -Ned fidgeted. That was a great scheme: for the Sioux warriors to steal -up, through the ravines and the willows, and one by one cross. Pawnee -Killer could not think very highly of General Custer’s smartness, if he -supposed that these additions, one at a time, were not noticed. Because -the general was young and new to Indian fighting, and had been lied to, -and still was being deceived, apparently, Pawnee Killer must consider -that he did not amount to much. - -Presently two more Indians had crossed, so that now there were eleven, -to the seven whites. Ned’s heart beat rapidly. The situation was -getting serious. He shifted the lines of the horses, so as to use his -right hand to raise the bugle to his lips. The “Advance” repeated -itself over and over in his brain. But listen! General Custer’s voice -rose emphatic. - -“Tell this chief that if another man of his crosses the river, my men -will all advance ready to fight. Tell him that bugler is watching, -ready to blow the signal.” - -[Illustration: “TELL THIS CHIEF THAT IF ANOTHER MAN OF HIS CROSSES THE -RIVER MY MEN WILL ADVANCE”] - -When this was translated to Pawnee Killer (who had understood by the -tone) he made some sort of a reply, but he waved his hand at his party, -signing them to stay back. He had found out that the young white chief -with the yellow hair was not such a fool, after all. - -Then the conference broke up. As the general and the other officers -started away, Pawnee Killer stretched out his hand, demanding -something. The general spoke abruptly: - -“No. I should say not. Not until he moves his village in close to a -post, as he promised.” And returned to mount his horse, the general -still was grumbling, half enraged, half amused. “Sugar, coffee and -ammunition! He’s the most consummate rascal I ever met. He wants us to -feed him so that he can follow us, and equip him so that he can kill -us. He ought to have saved some of the ammunition that he used on us so -recklessly this morning!” - -Pawnee Killer and his chiefs and warriors had gone galloping off, and -soon the whole party were retreating across the plains. General Custer -angrily ordered “Boots and Saddles,” for a pursuit, to see where the -village lay. But Pawnee Killer was again too cunning for the yellow -haired general. Away went the Sioux, racing freely; after them pressed -the cavalry, the general in the lead. Had all the cavalry horses been -like Phil Sheridan the troops might at least have kept the Indians -in sight; as it was, the lightly laden ponies and their easy riders -dwindled and dwindled, and soon disappeared in the horizon. So the -cavalry must quit, before getting too far from camp. - -Now more Indians were sighted, in another direction. - -“My compliments to Captain Hamilton, and tell him to take his troop and -see what those other fellows are up to,” ordered the general, promptly, -to Adjutant Moylan. - -Away gladly trotted the troop of young Captain Hamilton, whose first -lieutenant was Colonel Tom Custer. With two such officers, this was a -crack troop of fighters. Besides, there went the active Doctor Coates, -also. The general smiled. - -“The doctor’s bound to get as close to the Indians as he can. First -thing we know he’ll join a tribe! Now,” he added, gravely, his face -showing anxious lines, “I wish we knew that Elliot was all right, and -was getting through to Sedgwick. There’s the chance that the Indians -don’t know he’s gone. His escort is so small he can travel fast. That’s -one comfort. Cook and Robbins can take care of themselves, pretty well, -as long as their escort stays together.” - -Captain Hamilton’s troop had been swallowed up among the swales to the -north; and while the general and his staff discussed ways and means, -many eyes were directed northward, and many ears were strained, to -catch any token of a fight or of further pursuit. - -Nothing came back, drifting in from the northward. The general and the -adjutant and other officers talked, and the men sat more at ease, and -the minutes passed. The sun was high in the east; a strong breeze blew -across the plains, waving the longer grasses. Then, on a sudden, there -was thud of rapid hoofs, a panting and a snorting, and almost before -anybody could turn about, into the camp had rushed, at top speed of his -horse, Doctor Coates. Scarcely drawing rein he fell off, rather than -dismounted, and lay gasping, trying to speak. - -To him rushed officers and men. - -“What’s the matter, doctor?” - -“Hurt?” - -“Speak, man!” - -“Can’t you talk?” - -“Where’s Hamilton?” - -“Attacked?” - -The doctor nodded violently. - -“Boots and saddles, there!” ordered the general, sharply. “Hurry, men!” - -Smartly Ned blew the call. The men ran hither, thither, tugging their -horses into line. Now the doctor was able to speak. - -“Indians! Over yonder! Got him—surrounded. Almost got me—too.” - -“How far?” - -“About five miles.” - -The general’s voice pealed louder than Ned’s trumpet. - -“Prepare to mount—mount! Fours right, trot—march!” - -Out from camp sallied, at brisk trot, the remnants of the squadrons, -to the rescue of Captain Hamilton and Lieutenant Tom Custer and their -troop. The doctor, on his blown horse, acted as guide. - -There was no sound of firing; but as the column pushed on, trying -to make best speed and yet save strength for the fight, the doctor -explained. - -“Indians tolled us on, then separated. Hamilton took after one party, -Tom after other. I went with Tom, until I dropped out at one side, -somehow, while I was looking about. Next thing I knew I was lost. -Pretty soon I heard a lot of firing, and when I reconnoitered I saw -Hamilton’s detachment, only half a mile away, with Indians all around -them. Thought I’d ride right through and help him; but the Indians -saw me first, and away they came, six or eight of ’em, making for me. -Almost got me, too, I tell you! Closed up within arrow range, and if my -horse hadn’t been as frightened as I was, and if camp hadn’t appeared -just when it did, my scalp would have been gone. I’m afraid Hamilton -is in a bad box. They out-numbered him, and had plenty of ammunition.” - -“Tom may join him.” - -“Yes, if Tom isn’t in the same fix. Country is full of Indians, I -believe.” - -Two of the five miles had been put behind. It was scarce to be expected -that carbine shots could yet be heard; but nevertheless the silence -seemed ominous, as if the battle might be over; and with victory to -which side? - -Trot, trot; jingle, jingle; across the grassy plain, with every man -leaning forward in his saddle, as if to get there sooner. Then Fall -Leaf, the Delaware, signaled back, from a little rise: “People in -sight.” The general and Adjutant Moylan clapped their glasses to their -eyes, and forthwith the general threw up his gauntleted hand in gesture -of relief. - -“There they come,” he said. “Good! I see the troop guidon.” - -Captain Hamilton’s troop it was, with all the men uninjured, and -with only one horse wounded. Captain Hamilton reported that he had -killed two warriors and had driven the other Indians away, without any -assistance from Lieutenant Tom Custer. Lieutenant Tom had pursued the -second knot of Indians, until after they had drawn him far enough they -had given him the slip. These Sioux were clever. - -Blood had been shed. This was war. The Indians now would be hot for -revenge. And Major Elliot was still out, and so was the wagon train -for Fort Wallace. Returning with the wagon-train would come Mrs. -Custer. That was now the main thought in the camp. The Indians surely -would not miss a chance at such a prize as wagons of supplies. Why had -the general been so foolish as to send for Mrs. Custer, when it was -well known that Indians were abroad? - -The general grew haggard all in an hour. Before night he had sent a -squadron under command of Major (who was a lieutenant-colonel) Myers, -to push right through and meet the train. - -Then there was nothing to do but to wait. Three days passed, and in -rode the little party of Major Elliot, with the dispatches from Fort -Sedgwick. On the next day, hurrah! Here approached, weaving across the -plain like a huge snake, the white-topped army wagons and the escort -troops. - -Out rode the general, to meet them; and particularly to meet Mrs. -Custer. The wagons all were there—twenty of them; the column of troops -looked intact; but from the wagons or from horse no handkerchief waved -greeting, and Ned, on Buckie thudding along behind the general, felt -a sudden cold chill. What if anything had happened to the sweet Mrs. -Custer, or to Diana of the dancing curls? - -Major (who was also colonel) West was in command of the column, for he -was the senior officer. - -“All right, colonel?” demanded the general, his eyes roving anxiously -along the winding line. - -“All right, general. But we had quite a brush. That is, Cook and -Robbins did. Myers and I arrived just in time to see the enemy -disappear.” - -“Mrs. Custer here?” queried the general, sharply. - -“No, general. She didn’t leave Hays, fortunately. Cook can tell you -about it.” - -Didn’t leave Hays! The general seemed to heave a great sigh of relief. -Camp and trail were no places for a white woman, even so plucky a one -as Mrs. Custer, or as pretty Diana. He dashed along the column, seeking -Lieutenant Cook. - -“Well, Cook! Had a fight, I hear.” - -“Yes, sir. They attacked us pretty severely, on our way out from -Wallace, before West and Myers joined us. We saw them coming, and -formed with the men on foot and the wagons and horses in the middle. -Then we kept right on moving forward, but they circled us savagely. -There were between six and seven hundred of them, weren’t there, -Comstock?” - -“Fully so,” agreed Scout Will Comstock, who was riding near. “But -there ain’t as many now, gen’ral. We toppled five of ’em for keeps, -an’ there’s more red hides that’s got troublesome holes in ’em. But it -looked for a time as though our scalps was goin’ to pay. Six or seven -hundred Injuns warn’t goin’ to let fifty men stop ’em from gettin’ at -the sugar an’ coffee in those wagons.” - -“Mrs. Custer didn’t start, then?” asked the general, of Lieutenant Cook. - -“No, sir. Thank God she didn’t. She was ready to, had her baggage tied -up, and General Hancock forbade. I don’t think she liked that very -well. I have a letter for you from her.” - -General Custer took the letter, and read it in the saddle. - -From the talk it appeared that the wagon-train had fought hard and -well, for three hours. The wagons were scarred with bullets; in them -were several wounded men; and throughout the column were a number of -wounded horses and mules. Ned heard a conversation between Lieutenant -Cook and another officer, that showed how serious had been the -situation. - -“Would you have done it, Cook?” asked the officer, keenly. - -Lieutenant Cook firmly nodded. - -“I should. When the attack developed I said to myself, at once: ‘If -Mrs. Custer were here, in my charge, the first thing I must do would be -to ride to her ambulance and mercifully shoot her. That is my solemn -promise to the general.’” - -“Whew!” sighed the other officer, gravely. “That would be horrible. But -not so horrible,” he added, “as to let her or any other white woman -fall alive into the hands of the Indians.” - -“We promised the general, in regard to Mrs. Custer,” said the -lieutenant. “He made us promise, and he knows that we intended to keep -our word.” - -“You’d have waited, a little?” pursued the officer. - -Lieutenant Cook shook his head. - -“No, sir. Not a moment. I love Mrs. Custer like a sister; and the -thought that she was dependent on me, and helpless in the ambulance, -would have driven me distracted. I should have obeyed orders—and you -know what they are. Then I should have fought to the last, and should -not have expected to face the general. My course, first and last, was -clear. But it didn’t come necessary.” - -A Canadian was Lieutenant William Cook, with long black side-whiskers -and handsome kindly face. He had served through the Civil War, and was -accounted one of the best officers in the Seventh. By reason of his -birth they called him “Queen’s Own” Cook. - - - - -X - -SAD NEWS FOR THE ARMY BLUE - - -The soldiers who had fought in the wagon-train swaggered through the -camp, and talked much like veterans. The camp, also, had its tales to -tell, of attack and scalps and victory. So that the Seventh Cavalry had -made a start on the battle-roll to be emblazoned on their standards. - -Major Elliot had brought orders from General Sherman to march north -again, toward the Platte. The Platte was struck near Riverside stage -station, in Colorado fifty miles west from Fort Sedgwick. No Indians -had been sighted; but Indians were still around, for the very evening -before the arrival of the Seventh at Riverside the hostiles had -attacked the next station west, and had killed three men. - -But this was not all. Evidently something else had occurred. Upon -reading his dispatches from General Sherman, General Custer immediately -had sent out for his officers, and was holding a consultation, at his -tent. The discussion easily reached the ears of Ned, standing at his -post, ready for orders from the general or Adjutant Moylan. - -Kidder—a Lieutenant Lyman S. Kidder, Second Cavalry, had been sent out -from Fort Sedgwick, with dispatches for the Seventh Cavalry camp at the -Forks of the Republican. He had only ten men, he ought to have arrived -there or else have overtaken the column before it reached the Platte. -But he had not been sighted. He was a young officer, this was his first -scout. What had happened to him? - -Red Bead, a friendly Sioux chief, was his guide, so he could not have -lost his way; but upon such a long ride ten men were altogether too -few, when Indians by the hundreds infested the whole district. - -Speedily the news spread through the ranks. There was shaking of heads. -In the opinion of the older sergeants, a great error had been committed. - -“My idea is,” voiced Henderson, who was as level-headed as anybody, -“that this young left’nant may have struck our camp; but if he did, -like as not he took the wagon trail on south’rd, thinkin’ it was our -trail. In that case, he’ll run into that same gang o’ reds who attacked -the train ’twixt the Republican and Wallace, an’ they’ll wipe him out; -they’ll wipe him out. It was a crime to send him on the scout with -scarce a dozen, all told, in his party. An’ him new to the business, -too. The time has come when the Army ought to know it can’t fight -Injuns that way. They’re better armed than we are, an’ they’re mighty -smart, boys.” - -The suggestion put forth by Henderson seemed to be that of the council -of officers also. - -More bad news was received. Cholera had broken out at Forts Wallace and -Hays, and scurvy on account of the bad rations. - -Therefore when over the wire the Kidder dispatches were repeated, -ordering the column to return to Wallace, very ready was the general to -go. Lieutenant Kidder might be found, and Mrs. Custer might be removed -to safer quarters. So camp was broken at daylight. - -During the march a sharp lookout was maintained for sign of the missing -Second Cavalry detachment; but none appeared. - -“What’s your opinion now, Comstock?” queried again the general, -anxiously, as at the head of the column, where rode he and Adjutant -Moylan and Will Comstock, he scanned the ground and the horizon. Will -Comstock only shook his head. - -“I’m not sayin’, gen’ral,” finally he replied. “It’s ’arly yet to make -a guess. He may be all right—an’ agin he may _not_.” - -The Forks of the Republican came into sight; and the former camping -place. Here were the tracks of the Seventh, and from here proceeded the -trail made by the wagon-train, to Fort Wallace. But trace of Lieutenant -Kidder, or of any new horsemen, could not be found, even by the -Delawares searching so keenly. - -About the headquarters camp-fire, that night, Scout Will Comstock at -last did speak, more definitely, but still dubiously. And the officers -listened eagerly. - -“Well, gentle-_men_,” drawled Comstock, “before a man kin form any -ijee as to how this thing is likely to end, thar are several things -he ort to be acquainted with. For instance, now, no man need tell -me any p’ints about Injuns. Ef I know anything, it’s Injuns. I know -jest how they’ll do anything an’ when they’ll take to do it; but that -don’t settle this question, an’ I’ll tell you why. Thar’s more’n jest -Injuns consarned in the matter. Ef I knowed this young lootenint—I mean -Lootenint Kidder—ef I knowed what for sort of a man he is, I could -tell you mighty near to a sartinty what he did an’ whar he went; for -you see Injun huntin’ an’ Injun fightin’ is a trade all by itself, an’ -like any other bizness a man has to know what he’s about. I have lots -of confi_dence_ in the fightin’ sense of Red Bead the Sioux chief, who -is guidin’ the lootenint an’ his men, an’ ef that Injun kin have his -own way thar’s a fair show for his guidin’ ’em through all right. But -is this lootenint the kind of a man who is willin’ to take advice, even -ef it does come from an Injun? My experience with you army folks has -allus been that the youngsters among ye think they know the most, an’ -this is partic’larly true ef they have jest come from West P’int. Ef -some of them young fellers knowed half as much as they b’lieve they -know, you couldn’t tell ’em nothin’. As to rale book-l’arnin’, why, I -s’pose they’ve got it all; but the fact of the matter is, they couldn’t -tell the dif’rence ’twixt the trail of a war party an’ one made by a -huntin’ party to save their necks. Half of ’em when they fust come -here can’t tell a squaw from a buck, jest ’cause both ride astraddle; -but they soon l’arn. I’m told this lootenint we’re talkin’ about is a -new-comer, an’ that this is his fust scout. Ef that be the case, it -puts a mighty onsartin look on the whole bus’ness, an’ twixt you and -me, gentle-_men_, he’ll be mighty lucky ef he gets through all right. -Tomorrer we strike the Wallace trail, an’ I kin mighty soon tell ef he -has gone that way.” - -This speech, so lengthy for the usually silent Will Comstock, made -everybody feel more anxious than ever. Evidently the scout had his -great fears, which he had tried to keep to himself. - -Therefore, with dawn all were alert to strike the wagon-trail to Fort -Wallace. Comstock and the Delawares forged ahead, to examine it first -before the cavalry column should mark it up. The general and his staff -urged forward, to get the report. - -“Well, Comstock. Have they passed?” queried the general, reining short. - -Comstock had been on foot, peering closely. The Delawares and he seemed -to have agreed, for now he remounted. - -“Yes, sir. They’ve gone toward Wallace, sure,” he said, soberly. -“They’ve mistook this here trail for the main trail of the column. The -trail shows that twelve American horses, shod all ’round, have lately -passed at a walk, in direction of the fort. When they come by this -p’int they were all right, ’cause their hosses were movin’ along easy, -an’ there are no pony tracks behind ’em, as would be the case ef Injuns -had got an eye on ’em.” Comstock rubbed his cheek, dubiously. “I mought -as well say that in _my_ opinion, gentle-_men_, it’ll be astonishin’ ef -that lootenint an’ his lay-out gets into the fort without a scrimmage. -He may, but _ef_ he does, it’ll be a scratch ef ever thar was one, an’ -I’ll lose my confi_dence_ in Injuns.” - -That sounded bad. It was only two days’ march to the fort, but what -would those two days uncover? - -“We’ll soon know, then,” spoke the general. “Let us hope that if they -did reach the fort, they didn’t attempt to return and hunt us further, -and that we’ll find them there. You and the Delawares watch close, -Will, to catch any sign of their having left the trail, at either side.” - -Comstock nodded. - -Still the plains stretched lonely and unbroken, with never a sight of -moving figure save occasional rabbit or wolf. Then, toward noon, at -last something did appear—a white object, dotting the trail a mile -in advance. A skeleton? A tent? A patch of alkali? At every guess -Comstock, gazing, shook his head; and even the Delawares were mystified. - -But General Custer never delayed. - -“Come on,” he bade. “Let’s look into that.” And away he galloped, with -Adjutant Moylan and Major Elliot and Major West and a couple of other -officers, the scouts, and Ned faithfully following. Where went the -general, went he, the orderly. - -“It’s a hoss! A dead hoss, gentle-_men_,” pronounced Comstock, before -they were more than half way. The general did not pause to level his -glasses again; Comstock’s word was enough. - -Sure enough, a horse it was; a white horse, lying stiff and bloody in -the trail, with a bullet-hole through its head. - -“A cavalry horse,” exclaimed the general, quickly. “There’s the U. S. -on its shoulder, and saddle marks on its back.” - -“It’s out of the Second Cavalry, too, general,” added Major Elliot. -“When I was at Sedgwick I noticed a full company mounted on white -horses.” - -“Do you see any Indian sign, Comstock?—As to who did this? Or whether -there’s been a fight?” demanded the general. - -Scout Comstock and the Delawares examined the carcass, and the ground -around-about, for token of arrow or cartridge-shells or pony tracks; -but they could find nothing. The horse had been shot and stripped; that -was all. - -“Then there’s the chance, isn’t there,” proposed Major Elliot, “that -the animal may have dropped out, and that they shot him and took his -saddle and bridle to prevent the Indians making use of him?” - -“We must hope so,” answered the general. - -Yes, they all hoped so; but presently, on the march, Comstock spoke, -from where he was skirting the wagon-trail. - -“There’s somethin’ wrong, sure, gen’ral. Now we’re diskivverin’ signs -that talk. This here party we’re follerin’ has quickened up an’ spread -out more irregular, so they’re on both sides the trail, as well as in -it.” - -“And there’s another dead horse, isn’t it?” directed Major Elliot. - -Yes, a second dead white horse awaited, just ahead; shot in the trail, -and stripped, like the first. - -“Pony tracks, too, gentle-_men_,” announced Comstock, the moment that -he scanned the ground about. “It’s Injuns. I knowed it. An’ the very -wust place for attack, too. Nothin’ but level ground, whar they kin -circle an’ shoot an’ t’other party can’t find shelter, to make a stand. -Shod hosses are movin’ at a full gallop, now; so are ponies. This -lootenint an’ his men are ridin’ hard for kivver. That’s plain.” - -“Would they make it, do you think?” - -“Wall,” said Comstock, again dubious, “it’s doubtful. Tryin’ to -run away from a big party of Injuns, in open country, is dangerous -matter—specially if you depend on speed alone. I take it this lootenint -was ridin’ an’ not fightin’; an’ fust thing he’ll know he’ll be -surrounded, with his hosses all tuckered out.” - -The pony tracks extended far on either side of the trail, showing that -the Indians had been in large numbers. However, no more dead horses -were found, nor any other sign of damage; and Ned began to hope, again, -that the lieutenant and his men had escaped, after all. Nevertheless, -it was still forty miles to Fort Wallace; a long, long way in a ride -for life. - -Suddenly the level country dropped away into a wide valley, through -which flowed a creek marked by a border of willows and high weeds. No -doubt this sight had cheered the fleeing lieutenant and his party; for -in the willows they might make a stand. - -“That’s Beaver Creek, gentle-_men_,” informed Comstock. “Whar the trail -crosses we’re liable to find out a good deal of what we don’t yit know. -But there’s no fightin’ goin’ on down there now; that’s sartin.” - -No; no sound of battle rose to the valley’s rim; and neither did any -smoke of camp or of signal upwell. All was silence; utter silence. As -they rode down the slope, and the stream itself was yet a mile away, -General Custer pointed, without speaking. Off to the left, and ahead, -several black buzzards were circling lazily and low. - -“Whew!” exclaimed Comstock. “Smell it? I reckon, gentle-_men_, that -tells the story. Let’s go over there.” - -The air was thick with rank odor of decaying flesh. General Custer and -his staff turned aside, following the scouts, to search for the source. -It might be only dead buffalo; but probably it was——? - -The brush and grass were high; at the edge Ned halted; he would let -the others enter; he was a soldier, but he would rather stay where -he had stopped. They did not require him; of course they didn’t. The -Delawares, and Will Comstock, and the officers, rode back and forth. -It was only after a long time that, on a sudden, General Jackson, Fall -Leaf’s nephew, gave a loud shout; and instantly he was off his horse -and stooping. - -He had found something. - -The general and all the officers and scouts hastened to him. The -general beckoned for the men to come. Even Ned pushed forward; he could -not help himself, for he feared to see and yet he wanted to see. - -There they lay, all, white horses and white men and one red man; what -was left of them after the enemy had taken vengeance. It was not a -peaceful sight, for the bodies bristled with arrows, shot in and left, -and knife and tomahawk had cruelly gashed. But there were many empty -cartridge shells, showing that Lieutenant Kidder and his little command -had fought desperately and bravely. - -“Surrounded an’ cut off. I knowed they’d be,” declared Comstock. “The -Injuns got here fust, like as not. Sioux. Know why? ’Cause while they -scalped Red Bead they didn’t take his scalp away. There ’tis, lying -beside him. It’s agin Injun rules to bear off scalp of one of their own -tribe. So these must have been Sioux, same as Red Bead. Pawnee Killer’s -band, like as not.” - -That terrible Pawnee Killer! - -“Which is the lieutenant, I wonder?” mused the general. “Have you found -any marks that tell, Comstock?” - -“Not a one. No, sir; I doubt if even his own mother could pick him out.” - -That was so. Only Red Bead could be recognized. All the others were -stripped of their clothing, and were so hacked about the face that -scarcely a feature was left. Fall Leaf the Delaware bent and pointed -at something. It was a black-and-white checked collar-band still -encircling a neck. That was all. - -After a mournful shuddering survey of the bloody field, the soldiers -of the Seventh could only dig a trench and gently place therein these -remains of young officer, his brave men, and his faithful Sioux guide. - - - - -XI - -GRIM DAYS ALONG THE TRAIL - - -When on the third day into the outskirts of Fort Wallace rode with -their melancholy news the returning column, they found the little post -hard-put. Sacks of sand had been piled up for additional barricades; -mounds of earth betokened dug-outs. Twice the Indians had attacked it. -Yes, the Cheyennes under Chief Roman Nose had insultingly cantered -up, and when boldly had out-charged the two small companies of the -Seventh, led by Captain (Colonel) Alfred Barnitz, they were met by a -counter-charge from the Indians. Only after a hand-to-hand fight were -Roman Nose’s warriors at last driven off. Sergeant Anderson thought -that he had wounded Roman Nose. Half a dozen negro soldiers, on outpost -picket duty, had dashed forward, waiting no orders, in a wagon, to help -the cavalry; and the fort officers were loud in their praise of the act. - -So poor little Fort Wallace, alone amidst the burning or freezing -plains, last post of the line to protect the road to Denver, was in -sore straits. - -The telegraph was two hundred miles east, at Fort Harker; even the -stages had stopped running, save at long intervals, in pairs, when a -guard of soldiers could be furnished; dispatches and supplies had been -interrupted. Now the bad rations were rapidly growing worse, and scurvy -and cholera were aiding the Indians. The scurvy was caused by lack of -fresh meat and of vegetables; none of the doctors knew just why the -cholera appeared; it seemed to come from the heat and the ground. - -The condition of plucky Fort Wallace worried the general much. Succor -must be brought in, of course. His own column had arrived pretty much -exhausted by long marches; but he decided to take one hundred of -the better mounted men and make a forced march to Fort Harker, for -supplies. Captain Barnitz had not been able to spare any men for that -purpose. - -To Ned this was the most exciting march yet. It must be made mainly at -night, for coolness and to evade the Indians. All the stage route from -Wallace to Harker was said to be closely watched by the Cheyennes and -Sioux. The stations were abandoned; or else the men had collected in -their dug-outs, entered by underground passages from the station-house -or the stable. - -To approach these dug-outs, especially at night, was no pleasant -matter. The first appeared as only a low mound of earth dimly outlined -against the dusky horizon. In fact, the scouts must get off their -horses and stoop against the ground, to see it. On slowly filed the -column—and as the next thing that happened, out from the mound spurted -a jet of fire—another—two more; and to “Crack! Bang-bang! Crack!” -bullets hummed viciously past the general, and Captain Hamilton (who -commanded the column), and Ned himself. - -“What’s the matter there?” sung out loudly the general and the captain. -“We’re friends! White men! Cavalry!” - -“Bang! Bang-bang! Crack!” And more bullets. - -“Get your men out of here quick, captain. Those fellows are crazy,” -directed the general. “Send somebody forward to parley, and tell ’em -who we are.” - -Lieutenant Tom Custer volunteered. - -“You’d better crawl,” advised the general. - -Colonel Tom advanced, in the dusk, toward the low mound beside the -station buildings. Presently he had disappeared; he was crawling. -“Bang!” greeted him a shot. - -“Hello!” he hailed. “Don’t shoot. We’re cavalry, I tell you.” - -“Come in close then; stand up an’ show yourself, if you’re white,” -retorted a voice. - -“I’m coming,” answered Tom. “I’m Lieutenant Custer of the Seventh.” - -The lieutenant arrived, and the column, listening, could hear him -earnestly explaining. Now from the dug-out a light flickered, and the -lieutenant shouted to the column to come on. - -The dug-out held five station-men. They were waiting, on the outside, -and even in the starlight they were sombre-eyed and haggard. - -“What’s the meaning of this, sirs?” demanded the general, angrily. - -“Well, cap’n, you see it’s this way,” explained the leader, a huge -man with great full beard reaching to his waist. “We thought you was -Injuns, an’ we ain’t takin’ any chances, these days.” - -“But you heard us hail you in good English.” - -“Certain we did; but that didn’t prove much. No, sir-ee. There are -Injuns who speak as good English as you do, an’ that’s one o’ their -latest tricks. They’re up to every sort o’ scheme, cap’n; an’ while -we’re sorry to shoot at you, lettin’ strangers get near at night is too -risky a matter. Speakin’ English don’t count with us fellows. We’re on -to that Injun trick.” - -Therefore every occupied stage station must be approached with great -caution. Besides the station dug-outs, the negro infantry posted in -squads along the route to protect it had their dug-outs, too. These -were of a more military nature than the station dug-outs, and were -styled “monitors,” after the Monitor which fought the Merrimac, during -the Civil War. - -The negro squads first dug out a square hole about breast deep, and -large enough—say fifteen feet or more square—to hold them all. About -the rim they piled up the dirt and sod; and from side to side they laid -a roof of planks covered with more sod. Then they cut small loop-holes -in the low walls, and ran a tunnel out a short distance, with a trap -door. And they were well fixed. They could not be touched by fire or -arrow or bullet. - -These queer fortifications, like huge squat mushrooms upon the flat -surface of the bare prairie, did indeed resemble a “cheese-box on a -raft.” At one of them, when the column arrived, the five negro soldiers -under a corporal were bubbling with glee. - -“Yes, suh,” narrated the corporal, to the general and anybody else who -could hear, “we done had a fight. But ’twarn’t a fight; it was jes’ a -sort o’ massacree. After we got this heah monitor ’bout finished, a -whole lot o’ Injuns come ridin’ along. Reckon dey must have been five -hunderd or five thousand. Fust t’ing dey see, dey see dis ol’ hump a -stickin’ up. Don’t know what it-all means. No, suh. Got mighty curyus. -We-all lay low, an’ let ’em look an’ talk. Dey got so curyus dey -couldn’t hold off any longer, so dey rode in, cranin’ an’ stretchin’ -laike chickens. When dey come right close, ‘Gin it to ’em!’ say I. ‘Gin -it to ’em!’ An’ we did gin it to ’em, out the loop-holes. We gin it -to ’em, an’ when dey skadoodled we gin it to ’em some more, an’ kep’ -ginnin’ it to ’em till dey’s out o’ range. Hi-yah-yah! Dey shore was -scared.” - -And—“Hi-yah-yah!” shouted in laughter his five privates. - -“Good!” praised the general. “How many did they leave on the field, -corporal?” - -“Well, dey didn’t leab no one on the field, gin’ral,” answered the -corporal. “But I reckon we mus’ have killed ’bout half, an’ other half -was nigh scyared to deff.” - -The general was in a great hurry to reach Fort Hays, where (as all -supposed) was Mrs. Custer; and to reach Fort Harker, where could be -obtained the medicines and the food for suffering Fort Wallace. - -At Fort Hays was found no Mrs. Custer, or Miss Diana, or black Eliza. -But all heard about a sudden flood from Big Creek which had drowned -several soldiers and had almost swept away the tent and the women -together; after that, the general’s household had been sent back to -Fort Harker, because Hays was not considered safe for them. Here at -Hays were waiting letters from Mrs. Custer, and the word that at Harker -the cholera was raging deadly. - -Now the general was much alarmed; and leaving Captain Hamilton and the -company to rest a day at Hays, with Lieutenant Cook and Captain Tom -Custer and Ned and two soldiers he pushed on for Harker. The march -from Wallace to Hays, 150 miles, had been made in fifty-five hours; -the ride from Hays to Harker, sixty miles, was made in eleven and a -half hours—which was pretty good, considering the long ride that had -preceded. - -Mrs. Custer was not at Harker. She and Miss Diana and Eliza had been -forwarded on to Riley, for Harker was no place in which to stay. So -from Harker the general also hastened to Riley—but Ned did not go. -Suddenly he felt ill; and the surgeon said that he had the cholera. - - - - -XII - -PHIL SHERIDAN ARRIVES - - -Ned was a very ill boy; but from the hospital at Fort Riley he was able -to accompany his regiment to Fort Leavenworth. Here they comfortably -spent the winter. Of many finely constructed buildings, in the midst -of a one-thousand-acre military reservation overlooking the Missouri -River, near to the bustling city of Leavenworth, with its cavalry and -infantry and artillery, Fort Leavenworth, headquarters post of the -Department of the Missouri, was a decided change from Wallace and Hays -and Harker and even Fort Riley. - -The fall and winter were quiet, while out on the southwest plains a -Government Peace Commission made a new treaty with the tribes. The -Cheyennes were still angry because General Hancock had destroyed their -village; but all agreed to go upon a reservation in Indian Territory, -and to let the railroads, the trails and the settlers alone. - -In the spring another treaty was made at Fort Laramie, in the north, -with the Sioux. The Government promised to withdraw its soldiers from -the Sioux’ hunting grounds of the Powder River Valley east of the Big -Horn Mountains in northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana. To -protect these their last hunting grounds, of the famous Black Hills -country, Red Cloud the Sioux chief had been fighting long and hard. - -Speedily they sent word to their cousins the Cheyennes, Kiowas and all, -of Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado, encouraging them also to drive out -the white men. Already the Cheyennes and Kiowas and Comanches objected -to going upon their reservation; they said they had not understood that -they were to give up good land for poor land. - -The Kansas Pacific Railroad had reached Hays City, and had halted there -as if to rest. The doughty General Hancock had been changed to New -Orleans, and as commander of the Department of the Missouri had been -succeeded by Major-General Philip H. Sheridan. - -Everybody knew Phil Sheridan the fighting Irishman. He visited -briefly at Fort Leavenworth in September of 1867, to assume command; -and here Ned had a glimpse of him. He was unlike either General -Sherman or General Hancock. A little man was Sheridan, of Irish -face, close-cropped grizzled hair, keen gray eyes, reddish moustache -and small tuft of hair beneath his lower lip. With his slight body, -full chest, short neck, large bullet head, and aggressive manner, he -resembled a lion. He was the man who had made that famous “Sheridan’s -Ride” from Winchester to Cedar Creek, in the Civil War, and saved the -day for the Union Army. He had been General Custer’s commander. - -In April the Seventh was ordered back to Fort Harker, to be on hand in -case of Indian trouble. But it was not the same regiment; for it lacked -General Custer. - -The general had been suspended from rank and pay for one year! The -claim was made that he had marched his men too hard from Wallace to -Hays, and that he had absented himself from Fort Wallace without leave, -to go to Mrs. Custer at Fort Riley. His friends believed that he was -innocent of any misdoing; but his jealous enemies triumphed, and the -War Department had disciplined him. - -Nevertheless he had spent the winter at Leavenworth, occupying the -quarters of General Sheridan himself. One good thing had happened. -In the fall Mr. Kidder, father of the slain Lieutenant Kidder of the -Second Cavalry, had appeared at Leavenworth, looking for his son’s -body. General Custer spoke of the black-and-white checked collar-band, -upon one of the bodies; and the father had instantly said that his son -had worn just such a shirt, made for him by his mother, for use on the -plains. With an escort, the father had hastened on to the Beaver Creek -battle-ground, for the remains of his dear boy. - -Now General Custer was at his old home of Monroe, Michigan, to spend -the rest of his term. The Seventh Cavalry must take the field without -him. And much it missed its leader—the dashing Custer of the long -yellow hair and the crimson tie and the buckskin coat; it missed his -horses and his dogs and his enthusiasm; it missed Mrs. Custer. - -Ned had been relieved from trumpeter duties, and was taking it more -easy as clerk in the quartermaster department. His post was made Fort -Hays, and here he was when his regiment arrived to camp just outside. - -Fort Hays had improved. The log quarters were giving place to story -and a half frame houses, painted. The town also had expanded. The -coming of the railroad had made it grow greatly, although it was not -any handsomer. It was a town without law except the law of rope and of -pistol. Wild Bill Hickok with his two ivory-handled revolvers and his -steely eyes and his quiet manner was the peace-maker; but in making -peace men frequently were killed. - -This was a scout headquarters. Constantly in and out, riding the -trails, was Wild Bill; so was Will Comstock; so was California Joe -and so was Pony Bill Cody. But they called him Pony Bill no longer. -He was now Buffalo Bill. During the past fall he had been employed in -supplying buffaloes to feed the laborers on the Kansas Pacific survey. -By the amount of buffalo that he had shot he astonished everybody. -In a friendly contest with Will Comstock he had killed sixty-nine to -Comstock’s forty-six—and Comstock was one of the crack hunters of the -plains. - -There were several new scouts, too: Sharpe Grover and Jack Corbin and -Dick Parr and Jack Stillwell and Bill Trudell; all good. - -During the spring and summer the railroad pushed on westward. To the -north the Sioux were quiet and satisfied, but in the south the Kiowas -and Comanches and Arapahos and all demanded better terms, and guns -and ammunition, ere they went upon their reservation. Scouts Comstock -and Grover and Parr were employed especially to visit about among the -tribes and explain matters and urge peace. Lieutenant Fred H. Beecher, -a nephew of the great preacher Henry Ward Beecher of New York City, -directed their movements. - -This seemed like a very good scheme. For—— - -“In my opinion, gentlemen,” said in Ned’s hearing Wild Bill, “it’s -worth a lot o’ trouble, and the Government can afford to give in on a -few points, to keep those settlers from being murdered, who are out -here with their families, trying hard to build up the country. If we -can only hold those Injuns off till fall, after the buffalo season, and -get ’em on their reservation for the winter, we can then watch ’em.” - -From Fort Hays the Seventh Cavalry marched south, in early summer, to -join with some of the Tenth Cavalry and the Third Infantry, along the -Arkansas River near Fort Larned and Fort Dodge. The Indian villages -were still in this vicinity, and the young men were restless and full -of threats. General Alfred Sully, who had fought the Sioux in Dakota -in 1863, was in command down here, over the District of the Arkansas. - -Ned was retained on his quartermaster department detail; but he was -growing eager to take the field with his comrades. - -Affairs seemed to be shaping all right, until in July arrived at Fort -Hays, by courier from Fort Larned, word that the warriors were leaving -the villages, and trailing northward. Quickly following came the news -that a party of Cheyennes had raided the friendly Kaws, or Kansas -Indians, near Council Grove south of Riley, and had robbed settlers. - -This must not be permitted, for the United States was bound to protect -its Indian friends. - -The Cheyennes and Arapahos and all had not been given the guns and -ammunition promised them by the treaty. Now it was time for the annual -distribution of gifts. When the Comanches and the Kiowas gathered at -Fort Larned to receive them, the agent announced that they could have -no rifles or pistols or powder and lead until the Kaws and the settlers -had been paid for the damage done to them. - -This made the Indians angry. They refused all gifts, and returned to -their camp, the young men began to war-dance. - -General Sully appeared at Fort Larned, and prepared for action. But -Little Rock, Cheyenne chief, claimed that only some bad young men, -on an expedition against the Pawnees, had robbed the Kaws and the -settlers. All the chiefs promised that if guns and ammunition were -issued, so that their people might hunt the buffalo, everything would -be quiet. - -“No more trips will be made by my people into the settlements,” assured -Little Raven, the fat old Arapaho chief, who had always been friendly -toward the whites. “Their hearts are good, and they wish to be at peace -forever.” - -So even General Sully was convinced, and ordered the guns and -ammunition to be issued. - -“The gen’ral ought to’ve known better, gentle-_men_,” declared Scout -Will Comstock, speaking of the matter at Fort Hays, where he had -arrived on an errand. “Those Injuns talked ’round him. One hundred -pistols, eighty rifles, twelve kegs powder, half a keg o’ lead, fifteen -thousand caps, to the ’Rapahos: forty pistols, twenty rifles, three -kegs powder, half a keg o’ lead, five thousand caps to the ’Paches; -Cheyennes, Comanches, Kiowas—they’re bein’ treated the same; that’s -the case to-day. And, gentle-_men_,” he added, impressively, “you -mark my words. We’ll hear from those weepons in a way we won’t like. -I know Injuns. Little Raven an’ Black Kettle may mean all right, when -speakin’, but they can’t control their bucks. We’ll all be fightin’ -those same guns before the buff’ler turn south.” - -Now August had set in; and on the seventh who should arrive at the -post of Fort Hays but a large band of the Indians from the Arkansas. -They had come up from the Pawnee Fork west of Fort Larned, and said -they were on their way to fight the Pawnees. There were four or five -Arapahos, and twenty Sioux visitors from the north, and 200 Cheyennes. -Old Black Kettle the Cheyenne chief was leader; other chiefs were -Tall Wolf and Red Nose and Porcupine Bear and Bear That Goes Ahead -(Cheyennes), and even a son of Little Raven the Arapaho chief. - -That night they held a big powwow. Black Kettle shook hands with all -the soldiers within reach. From beside the council camp-fire he made a -speech, to say, as translated by Wilson the post trader: - -“The white soldiers ought to be glad all the time, because their ponies -are so big and so strong, and because they have so many guns and so -much to eat. All other Indians may take the war path, but Black Kettle -will forever keep peace with his white brothers. He loves his white -brothers, and his heart feels glad when he meets them and shakes their -hands in friendship.” - -This sounded very good, for the whites; but everybody knew that the -Black Kettle band had no business going out to fight the Pawnees or -anybody else. If they didn’t find the Pawnees, then they might try to -fight whomever they met. - -Away they rode, in their war-paint; and next, dreadful tidings came -back. First, into Fort Harker were brought by their husbands two white -women; almost crazed the men related that a party of Cheyennes had -entered their ranch house, on the Saline River north of Harker, and -after being kindly treated to hot coffee and sugar, had thrown the -coffee in the women’s faces, knocked the men down, and abused all -terribly. Two other white men had been killed in the fields with clubs; -a woman had been killed, and two children had been carried away. - -This was the news, to Hays from Fort Harker. From Fort Wallace, in the -other direction, came word as shocking. Boyish Scout Will Comstock had -been murdered by friendly Chief Turkey Leg’s Cheyennes; Sharpe Grover, -his companion, had been desperately wounded. - -Some of the young Cheyennes had tried to trade with Comstock for his -prized revolver. But he would not trade. It was the same revolver that -he promised to give to General Custer as soon as he had guided the -general to a victory. The young Indians then rode with him and Grover -to escort them from the village. Presently they dropped behind, did the -Indians, shot Will Comstock dead, through the back, and almost killed -Grover. But from shelter of his chum’s body, with his long-range rifle -Grover fought all day. During the night and the next day he hid in a -ravine; and through the ensuing darkness he crawled and staggered clear -to Fort Wallace, where he gasped out the tale. - -Aye, the buffalo had not turned southward, but already were Fort Hays -and the other white stations of the southwest hearing from the guns and -pistols issued at Fort Larned. From the Smoky Hill stage route and that -of the Santa Fé, from the Republican, the Saline, the Arkansas and the -Cimarron, at last along the telegraph line passed report after report, -brought in by settler and scout and courier, telling of onslaught by -Cheyenne, Kiowa and Comanche. The town of Sheridan, at the end of -the Kansas Pacific Railroad, only fifteen miles from Fort Wallace, -announced that it had been attacked and for two days kept in a state of -siege! - -Settlers and scouts and other frontiersmen began to pour into Fort -Hays and Hays City; and here arrived General Sheridan himself—the -small-bodied, large-headed, bristly little Irishman, with fire in his -gray eyes. - -“This is war,” Ned heard him repeat. “We’ll fight them to a finish. The -only way to control them is to destroy them wherever they are to be -found, until they all are confined on a reservation.” - -Buffalo Bill Cody had been assigned to the quartermaster department -with station at Fort Larned. Now one day he came riding posthaste into -Hays, his horse matted with sweaty dust, he as dusty and as tired. He -bore dispatches, and reported that all his route of seventy miles had -been infested with hostile warriors. - -He volunteered to return at once over the same route, with dispatches -for Fort Dodge, thirty miles further. Back he rode; and in two more -days he was at Hays again. He had ridden 350 miles in fifty-five hours. -He stayed at Fort Hays, for General Sheridan promoted him to be Chief -of Scouts for the Fifth Cavalry. - -Buffalo Bill’s last dispatches told that the old men and squaws left -in the villages were packing the tipis and were moving south, as if -the Indians did not intend to winter on any reservation. Evidently the -winter villages were to be set up where the soldiers could not follow. - -From General Sheridan went quick orders to General Sully to stop the -Indians, and turn them. And as the soldiers were being kept busy, in -the south and guarding the Smoky Hill trail, to protect the settlers -northward an expedition of volunteers was ordered out. - -They all were frontiersmen, who gladly rallied to fight for ranch and -town. Thirty enlisted at Fort Harker, seventeen at Fort Hays. General -George A. Forsyth, who was called “Sandy” and was colonel on the staff -of General Sheridan, was the commanding officer. Lieutenant Beecher was -his aide. Dr. John S. Mooers of Kansas City, surgeon in the Civil War, -was medical officer; General W. H. H. McCall, of the Civil War, was -first sergeant. Sharpe Grover (now well again) was the guide; Stillwell -and Trudell and Dick Parr were among the scouts. - -Ned burned to go, but he was refused because of his youth. - -“You wait,” comforted Jack Stillwell—a jaunty young fellow, with waist -like a girl’s and face as smooth as Ned’s own. “There’ll be plenty left -for you other people, soldiers and all, to do. Wait till Sheridan gets -out after ’em.” - -“Wall, there won’t be as many as there are now,” remarked significantly -Sharpe Grover, standing near. - -In truth so thought Ned when, on the twenty-eighth of August, out from -Fort Hays rode against the Dog Soldiers raiding the settlements the -little company of half a hundred—few in numbers but every man a skilled -shot. They were well armed with Spencer and Henry repeating rifles, and -had much ammunition. General “Sandy” Forsyth and Sharpe Grover led. - -A few days passed. Ned must continue with his clerkship duties—which, -of course, somebody must perform, even in war. Soldiering is not all -fighting. - -Next, was it learned that south of the Arkansas General Sully, -his Seventh Cavalry and his Third Infantry, had almost lost their -wagon-train and had been driven back into Fort Dodge! One trooper had -been captured by the Indians (poor fellow, Ned knew him well) and -carried off to be tortured to death. Captain Hamilton and Captain Smith -had charged with their companies in vain, to rescue him. - -And next came the more startling news that on the Arikaree branch of -the upper Republican, not far from the Forks where Pawnee Killer had -attacked the Seventh Cavalry camp, 700 Cheyenne warriors under Chief -Roman Nose had surrounded General Forsyth’s fifty men, and had almost -“wiped them out.” After a terrific fight of three days and three -nights, the volunteers had been rescued by Colonel Carpenter and his -Tenth Cavalry from Fort Wallace. Lieutenant Beecher and Dr. Mooers -had been killed; the general thrice wounded; Roman Nose and many of -his braves had fallen. Jack Stillwell had brought the first dispatch -through to Wallace; Trudell had been his companion. - -Yes, war it was. Wouldn’t Custer be needed? At Monroe, Michigan, -wouldn’t he be chafing? His term of discipline was almost done. Then, -as sudden great news, appeared in the Leavenworth daily paper received -at Fort Hays the following telegram, copied: - - Headquarters Department of the Missouri, - In the Field, Fort Hays, Kansas, September 24, 1868. - - General G. A. Custer, Monroe, Michigan: - - Generals Sherman, Sully, and myself, and nearly all the - officers of your regiment, have asked for you, and I hope the - application will be successful. Can you come at once? Eleven - companies of your regiment will move about the 1st of October - against the hostile Indians, from Medicine Lodge Creek toward - the Wichita Mountains. - - P. H. SHERIDAN, _Major-General Commanding_. - - - - -XIII - -THE YELLOW HAIR RIDES AGAIN - - -General Custer did not delay. He never did. Within less than a week, -on the last morning of September who should come racing into the post, -accompanying the ambulance from the railroad station at Hays City, but -Maida and Blucher and Flirt the stag hounds, and Rover the old fox -hound, and Fanny the little fox-terrier, and all the other Custer dogs; -and who should spring out of the ambulance, before it had stopped at -headquarters, but the general himself! There he was, with his yellow -hair and his shining eyes and his quick voice and his lithe, trim -figure, ready for business again. - -Behind the ambulance followed, led by an orderly, the horses Phil -Sheridan and Custis Lee. - -From beyond the headquarters office seeing this, Ned’s heart leaped -into his throat. - -“Custer’s come! Custer’s come!” seemed to run through the post a glad -hum. To Ned it was like a bugle-call; and he instantly resolved that -where the general went, he was going too. No more clerkship duties for -him; no! Suddenly he felt strong and well, ready for anything. That -was how the general made everybody around him feel; he was so full of -energy and enthusiasm. - -Now was it positively known that General Sheridan planned a winter’s -march against the Indians, to catch them in their villages while there -was no grass for their ponies and they could not travel at will. Many -heads were shaken, over this scheme, as being a fool-hardy one; and -clear from St. Louis came out to Hays a tall, lean, leathery-faced, -squint-eyed man—“old Jim Bridger” the celebrated trapper and -mountaineer—expressly to tell General Sheridan that the whole command -would be snowed in and lost. - -But five hundred freighting wagons were busy taking supplies from Fort -Harker and Fort Leavenworth to the posts south in the Arkansas River -country; and with these supplies on hand, for the soldiers and the -horses, and with the men well clothed, General Sheridan reasoned that -the white men would do better in the winter than the red men. - -“The only way to bring those Indians to terms is to give them a good -thrashing. I rely on you for this, Custer,” Ned heard him say. “We’ll -carry the war into the enemy’s country, when he isn’t expecting it.” - -Nothing loth was General Custer; no, not “Old Curly.” He acted as -happy as if he were starting out on a buffalo hunt or a ride with Mrs. -Custer and the dogs. He stayed only a couple of days at Hays, for -instructions and final preparations; and when out he rode, southward -bound, eager to resume command of the Seventh, Ned rode with him, as -his orderly again. - -Fort Hays was well stripped of its scouts whom Ned knew: California -Joe, Jack Stillwell, Jack Corbin, Trudell, Romeo—they were south on the -Arkansas; Buffalo Bill was out with some of the Fifth Cavalry; Wild -Bill was carrying dispatches on the trail: and with them gone, and with -the Seventh gone, Ned had been feeling lonesome and neglected. Now all -was changed: he was riding again with Custer. Hurrah! - -The rendezvous of the Seventh Cavalry was on Bluff Creek, about thirty -miles southeast of Fort Dodge. Fort Dodge was up the Arkansas from Fort -Larned, and was of stone like Larned and Riley. General Custer paused -here only to report to General Sully, commanding the district. The next -day he proceeded on; and in the afternoon were sighted the familiar -white army tents of the Seventh Cavalry. - -What a welcome there was, as the troops turned out to receive him, and -the dogs barked, and as soon as they might the officers flocked to -shake his hand. - -There were some new officers and many new men, for recruits had been -rushed to fill the ranks to war strength. However, there were enough -old friendly faces to make the camp of the Seventh feel like home to -Ned; and he was almost as busy shaking hands as was the general. - -“Back again, are ye?” greeted Odell, heartily. - -“Yes,” grinned Ned. - -“Wance more orderly, then, I take it.” - -“Guess I am, for a while.” - -“Well, the gen’ral sticks to those he likes, an’ to those he doesn’t -like, the same. He’s got a big heart. What’s the news from Hays? Is -Gen’ral Sheridan comin’, too?” - -“Yes. He says the Indians are to be found and threshed.” - -“B’gorry, with Phil Sheridan an’ ‘Old Curly’ workin’ together, this’ll -be no paper campaign, I reckon.” - -“Right you are,” agreed Sergeant Walter Kennedy—who, Ned noted, wore -the chevrons of a sergeant-major. “Because they turned Sully and the -rest of us back into Dodge the Injuns think they’re the bosses. But -when once Sheridan and Custer get after ’em in earnest, they’ll change -their minds.” - -California Joe was here, in all his glory. - -“Is Shuridan comin’, young feller?” he asked. “Wall, he can’t do wuss’n -those other high-up gen’rals have done. But I sorter bet on Shuridan.” - -“Do you know him, Joe?” queried Ned, politely. - -“Do I know him, young feller? Know Shuridan? Why, bless my soul, I -knowed Shuridan ’way up in Oregon more’n fifteen years ago, an’ he was -only a second lootenint of infantry. Quartermaster of the foot, or -somethin’ of that sort. I had a sneakin’ notion if ever they turned -him loose he’d hurt somebody. Say, warn’t he old lightnin’, in the war! -I tell ye!” And Joe wiped his hairy face with a piece of gunnysack that -he used as a handkerchief. “I jest been app’inted by Gen’ral Custer -chief o’ scouts down here; but I told him I wouldn’t serve if this was -to be ary ambulance campaignin’. He said no; him an’ Shuridan was goin’ -to chase the Injuns horseback, so as to ketch ’em. That hit the nail -squar on the head. A column on wheels, with the wagons piled full o’ -soldiers like as if they was goin’ to a town fun’ral in the States, -stands ’bout as many chances of ketchin’ Injuns as a six-mule team -would of ketchin’ a pack of coyotes. Why, that sort o’ thing is only -fun for the Injuns.” - -While waiting for instructions from General Sheridan, the Seventh -Cavalry worked hard to arrive at what Odell called their “fighting -weight.” Five hundred fresh horses arrived by trail from Leavenworth. -The general chose for himself a lively bay which he named Dandy. The -others were apportioned out, and then the troops or companies were -“colored.” That is, the horses were divided by colors; so that one -troop was composed of the grays, another of the blacks, another of the -bays, and so forth. The junior company commander must be content with -the brindles—the mixed colors left over. - -Target practice was made an order of the day, for some of the recruits -never had fired a gun. Forty of the best shots at all distances were -formed into a company of sharpshooters, under Lieutenant “Queen’s Own” -William Cook, he with the long English side-whiskers. - -There were scouting expeditions, and plenty of hunting. The camp fairly -lived on wild turkey and deer and elk and buffalo and rabbit and -grouse. The general’s dogs chased wolves and antelope. - -October wore away. Soon the Indians of the plains would be retiring -into their villages, for the winter. They would eat dried buffalo meat -and their horses would eat cottonwood bark and willows; and they would -not expect to be interfered with. Then in the spring they would issue -forth again, to ride hither-thither, three miles to the cavalry’s one. - -By the reports which Scout Buffalo Bill had brought up to Fort -Hays from Fort Larned, the families of the Indians had been moving -southward. Therefore General Sheridan believed that the main winter -villages would be found down in the Indian Territory, toward Texas. -This was a wild rugged country, where white men rarely penetrated. But -the Cheyennes and the Kiowas and the Comanches knew it well. - -General Sully and Uncle John Smith, an old trader who had married into -the Cheyennes, had located a good rendezvous place for the expedition, -where, forming the North Canadian River, Wolf Creek and Beaver Creek -joined, about one hundred miles south of Fort Dodge. With a huge -supply train of four hundred wagons and with five companies of the -Third Regular Infantry under Major John H. Page, the eleven companies -of the Seventh arrived there, to wait for the Nineteenth Kansas -Volunteer Cavalry. Governor Crawford of Kansas had resigned to be its -colonel in the field; and General Sherman’s last dispatch had said that -the regiment was on its way. - -The camp was named Camp Supply, because the supplies were to be stored -here. It is in present Woodward County, northwestern Oklahoma. - - - - -XIV - -THE WINTER WARPATH - - -Around-about storms continued to threaten. The air was crisp but -uncertain. Everybody must turn to and help erect store-houses to -shelter the supplies. The Kansas Volunteers should arrive at any -moment; but they did not, for they were lost and snowed in and -starving, far to the north. - -However, in the midst of the anxiety and the impatience General -Sheridan arrived. With his escort he appeared in the afternoon of -November 21. He brought in 350 men: a company of the Tenth Regular -Cavalry; the “Sandy” Forsyth scouts who had fought at the Arikaree, now -under Lieutenant Lewis Pepoon; two companies of the Kansas Volunteers -who had been sent ahead of the regiment to Fort Dodge; twelve Osage -Indian scouts, and ten Kansas Indian scouts. Lieutenant Thomas Lebo of -the Tenth Cavalry was in command of the escort. - -Everybody was glad to see General Sheridan come. With “Little Phil” -on the scene, the campaign would start right up. General Custer had -gone enthusiastically galloping to meet him and ride in with him, and -discuss the situation. - -Most interesting of the new arrivals were the Osages. They hated -the Cheyennes, Comanches, Kiowas, and all these raiding Indians who -pillaged them as well as the whites; through the Civil War the Osages -had acted as Union scouts, on the plains. - -The chief in the squad was a tall straight old man named -Cha-pa-jen-kan, or Little Beaver. Another chief was old Wen-tsi-kee or -Hard Rope, rather fat and reported to be very wise. Of the warriors -Koom-la-Manche or the Trotter was the most famous, as a fast runner and -a fine shot. - -The Osages had “made medicine” for the warpath at Fort Hays; the Kaws -had made their medicine on the way down. They all were armed with the -new breech-loading Springfield rifles; and were paid seventy-five -dollars a month and expenses. To show how they could shoot, that -evening the Osages on their war-ponies galloped past a log of wood, -firing at it; and every shot struck. - -The Sheridan column reported terrible weather, on their march down from -Fort Hays. One blizzard after another had assailed them; the plains -were covered with snow; the Arkansas River at Fort Dodge was thick with -floating ice. - -This very evening the winter descended upon Camp Supply also. The -snow began to fall heavily; but standing out in the storm the Seventh -Cavalry band lustily serenaded the Sheridan headquarters. The Seventh -were proud of their band. Odell said that it was the best in the army. -It could play as well on horseback as afoot. Wherever the troopers -went, the band went too. General Custer was fond of music and believed -that it did the regiment good. - -General Custer was in consultation with General Sheridan that evening; -and in the morning was it soon known that the Seventh Cavalry would not -wait for the Kansas Volunteers, but would start at once against the -Indians. The General Sheridan column, in coming down from the Arkansas, -had struck a fresh trail of an Indian war party heading north, on a -raid. The Seventh Cavalry were to follow this trail backward, so that -it would lead them to the village. - -Ned heard his general reading the orders over to Adjutant Moylan. They -sounded just like Sheridan, as they said: - - To proceed south, in the direction of the Antelope Hills, - thence toward the Washita River, the supposed winter seat of - the hostile tribes; to destroy their villages and ponies; - to kill or hang all warriors, and bring back all women and - children. - -The snow was still falling fast; but nobody cared, and least of all -General Custer. He had told General Sheridan that he would be ready to -move out in twenty-four hours; and so he was. By night the wagon-train -of supplies for thirty days had been made up. Only a few tents were -allowed; the baggage was stripped down to blankets and overcoats. - -Reveille was at three o’clock; into the snow and the dark tumbled out -the troopers of the Seventh; and at stables and mess and even at -roll-call sundry jokes passed about. Everybody was uncomfortable, but -nobody was complaining. - -The sentries were knee-deep in the snow; the horses shivered; the cooks -had hard work to cook the breakfasts. - -“How’s this for a winter campaign?” demanded Adjutant Moylan, trudging -almost over his cavalry boots, to the headquarters tent. - -“Fine! Fine!” declared General Custer, peering out. “Just what we want.” - -“Well, we’ve got it, then,” assured the adjutant, snow-covered. - -So they were off, willy-nilly, thought Ned. - -It was just daylight when at the word from the adjutant he blew “Boots -and Saddles.” The notes not only set the cavalry into action, but -seemed to awaken all the camp; for tents were thrown open and officers -and men of the infantry and the volunteers poked out their heads. The -general went galloping across to the tent of General Sheridan. - -“Is that you, Custer? What do you think about the storm?” The words of -General Sheridan issued muffled but plain, into the driving flakes. - -“Just the thing, general,” answered so buoyantly “Old Curly.” “We can -move but the Indians can’t. I’d ask nothing better than a week of this.” - -“Good-by, old fellow. Take care of yourself,” called from the door of -his tent Lieutenant Taylor, an aide, as General Custer galloped back. -Wrapped in a huge buffalo-robe, Lieutenant Taylor looked like a chief. - -The general waved at him. - -“To horse,” sounded Ned. - -The troopers, misty in the storm, stood ready. - -“Prepare to mount!” was shouted the order. “Mount! By fours—right! -For-r’d—march!” - -All along the line of tents hands waved and voices called, for good-by -and good luck, as in column of fours out at a walk rode the Seventh -Cavalry, eleven companies, 800 men, bound against the storm and the -Indians. Bravely blared the band, playing “The Girl I Left Behind Me.” - -General Custer wore a round wolf-fur cap with ear-tabs, fur mittens, -and on his feet great buffalo-hide over-shoes with the hair inside. -That was trapper style. His double-breasted cavalry overcoat kept -his body warm. The whole command was dressed after any fashion that -would be comfortable. California Joe was rigged as customary in his -old slouch hat tied down scoop-shape, on his hands were enormous -buffalo-hide mittens, on his feet hide shoes like the general’s. The -Osages, who were taken, sat stiffly with their buffalo robes projecting -above their heads, behind. Hard Rope shivered and shook, and murmured -plaintively. - -“What’s he saying?” queried the general, of the interpreter. - -“He says it’s bad for an old man to be alone in cold weather, and he -will capture a Cheyenne squaw to keep his back warm,” explained the -interpreter. - -But the scouts were soon out of hearing and out of sight. They were -supposed to take the advance, so as to read sign and guide the column -to the next camping place, fifteen miles. After them trailed the long -column of snow-covered troopers and horses, with the baggage wagons -toiling at the rear. Behind the wagons rode a troop as guard. - -The scouts knew where the trail of the hostile war party had been -crossed, but the snow concealed it and all landmarks. And still the -snow fell, until when after the fifteen miles march (which required -all day) the column went into camp the chill white mantle was eighteen -inches thick. - -“How is it, Joe? Cleared off, hasn’t it?” invited the general, as on a -short tour of inspection in the gray of the next morning he encountered -that worthy. - -“Yep, trav’lin’s good overhead to-day, good mornin’, gen’ral,” answered -the ready Joe. “An’ I’ve got an infarnal chronical cough that’s been -nigh scuttlin’ me this two days, an’ I’ve bin thinkin’ that I cotched -the glanders, an’ they might as well shoot a fellow to onct as to have -that botherin’ him.” - -“Sorry, Joe,” laughed the general. - -The march was south, up the valley of Wolf Creek. Patches of willows -and timber were full of deer and elk and buffalo that had been driven -there by the storm. Maida and Blucher the general’s stag-hounds had -great fun chasing them; and the column secured plenty of meat. - -Now the march left the valley of the Wolf, and crossed to the valley -of the Canadian, a day’s march southward. Beyond the Canadian lay the -country of the Washita River, where, everybody believed, were the -winter villages of the hostile Indians. The Cheyennes, the Kiowas, the -Comanches, the Apaches—there might they be found, snugly encamped until -the call of spring. - -This was the third day. The Yellow Hair and his cavalry were sixty -miles into the Indian’s own country, where white cavalry never before -had been. Around-about stretched the snowy wilderness of plains and -water-course. It was time that some trace of the Indians be found. On -a scout up along the Canadian was sent the gallant Major Joel Elliot, -who never did things by halves. He was given three troops. He was to -travel light, without wagons, but with one hundred rounds of carbine -ammunition to the man, one day’s rations, and horse forage. If an -Indian trail was discovered, he was to pursue at once, and to send back -a courier with the news. With soldiers and scouts, both red and white, -west along the snowy banks of the Canadian, from whose red soil the -wind had blown the snow, rode Major Elliot. - -California Joe had found a ford, and aiming for the Washita, through -the floating ice of the swift current crossed the horses and the -wagons. Helping, the men must wade waist-deep. This was cold, mean -work, but it was done in three hours. - -The high round Antelope Hills loomed ahead. These were the landmarks -of the march and Little Beaver and Hard Rope and their followers had -struck them exactly. Up the further slope of the Canadian Valley toiled -the hooded, heavy army wagons. - -Major Elliot had been gone three hours or more. - -From a little knoll the general had been surveying and directing, -while Ned sat his horse beside him, and Adjutant Moylan bustled -hither-thither. The rear guard finally had crossed, below. For this -they were waiting. - -“All right,” remarked the general, shortly, to Ned. “Sound to horse.” -And—“No! Wait!” he thundered. “Here comes somebody.” - -He pointed, and leveled his glasses. Down from the north was -approaching at steady gallop a figure black against the white -background. - -“It’s Corbin,” pronounced the general, gazing earnestly through his -glass. His tanned face flushed high. - -Yes, it was Corbin—Jack Corbin the scout who was a partner of -California Joe. Evidently he bore important news, for he was urging his -horse mercilessly. He arrived—his face frosty and his horse gasping -through wide frosty nostrils. The general did not say a word, in -query; none was needed, for Corbin spoke at once. - -“We’ve struck the trail, about twelve miles north. Hundred and fifty -Injuns, pointin’ southeast, for the Washita. Made within twenty-four -hours.” - -“Good!” ejaculated the general. “Where’s Elliot?” - -“Follerin’.” - -“Can you catch him, with a fresh horse?” - -“Reckon I can.” - -“Take that horse there,” directed the general. - -Corbin was changing saddle in a jiffy. - -“Tell Major Elliot to push the pursuit as rapidly as he can, and I’ll -cut across country and join him. If the trail changes direction so that -I may not strike it, he is to let me know. If I do not join him by -eight o’clock tonight he is to halt and wait for me.” - -Without a word away galloped Jack Corbin. - -“Sound officers’ call, bugler,” bade the general, to Ned. - -So busy had been the officers that apparently none had noted the -arrival and departure of Jack. But now at the bugle notes they hastened -up, curious to know the occasion. In his quick, sharp manner the -general told them what had happened. - -“Now, gentlemen, this is our chance,” he added. “We mustn’t neglect it, -and we mustn’t let Major Elliot do all the fighting. We’ll cut loose. -The wagons are to be left here, under guard of one officer and of ten -men detailed from each company. Company commanders will make their own -details. The officer of the day will remain in charge of the guard, -and bring on the wagons, following our trail as fast as practicable. -The pursuing column will be in light marching order. Never mind the -weather. The Indians are of more importance. Commands will be limited -to one hundred rounds of ammunition to the man, and such coffee, hard -bread, forage and blankets as he can carry on the saddle. Tents and -extra blankets to be left with the wagons. That is all, gentlemen.” And -the general looked at his watch. “The advance will be sounded in twenty -minutes. Adjutant, you will inform the officer of the day as to the -arrangements.” - -At once half a dozen voices spoke, in little chorus. - -“That’s Hamilton! Oh, we ought to have Hamilton with us!” - -The general smiled and shook his head. - -“Somebody’s duty is with the wagon-train.” - -Out scattered the officers, for time was indeed short, and the general -never accepted excuses for delay. Young Captain Hamilton, as officer of -the day in charge of the rear guard, which had just crossed, had been -absent from the conference; now he came galloping, interrupting the -general who had plunged into the preparations. The captain’s face was -white and anxious. He saluted. - -“Beg your pardon, general,” he blurted. “But do I understand that the -officer of the day remains with the wagon-train?” - -“Yes, captain.” - -“But, general! I’m officer of the day!” - -“I did not think of it at the time, Hamilton,” replied the general, -frankly. “I simply gave the instructions, and I’m afraid they must be -followed.” - -“General!” exclaimed the captain. He was much distressed. Ned knew why, -and appreciated. To stay behind, while the others fought, would be -awful. “Then I must remain? Can’t I go, sir?” - -“The wagon-train must be protected,” answered the general, kind but -firm. “We’d like to have you with us, Hamilton. We need such men as -you. But the train needs an officer, too; and this is soldier’s luck. -Your duty is here.” - -“It seems pretty hard that I’ve got to stay,” he murmured, dismayed. -“There’s liable to be a big fight—and I won’t be on hand to lead my -squadron.” - -The general surveyed him, with eyes softening. Truly, the young -captain, high-mettled and soldierly, made a sorry figure. - -“I’ll tell you, Hamilton. If—_if_ you can find an officer who by one -reason or another feels convinced that he should stay rather than you, -he may take your place. Otherwise, as officer of the day your duty is -with the train.” - -Captain Hamilton’s face lighted. - -“Thank you, general! Thank you! I’ll go and see.” And whirling his -horse, back he galloped, on this forlorn hope. Ned rather trusted that -he would be successful. - -Presently, here he came again. He was fairly shining, as he saluted. - -“Lieutenant Mathey, sir! He has snow-blindness so he can scarcely see, -and he would be of no use with the column. He has kindly consented to -exchange with me. Shall I join my squadron, sir?” - -“Very well, sir,” approved the general. And the glad Captain Louis -Hamilton, grandson of Alexander Hamilton, went flying to his post. - -In precisely due time the general looked at his watch. He vaulted into -the saddle. - -“All ready, Moylan,” he called. And, to Ned: “Sound the advance.” - - - - -XV - -“WE ATTACK AT DAYLIGHT” - - -It was a long, long forced march. Wide and white lay the desolate -desert beyond the Canadian, and through the foot of snow ploughed the -eager column. Not a moving figure broke the white expanse; not a moving -figure save the figures of California Joe and Romeo and Little Beaver -and Hard Rope and the other scouts, as far in advance and on either -side they rode seeking the Elliot trail. As the major, following the -Indians, had been heading southeast, a course south ought to strike his -tracks, soon or late. - -Late it proved to be; for not until within an hour of sunset, and after -a day’s ride without halt for food or drink, did the column see Little -Beaver stop short, and with uplifted hand signal a trail. - -Such had been Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26, 1868. - -By the tracks, Major Elliot was still upon the trail of the -village-bound Indians. After reading the pony sign, Little Beaver and -his Osages declared that the Indians had passed on their way this very -morning. Much relieved, the general ordered a trot; and forward pressed -the column, to overtake the major. Dusk descended. Before were visible -the outlines of timber, along a stream in a little valley. The general -sent ahead a squad of soldiers and scouts, to catch the major and tell -him to halt, at wood and water, and to wait. - -“Tell him not to make camp, but to be ready for a night march when I -join him,” added the general. - -As for the column, at last they were given an hour, for rest and for -coffee, and to feed the horses. - -The zealous Major Elliot had gone further than anybody had expected. -Not until nine o’clock at night, and after another hard ride through -snow and timber and darkness, finally was he found, waiting as ordered, -by a stream with high banks. - -“An hour for rest, again,” ordered the general, briefly. “Then the moon -will be up and we can take the trail. There are to be no bugle calls or -other noise. Sound carries far, in this country. The men may make fire -for coffee, small ones down under the edges of the banks so that the -flames will not show. Send the Osages to me. I want to talk with them.” - -The Osages were certain that this was a branch of the Washita River, -and that the Cheyennes and Kiowas and all had their village not far -down stream. The trail seemed to be leading straight for it. But -through the half-breed interpreter Little Beaver kept insisting that -the soldiers stay here concealed in the timber until daylight, and then -march upon the trail again. - -General Custer snapped his fingers impatiently, and laughed. - -“That is the Indian way of fighting,” he promptly said. “They hate to -attack anybody concealed by the dark or by entrenchments. No, tell -Little Beaver that we are going to fight white man’s way, and that we -march in one hour, when the moon rises.” - -This did not seem to satisfy the Osages, who murmured gutturally among -themselves. Evidently, like Pawnee Killer, although for different -reason, they did not regard any too highly the skill of the white -chief, whom they called the Chief with the Long Yellow Hair. - -The hour passed; the half moon rose; and one by one Captain Hamilton, -Colonel Cook, Captain Yates, Captain Smith, Major Bell, and all the -other company commanders reported to Adjutant Moylan that their -detachments were ready for the march. - -No bugles were sounded; but in column of fours the eight hundred -horsemen rode in dim column down the course of the creek, following the -Indian trail so plainly showing in the white snow. - -Two of the Osages, Hard Rope and a warrior, led, three hundred yards in -advance. They were on foot, the better to read sign; with long, silent -moccasined tread they stole swiftly across the snow. They saw scalps, -to be taken from their hated enemies the Cheyennes and the Kiowas. - -After them rode in single file the white and red scouts, California Joe -on his mule to the fore. His old Springfield musket lay in the hollow -of his left arm; but for the once the reek of his pipe did not drift -back. The orders forbade any smoking. Beside California Joe rode the -general himself, to be on hand to catch the first word or signal. Close -behind him rode Ned, trumpeter orderly. - -At a quarter of a mile the column cautiously followed. Now and then -one of the officers advanced at a trot, and whispered to the general, -making suggestion or query; but even this did not break the silence. -Ever the march continued, as if for hours and hours. - -Suddenly California Joe pointed, significantly. The two Osages picking -the trail had halted; at short command from the general Ned must fall -out and tell Adjutant Moylan to halt the column also. - -When he returned, at trot, the general was with the two Osages. One of -them could speak a little English. - -“What’s the matter?” asked the general. - -“Me don’t know,” replied the Osage. “But me smell fire.” - -Adjutant Moylan, Colonel Myers (who was an old plainsman) and Colonel -Benteen, arrived; they all sniffed hard, as did Ned; but none of them -could smell a trace of smoke. - -“Humph!” grunted Colonel Myers. “He’s scared; that’s what ails him. You -know, these Indians don’t favor this march, and they’re trying to find -an excuse to stop.” - -“Me smell fire,” insisted the Osage; and his companion nodded violently. - -“Do you smell anything, Joe?” queried the general. - -California Joe wagged his head slowly, as he inhaled through his -frosted brick-red whiskers. - -“No, I don’t, gen’ral. Nor Corbin neither. An’ we got first-class -smellers, too, though jest at this moment they’re froze stiff.” - -“Very well,” responded the general. “We’ll proceed. Tell the trailers -to go slow, and keep their noses and eyes open.” - -More than half a mile was covered; and again the Osages had halted. -This time they were triumphant, and received the general with conscious -dignity. The English-speaking Osage pointed before, to the left. - -“Me told you so,” he uttered, in whisper. - -Sure enough. In front, one hundred yards beside the trail, at the edge -of the timber, was low gleam of a camp-fire almost dead. It was only a -handful of embers, and still Ned could not smell it; but there it was. -Truly, those Osages had good noses. - -Although through the drifting clouds of winter the moon shone brightly -upon the long column waiting in the snow, from the fire no movement was -made. The Indians who had built the fire must be sleeping. - -“Joe, you and Little Beaver take a few of your men and scout around -that camp,” whispered the general. A quaver in his voice told of his -excitement. “Find out all you can. We’ll wait here.” - -To the snow swung California Joe and Jack Corbin and Little Beaver and -all the Osages. With click of rifle-lock they stole forward, on circuit -to enter the timber above the fire and thus spy upon it. Presently they -disappeared. Sat tense every officer and every soldier, peering, keen -to meet any vicious volley which surely would empty saddles. For the -column was a fair mark. - -Was the hard, cold march of three days to be a failure? Were the -Indians already on the alert? See! Now, bending low, out from the edge -of the timber issued an Osage. California Joe followed close. One after -another the scouts all issued, approaching the fire. They reached it, -they straightened up—apparently nothing happened, and a great sigh of -relief swept through the tense column, where the companies sat at their -intervals. - -After prying about, and examining shrewdly, the scouts returned. -California Joe reported. - -“Tain’t no reg’lar camp-fire,” he uttered. “The party we’re trailin’ -never made it, ’cordin’ to them Osages. It’s the work of Injun herders; -boys, like as not, to warm ’em while they watched the ponies. Village -ought to be within two or three miles, at most.” - -That was good news. The general gave the word to advance again, but -more cautiously than ever. And taking Ned, as orderly, with his usual -impulsiveness he rode forward accompanying the two Osage guides who had -done so well. - -The trail had left the stream, to cut across a big bend. The guides -kept just at the head of the general’s horse. Whenever they came to a -rise, one would creep forward and peer over. Seeing that the coast was -clear, he would signal for the others to come on. Breathless work was -this, and Ned’s heart thumped so that he feared he would be ordered -to stay where he was. Now from the crest of a long brushy divide the -Osage, reconnoitering, had put his hand to his brow, peering from -under it. He crouched lower, and came hastily back. Something had been -sighted. - -“What is it?” asked the general, eagerly. - -“Heaps Injuns down there,” grunted gutturally the Osage, at the saddle -flaps. And he pointed ahead. - -Off from his horse swung the general; he signed to Ned, and leaving -their mounts in charge of the other Osage, with the first one they also -stole forward. - -“Drop that sabre,” whispered the general to Ned, sternly. Ned unbuckled -his belt and dropped it, with the dragging scabbard. He was making too -much noise. - -Low in the moonlight, peeping over the top of the ridge they scanned -the valley before. About half a mile beyond, upon the snow which edged -the timber skirting the icy stream was a large blackish mass, like a -great mass of animals. - -“Buffalo!” hazarded the general, after looking long and earnestly. - -The Osage said not a word. - -“Why do you think Indians?” whispered the general. “Maybe buffalo.” - -The Osage shook his feathered head. - -“No. Me heard dog bark,” he asserted, softly. - -Again they listened. The freezing air was very quiet. Ned’s heart -thumped; he wished that he need not breathe. Then, clear, through the -night did sound the yappy bark of a dog, from the timber near the black -mass. - -“That’s right,” murmured the general. “Wait! Isn’t that a bell—a pony -bell? Yes. Ponies those are. Buffalo aren’t in the habit of wearing -bells in this country.” - -He turned quickly, and took a step, to carry the news to the column. -But he stopped short. The bell had ceased, no dog barked, but high -and plaintive welled through the lonely waste the cry of a baby. Ned -fairly started; it sounded so like home and fireside. Of course, the -Indians had their babies. - -“That’s tough,” muttered the general. “Those Indians have not spared -our women and children—but I wish that village held only men.” - -With Ned he hurried back to the scouts while the two Osages remained on -lookout over the sleeping village. - -“My compliments to the adjutant, and tell him to have all the officers -join me here,” he directed, to Ned. And Ned carried the message. - -Speedily the word was passed, and from along the column filled with -rumors the officers promptly gathered in a circle about their colonel. - -“The village is ahead, about three quarters of a mile, gentlemen,” -spoke cautiously the general. “Remove your sabres, and come forward -with me, as quietly as possible, and from the top of that rise yonder -where the two Osages are I’ll show you the lay of the land.” - -This they did, gladly. From the rise they reconnoitered, in a cautious -knot. The pony herd was as plain as before; still ruled the lonely -night; somewhere down there the Indian village slept. They believed -that they could trace a collection of tipis. - -After pointing and explaining, and receiving nods of understanding, the -general as quietly withdrew. All followed. - -Now a council of war must be held, where the sabres had been left. -California Joe listened approvingly; Little Beaver and Hard Rope -anxiously, trying to comprehend the white chief’s plan. The Osages had -loosened their buffalo robes, as if prepared for instant action. But -that was not the scheme. - -The attack was to be made at dawn, as soon as there was light enough -for aiming. The village was to be surrounded, first, and charged from -four sides. - -Now was it after midnight; the moon was floating high. At once set out, -under cover of the ridge, with troops G, H and M, about 200 men, Major -Joel Elliot, on wide circuit to take station whence he might charge -the village from below; set out in the other direction, with B and F -troops, Colonel William Thompson, to take similar position above. - -“The attack will be made promptly at daylight, gentlemen,” were the -general’s last instructions. “The band will play Garryowen, and at the -first note you will charge from whatever position you are in.” - -The veteran Colonel Myers and his “right center” column might remain, -until time to take their posts also, not so far away, on the right. - -The fourth or “center” column was commanded by the general himself; -but of the four companies, A, C, D and K, Captain Hamilton commanded -the one squadron, Colonel West the other. And there were Lieutenant -(Colonel) “Queen’s Own” Cook’s sharpshooters. - -Ah, but it was cold up here, behind the ridge. The time was two -o’clock, and four hours must pass before daylight. Nobody might make a -fire, and orders forbade stamping of the feet or walking up and down, -because such a creaking of the snow might give alarm to the village. - -The men, huddled in their overcoats, stood or crouched, each holding -to the lines of his horse. The officers gathered in little knots, and -sitting or standing, talked low. - -The general’s group was the largest: Adjutant Moylan, Lieutenant Tom -Custer, Captain Hamilton, Colonel West, and others. - -“It’s been a long Thanksgiving day, and a fast instead of a feast,” -said Colonel West. - -“Oh, we’ll have our celebration later,” quoth Lieutenant Tom. “You know -the verse: - - “For gold the merchant plows the main, - The farmer plows the manor; - But glory is the soldier’s prize, - The soldier’s wealth is honor.” - -“How about it, Hamilton? Are you glad you came?” asked Lieutenant -Moylan. - -“Perfectly. The only person I’m sorry for is poor Mathey.” - -“He’s liable to miss a rousing good fight.” - -“And one in which some of us are likely to get hurt. Those Indians will -fight like demons, to defend their families and property.” - -“Well, as for me, gentlemen, you know how I feel,” spoke young Captain -Hamilton, earnestly. “I want the soldier’s death. When my hour comes, I -hope that I shall be shot through the heart, in battle.” - -By all the low talk, among men as among officers, the approaching -battle must be regarded as a serious problem. Nobody might tell how -many Indians were housed down below, on their own ground, with plenty -of ammunition and food and cover; and no harder fighters could be found -than the Cheyennes and the Kiowas. - -The Osages, in their war-paint of red, white, black and yellow, sat -under blankets and robes, in a circle, murmuring gravely as if they, -too, were doubtful of the white chief’s ability. One of them was not -in war-paint. His paint all was black, for mourning. The interpreter -explained that this warrior had lost his squaw, to the Cheyennes, and -that he could not wash off his mourning until he had taken a Cheyenne -scalp. - -Ned thought much upon the village. It probably would contain some white -captives. Among them might be little Mary. He resolved to keep his eyes -open for trace of anybody looking as she might look. - - - - -XVI - -“GARRYOWEN” AND “CHARGE!” - - -While dragged the cold hours, some of the officers threw the capes -of their cavalry greatcoats over their heads, and stretched upon the -snow, slept. The general, having finished his inspection, did likewise. -But the Osages did not sleep; neither did the men of the ranks, now -collected closer in groups at their horses’ heads, to keep warm. The -stag-hounds, Maida and Blucher, shivered and whined, and curled in a -ball. - -Beyond, upon the crest of the ridge, an Osage and two of the officers -were keeping keen watch upon the unconscious village below. - -Ned dozed; when he awakened, stiff and shivering, the moon had set, all -was pitchy dark, except that far in the east just a tinge of grayness -signaled the approach of dawn. - -Somebody near Ned stirred, and struck a match. It was the general, who -looked at his watch. The flickering light revealed his anxious face -and moustache rimmed with frost. He stood, and bending over another -sleeping form he said, low and earnest: “Moylan! Moylan!” - -“Yes, sir.” And the adjutant also sat up, to yawn, and spring to his -feet. - -“It’s time we were forming. Wake the officers,” continued the general. -“Is that you, trumpeter?” - -“Yes, sir,” answered Ned. - -“You may help us. When you come to Colonel Myers, either of you, give -him my compliments and tell him to move his command out at once and -take position.” - -“Yes, sir.” - -Many of the officers already were awake, waiting, peering, listening. -All around up-towered dim figures, and cautious voices spoke in -undertones. Faint jingle sounded, as the horses stirred at movement of -their guardians. - -Presently into the darkness filed away Colonel Myers’ column, to take -position further along on the right. - -The troopers of the center column were not yet mounted; the companies -in column of fours bided the time when the light from the east should -be stronger. - -Ned, beside his horse, quivered with cold and excitement mingled. All -before was grim and silent; the ridge, snowy and blotched with brush, -lay against the sky-line to the south; beyond the ridge was the fated -village. Not even a dog barked. - -Suddenly through the columns of fours ran a murmur. Into the velvet -black sky over the ridge soared slowly and stately a fire signal, of -yellow glow. Instantly through Ned’s mind surged the thought that -the village was alarmed, Major Elliot or Colonel Thompson had been -detected, and this was a flaming arrow to spread the news adown the -valley. Next would come the volleys, the shouts, and the shrieks. - -“A rocket! A signal rocket!” ejaculated somebody. - -“How long it hangs fire! Why doesn’t it burst?” wondered Adjutant -Moylan, impatient. - -Up, and up, and up, in course majestic, it floated higher, changing -from yellow to red, and from red to blue, and from blue to lemon. The -columns watched, breathless, eye and ear set for the downward curve or -the explosion. The general spoke, in tone glad. - -“It’s a star.” - -“Oh!” sighed officer and men, relaxed, as passed the word. - -For a star it was, now flashing white across the white and black; a -morning star beautiful beyond description, in this pure, still air. It -seemed like an omen of peace, but it brooded over a scene of war. - -The light in the east had widened. From mouth to mouth the order to -advance was given; without bugle note the columns mounted and now with -creak of snow began to climb the ridge. Down from the crest came the -Osage and the two officers. The village still slept, unsuspicious. - -The crest was reached. Every eye sought the village below. Its pointed -tipis could be described, as thick as young cedars, on both sides of -the curving stream. The pony herd was restless, at the approach of day -following the long, biting night. - -Here upon the crest was swiftly formed the line of battle, for the -charge. Right and left into line rode the troopers, for squadron front; -the right held by Colonel West, the left by Captain Hamilton and the -Cook sharpshooters who were to fight on foot. - -“Officers and men will remove their overcoats and the men their -haversacks, to be left here under guard of one man from each company,” -directed the general, tersely. “We must be free in our actions. Not a -shot is to be fired before the charge is sounded. Keep those dogs here, -too.” - -So overcoats and haversacks were dropped; and stripped to their blouses -the column again waited, breathing hard. - -“For—r’d—march!” The low command trickled adown the long line; and more -by sight than by hearing the line obeyed. From the crest it began to -descend; and if all was going well, from three other points three other -lines were as cautiously closing in on the doomed village. - -The general led, in the center, with Adjutant Moylan beside him, Ned -behind. A few paces off to the rear of the general’s right was Colonel -West, commanding the right squadron. Captain Hamilton was on the left. - -“Now, men, keep cool, wait the command, fire low and not too rapidly,” -Ned heard him caution, in clear, calm tone. - -Sergeant-Major Kennedy of the non-commissioned staff was another man in -front of the line. Ned glimpsed him on the right. - -Just before the center of the line, in close formation rode the -band—every man with his instrument poised, the chief musician’s cornet -at his lips, prepared to burst into “Garryowen” at first signal for -attack. - -The foot of the hill was reached; the pony herd stared, and jostled -uneasily, scenting and hearing and seeing. With crackle of snow they -moved aside—and as the crackle by the cavalry mingled with the crackle -by their ponies, the village slept on, suspecting naught. - -Now the timber ahead was the goal; for in the timber was the main -collection of the lodges. A few, above and below, had been pitched on -this side of the stream; but the majority were across, where the bank -was low and level. - -From the pony herd to the timber fringe was further than had been -expected; as with crackle and slight jingle of sabre and bit the line -moved in at eager walk, every man peering, all too fast brightened the -landscape. The tipis glimmered white; from the apex of some curled thin -smoke; very soon would the village awake to the routine of another day. -How hard they slept—warrior and squaw and child and even dog! - -“Another deserted village!” whispered the general, to Adjutant Moylan. - -The adjutant nodded. The general swept a glance along his line, right -and left; he straightened more in the saddle, his right hand fell to -the butt of his revolver, projecting from holster; evidently the time -had come, and in a few moments would it be known whether this was -indeed another abandoned village. Ned raised his bugle to his lips, for -the “Charge”; but even while he was drawing breath, in readiness, smart -and quick rang from the farther side of the village a single report of -rifle! The alarm! - -What a change burst upon the slumberous valley! Turned in his saddle -the general; with a word his voice smote the band into action. - -“Garryowen! Give it to ’em!” - -No longer was there need for concealment. Quite the opposite. -Shattering the icy air, pink with nearing dawn, into full cry blared -the doughty band. The men cheered wildly; back from the hills beyond -the fated village hastened like an echo other cheers. - -“Trot—march!” - -The line of squadrons, irregular as they surged through the low brush, -broke into the trot. Sabres jingled, saddles creaked; carbines were at -the “Advance,” butt on thigh, muzzle up; and the sharpshooters must run. - -The trees were close before. The tipis were plain. Dark figures were -darting among them. Dogs barked furiously. From the other side of the -village pealed a rattling volley of carbines, and spread to a steady -clatter. - -The general stood in his stirrups; he whirled Dandy about, and swung -high his cap above his yellow hair. Over the clamor of band and of -cheer his voice rose exultant. - -“Charge!” - -This was enough. Ned glued his lips to that old bugle and from puffed -cheeks forced his very soul into the wild stirring notes of the -“Charge.” On right and on left the company bugles answered. Forward -sprang the horses, awaiting no spur. - -Ned was conscious that the band had dropped back through an interval of -the squadron behind; they raced on past it; but it continued to play. - - Our hearts so stout have got us fame, - For soon ’tis known from whence we came; - Where’er we go they dread the name - Of Garryowen in glory. - -More savagely cheered the men. Sergeant-Major Kennedy (fine soldier) -had drawn up almost even with the general and the adjutant. They rode -with revolvers held aloft, to be brought down to the deadly level. Ned -blew over and over the “Charge”—the bugle in his left hand, but his -revolver in his right. - -Now they struck the first trees, bordering the stream and housing the -sprinkling of tipis on this side. Out from the tipis were bursting -men and women—the men half naked, weapons in their grasp, the women -scurrying with their frightened children. They saw the galloping line -of blue, and swerved for shelter of tree and stream. The Indian rifles -cracked venomously into the very faces of the horses. Ned thought that -he saw, with the corner of his eye, Captain Hamilton pitch sideways -from his saddle. But the Custer revolver, and the revolvers of his -companions jetted smoke, and with a roar the carbines of the troopers -drowned every noise, almost every thought save the thought of fight. - -Back were swept the Indians—warriors dodging, women and children -fleeing. Driven from their white lodges, many warriors were standing -waist-deep in the frozen stream; others fought from cover of the high -bank; others from the trees and the brush. It was hot, fast work. Even -the squaws were using rifle and bow. Some fell, like the warriors, shot -down in the act of bitter defence. It could not be avoided. Ned fired -right and left, but whether he hit anybody he did not know. - -Now the line was well into the first collection of tipis, and at the -stream. On the other side the battle was raging fiercely; and into the -stream plunged the reckless squadron, their line disorganized but still -resistless. Among the tipis opposite reared a single tipi of black, -which must be the tipi of the chief, old Black Kettle. But old Black -Kettle was lying stark, shot down by the rapidly riding Koom-la-Manche. - -The battle had developed into a fight-at-will—into quick shooting among -the tipis and the trees, cleaning them out. The village was quickly -cleaned, but the struggle had only begun. In the village were now the -troops; the Indians were outside; their whoops and their firing waxed -ever more furious. The Osage scouts dashed hither-thither, answering -whoop with whoop. Little Beaver’s face was convulsed like a demon’s. -Sighting him, Ned almost fired upon him, but stayed his hand just in -time. In the melée ’twas hard to tell friend from foe. - -Driven in by the cordon of troopers, still the trapped Cheyennes made -desperate rushes, to gain cover. On a sudden Ned’s eyes, roving rapidly -among the tipis, were halted short by a new sight: a little white girl -running! A little white girl—in fringed buckskins and in moccasins; -but yet a little white girl, her long light hair floating over her -shoulders. With a startled shout of “Look!” and with jab of spur, Ned -dashed for her. - -“Mary!” he called. “Mary! Here I am! Mary!” - -But how could his voice be heard, amidst the hubbub of shot and cheer -and whoop! - -The fight was every man for himself, and all together to keep the -Indians from breaking away. The grove was a pandemonium. Ned had dashed -forward alone. He passed the first of the tipis in his path; and there -came Mary, fluttering bravely, dodging hard; behind, his hand even -now outstretched, his countenance scowling evilly, was a large Indian -warrior. Cut Nose? Maybe. Who he was did not matter. - -Again Ned shouted, and spurred Buckie. He leaned, and thrust forward -his revolver, to pull trigger. The big Indian was a fair mark, at the -short range; but of course the bullet must not hit Mary. Now she had -stumbled on a tent peg, and was down. But Buckie was almost upon her; -so was the Indian. Strung bow, with arrow fitted, was in his hand, as -he ran; he was quick-witted, for at token of Ned on Buckie disputing -his claim his arrow was instantly at his eye, bow-string drawn to an -arc, and iron point leveled at Ned’s breast. - -[Illustration: THE BIG INDIAN WAS A FAIR MARK, BUT THE BULLET MUST NOT -HIT MARY] - -Ned scarcely had time to check Buckie, fling himself to one side, -and pull trigger. He was conscious that the twang of the bow and the -bark of his Colt’s sounded together. Then a terrific blow in the face -blinded him with starry red, and sent him dizzily reeling down, down. -His feet slipped from the stirrups, and he landed in a heap. - -He must not stay there. His head was numb with the shock, but his -mind worked frenziedly. What was happening to Mary? What would happen -to himself? The great fear of the scalping-knife and of the tearing -by cruel hands stung him more than did the pain now increasing. He -squirmed to his knees, revolver cocked, and tried hard to see. Before -his one eye the tipis swam vaguely. Was he here alone? Where were the -other troopers? Was that light spot Mary? Was Cut Nose coming? Or did -the big Indian lie huddled upon the trampled snow at the base of the -tipi on the right, his outstretched fingers touching the little girl -figure whose face was hidden in her arms! - -Fast Ned crawled across, revolver ready. The big Indian did not stir; -in one hand his bow was clutched splintered; under him the snow was -reddening. Ned threw aside his wild-beast caution. - -“Mary!” he called. “Get up. Quick.” - -She raised her head, and stared, startled, blue eyes wide. - -“Who are you?” she quavered. - -“I’m Ned. I’m brother Ned. I’ll save you.” - -“Oh, Ned!” she cried, scrambling to him. “You’re hurt! You’ve got an -arrow sticking right in your head.” - -Ned put up his hand, in haste to feel. His fingers met the feathered -end of an arrow, jutting from his face. An excruciating pain sped -through his head and down his back; and frightened, he fainted. - - - - -XVII - -AFTER THE BATTLE - - -Ned did not stay unconscious long. He was half-conscious. He dimly -heard the pleading voice of little Mary, he felt her caresses, he was -aware that the shots and the shouts and the whoops continued, he felt -the throbbing pain of his wound, he felt himself lifted and carried, -lax, and deposited again; and he felt a sharper, sickening agony as -fingers manipulated the arrow, while a kindly voice soothed him. That -must be the surgeon, Dr. Lippincott. - -He shut his lips firmly, not even to groan. It was the part of the -soldier to bear pain; and if he was only a boy, he also was a soldier. -A “snip” sounded, upon the arrow, and for a moment the shock was almost -too much to stand. Then the shaft was gently but firmly slipped from -the hole. The surgeon had cut off the head and had drawn the arrow out -backward, for the point was of course barbed. - -“You’ll do nicely, my lad,” spoke the surgeon. “It’s only a flesh -wound. It followed outside the skull. Good!” - -Soft touch applied a bandage. - -“Can’t you see, Ned? Please see!” implored little Mary. - -Ned rallied and opened his one eye. He was bolstered up, on a heap of -buffalo-robes. Mary was trying to hug him. He hugged Mary. They were -in an open space amidst the tipis, where the field hospital had been -established. Around-about them were other wounded soldiers. Colonel -Barnitz was lying near, as pale as if dead. Doctor Lippincott and his -assistants were busy here and there. - -The rattle of rifle and carbine, the quick orders, the defiant yells, -betokened desperate battle. The strains of “Garryowen” sounded wild and -inspiring, as the band, posted on a little knoll by the village, played -on and on. But higher, more piercing, penetrating all the clamor, not -unlike the howl of wolves rose an incessant chant—the mourning wail of -sorrowing squaws. - -The charge had been successful. The troops had the village. Now the -surrounding hills were alive with Indians; the soldiers were in the -center; and the day was not yet noon. - -Rapidly came the news, brought in by the wounded, or drifting -in hap-hazard from hurrying fighters. Captain Hamilton had been -killed—shot through the heart in battle, just as he had desired as a -soldier’s end. Bluff Colonel Alfred Barnitz was desperately wounded -by a ball through the body. Lieutenant Colonel Tom Custer had been -wounded, and Lieutenant March. Nothing had been seen, since the first -attack, of Major Elliot or Sergeant-Major Kennedy. Black Kettle and -Chief Little Rock were slain. Major Benteen had encountered Black -Kettle’s young son, not fourteen years of age, and after being fired -upon repeatedly by him and having his horse shot under him, had been -obliged to shoot back and kill the gallant young warrior. Squaws -and children had fought wickedly, helping the warriors. One squaw, -fleeing with a captive little white boy, had stabbed him rather than -surrender him. She had been shot down at once; but too late. Romeo the -interpreter had gathered the captive squaws into a large tipi, and -California Joe had herded nine hundred ponies. This was the Cheyenne -village, with a few Arapaho and Sioux tipis in it. But one of the -squaws had informed the general (who was unharmed) that below the -Cheyenne village extended for ten miles the villages of the Kiowas -and of the Comanches, more Cheyennes, the Arapahos, and some Apaches. -Aroused by runners and by the noise of conflict, these warriors were -rallying by the hundreds to the attack and the rescue. - -Captain Smith came riding hastily through; by the motions of his hand -he was counting the tipis; and he was in a hurry because every now and -then some angry squaw shot at him. - -“Fifty-one,” he called, to an orderly. - -General Custer himself appeared, flushed and energetic, on Dandy -plashed with froth and frozen mud and water. - -“Hello,” he cried, at sight of Ned. “Hurt?” - -“Yes, sir,” and Ned tried to salute. - -“Bullet?” - -“No, sir. Arrow.” - -“It didn’t go through his head,” piped little Mary, bravely. “It just -stuck there.” - -“I’ve found my sister, sir,” informed Ned, eager to let him know. - -“Good!” And the busy general turned to other matters. His eagle glance -measured the hospital. “You must get ready to move out of here, -doctor,” he said. “We sha’n’t stay.” - -“All right, general.” - -And the Yellow Hair dashed away. - -More and more Indians were gathering upon the ridges around the -village. The head-dresses of the warriors could be seen. Word came that -the overcoats and the haversacks which had been left by the center -column when it advanced were captured and that the guard was obliged -to scud hard for escape. Blucher the stag-hound had run out among -the Indians, thinking that they were yelling for a hunt; and now he -stiffened up there, with an arrow through him. Maida had not been hurt. - -That was bad, to lose the overcoats and the haversacks of -rations—although of course here in the village was plenty of furs -and food. But what of the supply train, which Lieutenant Mathey was -bringing on? From the hills the Indians would soon sight it, and while -a thousand of them fought the cavalry, another thousand would attack -the eighty men guarding the wagons. - -The warriors surrounding the village did not seem ready to storm it and -retake it; while a circle of the troopers, dismounted, kept them at -long range, field squads sought among the tipis for the dead and the -wounded on both sides. - -A lull had occurred in the fighting. Now 200 soldiers were set at work -heaping high the plunder from the tipis, and tearing the tipis down, to -burn them. General Custer, in plain view, on restless Dandy, delivering -rapid orders right and left to his aides, received report of the battle -results. - -There were 875 ponies and mules; 241 saddles, some (as could be seen -in the pile gathered) very finely decorated; 573 dressed buffalo -robes—some of these, also, very fine; 390 lodge hides; 160 raw robes, -untanned; thirty-five bows, thirty-five revolvers, forty-seven rifles, -360 axes and hatchets, twelve shields, seventy-five lances, ninety -bullet molds, thirty-five pounds of powder, 1050 pounds of lead, -300 pounds of bullets, 4000 arrows and arrow-heads, 470 Government -blankets, ninety-three coats, 775 hide lariats or picket-ropes, 940 -skin saddle-bags, 700 pounds of tobacco, and moccasins and dried meat -and flour and so forth. - -One hundred and three Indians had been killed, including sixteen -chiefs; three squaws and a boy and two girls had been wounded; -fifty-three were prisoners. Captain Hamilton had been killed, and three -other soldiers; Colonel Barnitz, Colonel Tom Custer, Lieutenant March, -and eleven men wounded; Major Elliot and Sergeant-Major Kennedy and -fourteen men were still missing. It was rumored that they had pursued -some Indians escaping down the stream. - -After a few things had been picked out, to keep, the piles of lodges -and belongings were set on fire. At sight of the flames, from the -Indians upon the hills swelled a great cry of rage, and down they came, -in party after party, charging the cavalry lines. The general ordered -his mounted squadrons to charge back. Outfought, the Indians were -forced to open a way wherever led the guidons. Thus breathing space was -again given. - -The whole column was being put in marching formation. The hospital had -been broken—when now from the column’s rear sounded sharp volleys, and -continued heavy firing. - -An attack? Or was it Major Elliot and men cutting their way through to -join their comrades? Or was it the supply train, in peril? No. Swiftly -passed the word that the general had directed that all the captured -ponies and mules be shot, except those needed to carry the prisoners. -Eight hundred were being killed, by four companies detailed to do the -firing. - -This was cruel, but necessary in war. What could the column do, with -all those wild ponies and mules? The Indians would fight fiercely to -retake them; the Indians would be badly crippled, without them. So -the general had set his heart hard, and had given the order. When the -firing ceased, all the column was glad, for killing horses is not -soldiers’ work. - -Major Elliot and his fifteen had not been heard from. To delay and seek -them might mean the loss of the whole column and of the supply train. -How thick the Indians were swarming! Kiowa, Comanche, Arapaho and -Apache and Cheyenne, in their war-dress they were rallying to avenge -their fellows. Upon the tops of the hills they had posted lookouts, to -watch the country around about, and the next movement of the invaders. - -It was three o’clock in the afternoon. The battle had lasted nine -hours. At signal from the general pealed clear and defiant the bugle -call of “Advance”; “For—r’d—march!” sounded the command. - -The worst wounded, and the body of Captain Hamilton wrapped in a -blanket, were in the ambulance. Ned could ride his horse; and beside -him rode upon a pony little Mary, with her Indian finery and her white -girl face and hair. The Osage scouts bearing many scalps—the mourning -warrior now in war-paint like the rest—led; the captive squaws and -children, on ponies, under guard closed in at the rear. Skirmishers -rode the flanks. - -Thus, in close order, with flags streaming and band playing, as if to -attack the other villages down the stream forth from the battle-field -and the lodge ashes marched all boldly the Seventh Cavalry. - -Away hastened the Indians, to rescue what they could before the -merciless Chief with the Long Yellow Hair should strike there also. -They went scurrying down the valley, and the most of them disappeared. -But the Yellow Hair was wily. When darkness fell, without having -attacked the other villages he turned his men about, and on the back -trail marched fast until two in the morning. The men without overcoats -or haversacks suffered. Colonel West was sent on to meet the wagon -train and reinforce it; the rest of the column camped about huge fires, -here in the valley of the Washita ere yet the trail veered off for the -Canadian, northward. - -The Osages hung their captured scalps to a pole in front of their -fire, and discharged several volleys over them. Highest of all was -hung Black Kettle’s grayed scalp, the prize of the proud young brave -Koom-la-Manche. - -This shooting, explained California Joe, who knew everything, was done -to drive away the spirits of old Black Kettle and the others, who would -be hovering about, trying to take their scalps back again. - -California Joe was in great glee, and talked constantly. - -“Fightin’?” he demanded, for general answer. “Call that fightin? I -call it jest reg’larly wipin’ out the varmints. Yes, an’ sich a one as -they won’t hev agin, I tell ye. I rather ’spec’ now them Injuns would -be powerful glad to call it quits for a spell.” - -Joe seemed to be right, for morning broke clear, cold, but peaceful. At -noon the wagon-train was met safe and whole. Hurrah for blankets and -tents and supplies. - -That night California Joe and Jack Corbin rode off with dispatches -announcing to General Sheridan the battle of the Washita. ’Twould be a -long perilous ride, across the miles of hostile wintry country. - -The wounded were doing well. Even Colonel Barnitz, who was thought to -be mortally wounded, had survived all the jolting and according to -the reports of Doctor Lippincott was likely to recover. Ned’s head of -course ached considerably, and he could not blow his bugle or use the -eye on the bandaged side, but he was able to ride, and soon would be as -good as new—save for the scar. He and Mary had much to talk about. - -When Camp Supply was almost in sight, California Joe and Corbin and -another scout came riding with answering dispatches from headquarters. -Joe and Jack had gone through in thirty-six hours, travelling mostly by -night; here they were again. - -That evening at guard-mount, with all the troops in line, by direction -of General Custer, Adjutant Moylan read the dispatch received from -General Sheridan: “General Field Orders No. 6,” dated “Headquarters -Department of the Missouri, in the Field, Depot on the North Canadian, -at the Junction of Beaver Creek, Indian Territory, November 29, 1868.” - -It officially announced the defeat “by the Seventh regiment of cavalry, -of a large force of Cheyenne Indians, under the celebrated chief Black -Kettle, re-enforced by the Arapahos under Little Raven, and the Kiowas -under Satanta, on the morning of the 27th instant, on the Washita -River, near the Antelope Hills, Indian Territory;” and, like all such -official reports of engagements in the army or navy it told the losses -and the gains. But the last paragraph, read by Adjutant Moylan in voice -emphatic, was what brought from the ranks the cheers: - - “The energy and rapidity shown during one of the heaviest - snow-storms that has visited this section of the country, - with the temperature below freezing point, and the gallantry - and bravery displayed, resulting in such signal success, - reflect the highest credit upon both the officers and men - of the Seventh Cavalry; and the Major-General commanding, - while regretting the loss of such gallant officers as Major - Elliot and Captain Hamilton, who fell while gallantly leading - their men, desires to express his thanks to the officers and - men engaged in the battle of the Washita, and his special - congratulations are tendered to their distinguished commander, - Brevet Major-General George A. Custer, for the efficient and - gallant services rendered, which have characterized the opening - of the campaign against the hostile Indians south of the - Arkansas. - - “By command of - - “Major-General P. H. SHERIDAN.” - -“Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!” cheered the ranks. It was good to be -appreciated by such a soldier as Phil Sheridan. - -Word was sent ahead by courier, that the next day the expedition would -enter Camp Supply, and soon everybody knew that the entry was to be -made in style. There was a busy evening and early morning applied to -scouring weapons and buttons and patching clothing. - -The day was beautiful. The sun shone bright, the snow had melted, the -air felt warm. Just at noon the head of the column topped the ridge -below which lay Camp Supply. The glad firing of rifles, by the Osages, -who led, announced that the camp was in sight. - -Over the crest of the ridge, and down the long sunny slope into the -tent-dotted valley marched as for review the victorious eight hundred. -General Sheridan and his staff, in full dress, were waiting, posted on -their horses where the column would pass. - -First rode on their prancing ponies the Osage scouts. They and their -ponies were brightly painted and fluttered with strips of red and blue, -with feathers and trinkets; they had donned their gayest finery; from -their spears dangled scalps—the spear of young Koom-la-Manche waving -the scalp of Black Kettle. As they rode they brandished their weapons, -they fired their guns, and sung wild songs of triumph. Little Beaver -led. He tried to sit stiff and proud; but once he must beat his -swelling chest and cry loudly: “They call us Americans. We are more. We -are Osages!” - -Behind rode in a line the white scouts, they also proud, but California -Joe on his old mule smoking his black pipe as usual. - -Then came the Indian families, gazing curiously, some of the squaws and -children three on a pony, many in blankets scarlet and blue. - -Then rode the general and his staff. After them marched the band -playing “Garryowen.” In columns of platoons followed the troops, rank -by rank, their officers in command. - -Higher rose the yells and chants of the Osages; faster California Joe -puffed his pipe; more stirring played the band. Weapons sparkled, the -bright blankets and the Indian ornaments of silver and copper gleamed, -the sabres flashed in a “present,” as rank after rank the victorious -column passed in review before General Sheridan, repeatedly lifting his -cap. - -Not the least prominent in the ceremony were Ned and the other wounded, -who felt themselves heroes all. - -When the Seventh had gone into camp, here at the rendezvous again, -there was a great time of congratulations and shaking of hands. That -night the Osages gave a tremendous scalp dance, which lasted until -morning and kept many people awake. - - - - -XVIII - -TO THE LAND OF THE DAKOTAH - - -The Seventh went into camp about half a mile up Beaver Creek from -the log stockade of Fort Supply. On the third day after, the body of -Captain Louis McLane Hamilton was laid to rest under some cottonwoods -on the bank of the creek. It was a solemn and tender military funeral; -with muffled drums and slow march by the band, and in the ambulance -a rude board casket covered with the American flag, and behind the -ambulance the captain’s horse, draped with a black cloth, and bearing -the empty saddle and the cavalry boots upside down. Over the grave were -fired three volleys; Odell sounded “Taps.” - -The Nineteenth Kansas Volunteers had at last struggled in, after losing -by cold and starvation almost all their horses. General Sheridan had -been waiting only for the Kansas soldiers, before he should start out -himself, with General Custer and all, upon another winter march against -the Indians. And he hoped to get some news of Major Elliot and fifteen -men. - -However, it was decided to send the prisoners and the wounded up to -Fort Hays; and as Ned was not yet fit for duty (the arrow had made two -large holes, one over his left eye, where it had gone in, and the other -over his left ear, where it had come out), up to Fort Hays must he go. -Little Mary of course went, too. - -On the seventh of December, scarce a week after the Seventh had marched -in, out marched again the famous “pony-soldiers,” together with the -infantry or “walk-a-heaps.” General Sheridan, whom the Indians styled -“Little-Big-Short-Man-Ride-Fast,” accompanied the column, but “Old -Curly” (“Creeping Panther,” “Strong Arm,” “Long Yellow Hair”) was in -command. They headed into the southward. For the northward trailed the -invalids and the Cheyenne prisoners, under escort. - -From the field reports came regularly through to Fort Hays. On the -march southward the battle-field of the Washita had been revisited. Two -miles below the Black Kettle village were discovered, in one little -space of frozen ground, the disfigured bodies of the lost Major Elliot -and Sergeant-Major Kennedy, and the fourteen others. Piles of cartridge -shells showed that they had fought staunchly until one by one they had -fallen. The Indians hastening to the rescue of Black Kettle must have -surrounded them. - -The Comanches and Apaches gathered upon the reservation. Satanta and -Lone Wolf the Kiowa war-chief, were captured, and all the Kiowas came -in. So did the Arapahos. And after to the Strong Arm, as they now -called the general, they had surrendered two young white women, Mrs. -Wilson and Miss White, so did the most of the Cheyennes. - -The campaign had been a success; the battle of the Washita had -shattered the tribes of the Southwest Plains. - -Upon a bright day in March, 1869, to the tune of “Garryowen” the -travel-worn Seventh Cavalry rode blithely home into Fort Hays. They -brought more Cheyenne prisoners, and more tales. - -A new officer was in command at Fort Hays. He was General Nelson A. -Miles, just appointed colonel of the crack Fifth Infantry, but in the -Civil War he had been a cavalry officer. He sent out his Fifth Infantry -band (a good one) to greet the Seventh, and with “Garryowen” to escort -it into camp. - -Clad all in buckskin, and still wearing his wide-collared blue shirt -with the stars on the points, and his crimson necktie, General Custer -led, on Dandy. He had grown a beard, during the winter; of bright red, -and not very handsome. Clad in buckskin were many of the officers. The -wagons were laden with trophies of robe and shield and embroidered -shirt and savage weapon. California Joe smoked his black pipe. - -Now back beside Big Creek, near to Fort Hays, where they had camped in -the early summer of 1867, the Seventh Cavalry might enjoy a long rest; -for the plains were quiet. - -Mrs. Custer had hastened out from Fort Leavenworth, where she had -been waiting; came with her, to join the “gin’nel,” Eliza the cook -and Henry, negro coachman. Came wives of other officers. Mrs. Miles, -married only a year, already was at the post. - -It looked as if the Indian troubles were over. Only in the north -the powerful Sioux were independent of the white man. But they had -their own great region wherein to roam, and wherein white people were -forbidden. - -Ned’s wound had rapidly healed. Little Mary was placed with a kind -family at Leavenworth. The Seventh were quartered at Fort Leavenworth -for the winter of 1869–1870; they spent the following summer on the -plains, in scouting and other routine work, varied by buffalo hunting, -and in March, of 1871, they were transferred to Kentucky and South -Carolina. Here, at small posts, they were to help break up unauthorized -whiskey manufactories, and a secret society called the Ku Klux Klan, -which interfered with the rights of Northern citizens and negroes. This -was not soldierly work such as serving on the plains, and the Seventh -did not feel particularly pleased. - -The scouts, too, were well scattered. California Joe had disappeared. -Reports said that he had gone into the mountains. Wild Bill Hickok had -been attacked by some unruly soldiers, and as a result of his terrible -defence with his deadly weapons he had been obliged to leave Hays. He -had become marshal at Abilene—another rough and ready town, further -east on the railroad. Romeo had married into the Cheyennes, with whom -he was living. Buffalo Bill Cody was attached to the Fifth Cavalry. - -As for Ned, it seemed to him that he ought to stay near Mary. So -he was granted his discharge (with honor) from the army, and found -a Government position in the quartermaster department at Fort -Leavenworth. Here he might mingle with the soldier life that he loved, -and also watch after Mary. She was doing finely, and growing into a -large girl. - -Once Ned caught a glimpse of the general, when in the spring of 1872, -the general was returning from a big buffalo hunt on the plains with -the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia. Custer had been assigned as his -escort, by General Sheridan. Buffalo Bill had been the guide. The hunt -was a great success, and the Grand Duke was much pleased. - -Another year passed—and suddenly spread the news that the Seventh -Cavalry were once more to take the field. They were ordered to assemble -and as a regiment together to proceed to Fort Rice, among the Sioux of -Dakota Territory. - -That news was enough for Ned. It set his blood to tingling, it set his -thoughts to dancing, it filled his eyes with pictures of camp and of -march and of an alert, lithe, soldierly figure whose keen blue eyes and -long yellow hair and clarion voice no boy ever could forget, any more -than he could forget the cavalry guidons waving in the charge. - -Ned re-enlisted, with request that he be assigned again to the Seventh. -And as he was a “veteran,” and as the Seventh needed more men, for -field service, he was ordered to report to his regiment at Omaha. -There, the middle of March, with a few genuine recruits he was waiting -at the station when in pulled the first section of the long train -which bore the famous Seventh Cavalry, en route from the States to the -best-beloved frontier. - -Out from the cars boiled the blue blouses and the yellow stripes! -There was the general—first, as usual. He was wearing the regulation -fatigue uniform, instead of buckskin; he had cut his hair; he seemed -whiter than when on the plains: but he was the same quick, bold, active -spirit. And there was Mrs. Custer, with other ladies. And there was -“Queen’s Own” Cook—and Lieutenant Tom—and Captain Benteen—and all the -old officers, and several new ones. And there, poking out of the car -windows and thrust from the steps, were familiar faces and forms of -comrades. - -Ned must report to the adjutant, who proved to be Lieutenant Calhoun. -Then might he be greeted by friends. He even had the pleasure of -saluting the general, and having his hand shaken while the general, and -Mrs. Custer, asked about himself and about Mary, and said that they -were glad to have him back again. Finally he found Odell, who was in -the band; and from Odell might he receive all the news. - -“No more chasin’ moonshiners and playin’ policeman for the Sivinth, -b’gorry,” declared Odell. “You were well out of it, me boy; an’ now -you’ve joined us jist in time. As soon as we get to Yankton of Dakota, -which be the end o’ the railroad, then ’tis ‘Boots and Saddles’ once -more in earnest, with a six hundred mile march ahead of us. Faith, -won’t it seem good! An’ ’tis what we’re all nadin’. We’re soft.” - -“Wonder what we’ll do up in Dakota,” invited Ned, bluffly. “Scout -around and watch the Sioux?” - -“Well, they’ll warrant watchin’, or I’m mistaken,” retorted Odell. -“People may think this little war we had with the Cheyennes was good -fightin’. But I tell ye, up there in the Dakota country there be -waitin’ some fights to make the battle of the Washita seem like a -skirmish. Forty thousand Sioux, in a big country they know and we don’t -know, won’t be ousted in a hurry. I tell ye, these Sioux people are the -biggest Injun con-fidderation on the continent. There’s no nonsense -about ’em.” - -“But what’s the trouble, anyhow?” ventured to ask one of the recruits. -“Whose country it is?” - -“The Sioux’,” answered Odell. “Sure; it belongs to the Sioux. In -Sixty-eight didn’t the Government agree by treaty to close the wagon -road through it and quit the forts in the Powder River country, and -give it to the Sioux forever? And already aren’t the white men sneakin’ -in whenever they get the chance, and miners bound to explore the Black -Hills; and with the Northern Pacific Railroad reachin’ Bismarck, -Dakota, ’tis not a wagon road but an iron road that be threatenin’ to -cross the sacred soil. With that, and the rotten rations served out at -the agencies, I don’t blame the Injuns for complainin’. Faith, I may -fight ’em, but they have my sympathies.” - -“What kind of a country is that, up north?” asked the recruit. - -“Well, ’tis a bad-lands and butte country, broken to washes, with the -Black Hills mountains in the southwest corner and the Powder River and -Yellowstone regions beyant. The Sivinth may think the Kansas plains -blew hot and cold, bedad; but up yonder is a stretch where it’s nine -months winter and three months late in the fall, and the wind blows the -grass up by the roots.” - -Again a cavalry trumpeter, Ned was assigned to B Troop, Lieutenant -Tom’s. Of course, Ned could not expect to be the general’s favorite -orderly, again; at least, not right away. He was a man, and must -serve his turn, like the other men. But being one of the dashing, -light-hearted Tom Custer’s trumpeters was next thing to being the -general’s. - -Lieutenant Calhoun had married Miss Margaret Custer, the general’s -sister. She and Mrs. Custer rode with the general and his staff, at -the head of the column. Down in Kentucky the general had collected -many more dogs; and had bought a thoroughbred horse named Vic to be -companion to faithful Dandy. Eliza the black cook had not come, this -time; but there was another negress cook, named Mary, and a negro -coachman, named Ham, for the traveling carriage to which Mrs. Custer -and Mrs. Calhoun sometimes changed. - -In long, long column of twos followed by the white-topped army wagons -the Seventh Cavalry threaded its way northward across the sagey Dakota -plains, the willows and cottonwoods of the muddy Missouri ever in -sight. - - - - -XIX - -SCOUTING AMONG THE SIOUX - - -Fort Rice was located ten miles above the mouth of the Cannon-Ball -River and twenty miles below the new town of Bismarck. Around-about -the slate-colored frame buildings stretched the sagey Dakota plains, -seemingly vaster and barer even than the rolling buffalo plains of -Kansas. Butte and coulée or dry wash broke them; the only trees were -along the water courses. The winds were fresh and strong, the short -summers hot, the long winters cold. It was a country that bred strong, -hardy, robust men and women, and such were the Sioux—the proud Dakota -nation. - -The Northern Pacific Railroad from St. Paul had reached Bismarck, and -was determined to push on across Dakota and Montana, as the Union -Pacific had pushed on across Nebraska and Wyoming. Scarcely had the -Seventh Cavalry been welcomed at Fort Rice, when they prepared to take -the long trail again, as escort to protect the engineers surveying a -route westward for the railroad. - -So when the Northern Pacific Railroad engineers started upon their -survey westward still, their escort numbered almost 2000 soldiers: of -the Seventh Cavalry, of infantry, of artillery, and of Indian scouts, -all under Major-General D. S. Stanley, with General Custer the “Long -Hair” in command of the ten companies of the Seventh. - -It was to be a march clear across western Dakota to the Yellowstone -River of Montana. Few white men had seen this country. - -The Indian scouts were not the faithful Osages or Kaws. They were -Arikaras; a war-like tribe of smaller numbers than the southern -Indians; their head scout was Bloody Knife. They hated the Sioux, and -so did the Crows of Montana. The Sioux long had fought the Arikaras, -and nowadays were constantly invading the country of the Crows, for -scalps and horses. - -With the Seventh were Dr. James Honzinger, the fat, bald-headed old -veterinary surgeon of the regiment, and Mr. Baliran who was the post -sutler. They were not enlisted men but were civilian employees, and -accompanied the expedition as an outing. The general took Mary the -black cook, for his mess. - -It required a month of marching before, July 19, the Yellowstone River -in Montana was reached. It had seemed much like old times, with the -general leading on Dandy or Vic, in his fringed buckskins, his fringed -gauntlets, his broad-brimmed hat, his blue shirt and crimson tie, and -high, red-topped boots; the hounds galloping right and left, and plenty -of hunting. - -The engineer party, and the scientists who were along, must move -slowly, taking many notes. Dr. Honzinger and Mr. Baliran insisted upon -straggling and riding apart from the column, picking up specimens. They -were warned that this was dangerous practice, but they did not heed, -and refused even to carry any weapons. - -Near where the Powder River empties into the Yellowstone the general -took Captain Moylan’s company and Lieutenant Tom’s company, and Bloody -Knife the Arikara scout, to explore the route ahead. No Indians had -yet been sighted; but now, after a mile or two, Bloody Knife, stopping -short, examining the ground, signed: “Indians have passed here.” - -So they had: nineteen Sioux, by the fresh sign. They must have been -reconnoitering the camp, and had traveled on to inform the main company -of warriors. - -Nevertheless, on rode the little squadron, until from the bluffs along -the Yellowstone, green before them lay the beautiful valley of the -Tongue River flowing up from the south. The general gave orders to make -camp in a clump of cottonwood trees, and to wait for the column. With -horses unsaddled and unbitted and staked out, and pickets posted, the -command stretched out upon the ground for a rest. Most of the officers -loosened their clothing and prepared to nap. - -Ned was nodding, half asleep, when breaking the perfect calm, starting -everybody with a jump, spoke the “Bang! Bang!” of the pickets’ carbines. - -“Indians!” were shouting the pickets’ voices. - -The camp was on its feet, peering and blinking. The pickets were -kneeling and aiming; and beyond them, across the open valley were -riding for the tethered horses a short line of painted horsemen. - -“To your horses, men! Quick! To your horses! Run!” The command of the -general was as sharp as the crack of a whip. Shoeless and hatless and -coatless he stood, rifle in hand. - -There were only half a dozen Indians in sight. Evidently they had -intended to stampede the mounts; but they had reckoned without their -host. The Seventh Cavalry had met Indians before. Out rushed the -troopers, to grasp the lariats of the horses, and to reinforce the -picket-line. And stopping short, the squad of Indians only raced back -and forth, beyond range, gesturing as if inviting the soldiers to come -and get them. Sioux they were, by their war-dress and action, said -Bloody Knife, his eyes flaming hatred and disdain. - -Now was it “Boots and Saddles” and “Mount.” The general took Adjutant -Calhoun and Lieutenant Tom and twenty men, including Ned the trumpeter, -and galloped forth boldly; Captain Moylan was to follow. - -The six Sioux easily kept out of reach. As anybody ought to know, -they were only trying cunningly to lead the white chief on, into an -ambuscade. So continued the chase, up the grassy green valley. - -“I’ll take my orderly and ride ahead, Tom,” presently called the -general. “Perhaps that will develop those rascals’ plan. You follow at -about two hundred yards interval, ready to rush in.” - -The general was on his Kentucky horse Vic. Sergeant Butler his orderly -had a good horse, too. But the Indians would not let even them close -in, with the other soldiers so near at hand. They were smart, these six -Sioux, and knew what they were about. - -A patch of timber was before to the left. The general had halted; also -halted the six Indians. The general rode in a circle, for a parley; the -six Indians paid no attention. Now here came Sergeant Butler, back with -a message from the general. He saluted Lieutenant Tom. - -“The general’s compliments, and he would suggest that you keep a sharp -eye on that bunch of trees, yonder,” said the sergeant. - -“Very well,” responded Lieutenant Tom. - -Sergeant Butler galloped off. - -“In my opinion, that brush is full of Sioux, and those six bucks would -be only too glad to lead us past,” said Adjutant Calhoun, to Lieutenant -Tom. - -“The general had better join us or we him,” answered the lieutenant, -gazing anxiously. “He’s too near. He’s liable——” but from all the -detachment issued a sudden cry. - -The six Sioux had wheeled, and were charging, and from the timber patch -had burst, as if at a breath, fully three hundred others. At full speed -they came, whooping and firing, and in splendid line. Evidently these -Sioux were fine warriors. - -All eyes leaped to the general. Around he had whirled, around had -whirled the sergeant, and back they were spurring for dear life. They -were three hundred yards from the timber, almost opposite to them, and -two hundred yards from the soldiers. - -On sped the line of Sioux, dividing, part to head off the general, part -to ride to rear of the detachment and head off Captain Moylan, coming -from behind. - -“Prepare to fight on foot!” It was Lieutenant Tom’s clear voice. - -From the saddle swung three men from each squad, leaving Number Four to -hold the horses. - -“As skirmishers, men! Quick!” and “Company—halt!” issued the commands. -There was no time for regulation orders. Out in front of the horses -had run the dismounted men, to halt in loose line, kneel, and without -waiting for more orders, to aim. - -“Don’t fire, men, until I give the word,” spoke Lieutenant Tom, -revolver in hand, behind the line. “Aim low.” - -Racing in toward one another the Sioux, and the general and Sergeant -Butler, seemed about to join. But the general and the sergeant were -beating. They would arrive first. Good! - -The Sioux were well within range. Their war-paint and their feathers -showed plain. There were enough of them to ride over the little line of -cavalry and trample it to death. Ned, revolver drawn as he knelt at the -rear of the line, felt himself trembling, although he was not afraid. -Out rang the voice of Lieutenant Tom. - -“Let them have it!” - -“Crash!” belched the fifteen carbines. And with smart rattle as -chambers opened, closed, reloaded they belched again: “Crash!” Through -the smoke Indian horsemen were reeling and falling, ponies were -sprawling or galloping wildly; and away to either side were scampering -the Sioux warriors. - -“Bang! Bang-bang! Bang!” for the third time roared the carbines. -“Hooray! Yah! Yah!” cheered loudly the soldiers. With answering cheer -up raced at full speed the support of Captain Moylan. Breathing hard, -his eyes blazing blue from his red burned face, the general also was -arrived and eager. - -“Prepare to fight on foot!” shouted Captain Moylan. - -The Sioux were many; the soldiers few; but with the horses protected by -a semi-circle of skirmishers they steadily fell back to the grove of -the noonday nap. Yet even here matters might have gone hard—for these -Sioux were determined fighters—had not appeared, coming on with cheers -and guidons flying, four more companies of the Seventh, sent ahead by -the wise General Stanley. And the Sioux galloped away. - -The companies brought bad news. That morning, after the general had -left, along the line of march had been found the lifeless bodies of -Dr. Honzinger and Mr. Baliran, pierced by ball and by arrow. The two -cronies had wandered, as customary, and must have been two miles from -help when Indians—Sioux, of course—had struck them down. - -Two soldiers also were killed, and another battle was fought—a longer, -harder battle—with more Sioux, up the Yellowstone, before, the last -week in September, the Seventh returned again to barracks. - -These were new barracks, the post of Fort Abraham Lincoln, built this -summer and fall beside the Missouri, above Fort Rice and opposite the -town of Bismarck which was the end of the railroad. - -Fort Abraham Lincoln belonged to the Seventh Cavalry. It was their -headquarters post, housing six companies. The four other companies on -Dakota duty were stationed at Fort Rice. - -’Twas rather dull being a soldier at Fort Lincoln, or Rice either, in -the long, snowy, below-zero winter. No trains came into Bismarck; mail -and supplies must arrive by horse and sleigh. There was little mounted -drill for the soldiers, and the men moved about well muffled in fur -caps and buffalo-hide shoes and mittens. - -Out near the agencies the friendly Sioux gathered, waiting till spring; -and further in the reservation had gathered in their villages the -unfriendly Sioux, under Sitting Bull the medicine chief. But who was -friendly and who was unfriendly could not be told; so that nobody in -the post was permitted to wander beyond rifle shot, except on business. - -The Arikara or Ree scouts and their families were camped at the edge of -Fort Lincoln. Bloody Knife the chief scout was the general’s favorite. -The best white scout at Fort Lincoln was “Lonesome” Charley Reynolds. -He had long-lashed, dark-blue eyes, and small, fine features. He was -quieter than even Will Comstock; and rarely spoke unless spoken to. He -did not look like a scout or act like a scout, yet he was one of the -bravest men of the West. - -In the spring came out upon a visit from the East another Custer—Boston -Custer, the general’s youngest brother; a thin, pale stripling about -the age of Ned the trumpeter. He did not look well, but he expected -that the fresh air and the out-door life of the western plains would -make him strong. - -When the spring opened, there had been much talk about the mysterious -Black Hills, which the Indians called Pah-sap-pa. The newspapers had -contained a great deal of reference to the Black Hills, and now the -frontier people of Wyoming, to the southwest of it, and of Dakota, to -the east of it, were asking that the Government let explorers in. -However, this was Sioux country, guaranteed to them by the United -States in the treaty of 1868; and it was very dear Sioux country. - -“You see,” said Charley Reynolds, in one of the moments when he talked -among the men, “it’s like this. Now, I’ve never been in the Black -Hills—away in, I mean. I’ve no doubt there’s gold there. The rocks -look so, to me; and trappers, and the Injuns too, say there’s gold. -But it’s medicine country. The Injuns say those mountains are full of -bad spirits who mustn’t be disturbed. The fact is, it’s the only good -country the Sioux have. Lots of timber and fine water and grass; both -a summer and a winter country; and the Sioux don’t mean to give it -up. You can’t blame ’em. They know that as soon as the miners get in -there, the game will be scared out or killed, and timber cut, and water -spoiled, and the Indians driven off. They watch that region mighty -close.” - -“You’re right, I guess,” agreed Sergeant Butler, and Odell also nodded. -“But I’ll wager my buffalo coat against a pipeful of tobacco that -the Government isn’t going to let those Black Hills stay unexplored. -The army’s got to have a map of this reservation, so that in case of -trouble we know where we’re going. Then if the Injuns retreat into the -Black Hills, we can follow ’em.” - -Sure enough, when the plains grew green with grass the report spread -that the Seventh Cavalry was to explore the Black Hills, distant 200 -miles southwest, in air-line. - -The orders were issued June 8 from the Department of Dakota headquarters -at St. Paul, by command of Brigadier-General Alfred H. Terry, the -Department commander. The four companies of the Seventh from Fort Rice -were to come up to Fort Lincoln, and all ten companies were to take the -field together. There would be “doughboys” or “walking soldiers;” G -company of the Seventeenth Infantry and I company of the Twentieth; a -squad of army engineers under Captain William Ludlow; General George A. -Forsyth who was the famous “Sandy” Forsyth of the island fight with -Roman Nose, near the Forks of the Republican; Charley Reynolds the -scout; Skunk Head and Bull Bear and other Rees under Bloody Knife; and -some Santee Sioux whose chief guides were Goose and “Jo Lawrence.” - -Boston Custer, or “Bos,” announced that he was to go; and before the -start, arrived two scientists, engaged by the Government: Professor -N. H. Winchell, the state geologist of Minnesota, and Mr. George Bird -Grinnell, of New Haven, Connecticut, who would report upon the fossils -and animals. A photographer of St. Paul arrived, to take pictures on -the trip; and a number of civilian miners attached themselves to the -column, to prospect for gold. - -The start was made on July 2. The expedition must return within sixty -days. It made a formidable sight: about 1000 men in all, with three -gatling guns and a three-inch rifled cannon, 110 army wagons and -ambulances, and the forty Custer dogs! - -Agard the interpreter and Charley Reynolds said the Indian scouts -expected that the white people would not dare to enter right into the -mysterious Black Hills. The general laughed. - -The march was almost a picnic. Anybody who wished to hunt had hunting -of antelope and deer in plenty. The scientists were busy, examining -rocks and animals. Bos Custer was a great favorite. Of course he was -a tenderfoot, for this was his first experience on the plains. The -general and Colonel Tom, his brothers, played many jokes upon him, to -try his mettle and make fun; but he took everything so good naturedly -and made himself so useful that he was much liked. As for the general, -he was again in his element: buckskin clad, galloping on Vic or Dandy, -talking sign-language with Bloody Knife and Bull Bear and Skunk’s Head -and Goose, and picking up much information from the scientists. - -After 300 miles, according to the odometer or measuring wheels of the -engineers’ cart, on July 20 through a little ravine the course suddenly -changed from dry burning prairie to green grass knee-deep, ripening -gooseberries, wild cherries, cool breezes and crystal waters. Such was -the terrible Black Hills, on the inside. Now even the scouts were -eager to go on. Never had so entrancing a country been seen by anybody -in the command. - -From north to south and south to north through the Black Hills marched -the column. The soldiers hunted and napped, the scientists searched -for knowledge, the miners prospected for gold. They found considerable -“color,” which they excitedly showed at camp; but they did not make any -great strikes. Professor Winchell, the geologist, was of the opinion -that not much gold lay hidden here; however, he did not convince the -miners or the soldiers. - -There was no trouble from the Sioux: the whole expedition was a perfect -success, without bother; and their wagons and saddles laden high with -horns and skins and other specimens, at halfpast four o’clock on the -afternoon of August 30, the sixtieth day to a dot, the tattered but -happy column swung their hats to Fort Abe Lincoln again. - - - - -XX - -RAIN-IN-THE-FACE VOWS VENGEANCE - - -The winter of 1874–1875 settled down upon Fort Lincoln, just as had -settled the long, cold snowy winter of the year preceding. Now again -was it buffalo shoes and mittens and fur caps; short drills, and time -hanging rather heavy. The Sioux under Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse -remained out somewhere in the depths of the vast reservation. They -refused to come into the agencies as did the other Indians; and any -supplies that they got were carried out to them by their friends. The -Sioux called General Custer’s trail into the Black Hills the “Thieves’ -Trail.” They had made many protests against it. But white adventurers -were much excited, and were openly planning to go there prospecting for -gold. Already one party had gone out, in defiance of the Government and -of the Indians, and were somewhere in the Hills. Soldiers sent after -them failed to find them. - -However, this was not the main excitement at Fort Lincoln. When -December was drawing to a close orders were suddenly issued for Captain -Yates to take three officers and one hundred men, and proceed out -upon a scout. Lieutenant Tom Custer was one of the officers; and as -trumpeter of Lieutenant Tom’s troop Ned was detailed for the march. - -This seemed pretty tough, at holiday time; for the weather was piercing -cold, with a keen wind blowing. But it was a change, anyway, from the -rather dull garrison routine. - -Nobody in the ranks seemed to know where the column were going, or why -they were going. Charley Reynolds was guide. - -Southward led the route, down along the Missouri, with the officers and -troopers muffled to their noses in warmest clothing, regulation or not. -Fort Rice, twenty miles, was passed; and twenty more miles lay behind -ere, at a brief halt, the officers appeared to be consulting some -orders that Captain Yates had opened. He and Lieutenant Tom and the -other two officers murmured and nodded. At “For’rd—march!” the column -of fours moved on. - -Ahead, thirty miles, or seventy miles below Fort Abraham Lincoln, was -the Standing Rock Agency for the Unkpapa and Yanktonais Sioux. On the -third day of the march the agency buildings rose in sight. Just outside -the agency grounds the column made temporary camp, to spend the night. - -There were many Sioux about, for it was ration time, and from their -village ten miles down-river they were gathering to get their beef and -other supplies. - -Now was it reported through the camp that the expedition had been made -for the purpose of capturing some Sioux who had killed a white man on -the Red River of the North, the summer before. That would seem correct; -for after breakfast forty of the troopers were led off, south, to the -village, where, rumor said, the murderers might be. This appeared -rather a foolish piece of work by Captain Yates and Lieutenant Tom. Of -course the other Sioux would see the soldiers arrive and would warn the -murderers to hide. - -However, “Boots and Saddles” was it, for all the camp. After the -detachment had trotted away, Captain Yates took the remainder of the -company to the agency. They were halted a short distance from the post -store. - -It was full of Indians, trading. In and out they stalked, wrapped all -in buffalo robes or Government blankets of red, blue and gray. Scarcely -a face was to be seen. Lieutenant Tom dismounted, and beckoning to five -of his soldiers leisurely entered. He stayed inside, as if chatting -with the trader. - -“At ease,” ordered Captain Yates, to the sergeant of the troop outside. -So the remainder of the column might dismount, and stretch legs, and -swing arms, and watch curiously the many shrouded Indians. Even this -was poky work. Yet something was in the air. Evidently Captain Yates -and Lieutenant Tom had a scheme up their sleeves. - -Three hours passed—and now on a sudden arose a great commotion. From -the store issued quick scuffle of feet, and sharp commands. High -swelled angry voices, in guttural Sioux; Indians outside began to run. - -“Comp’ny—’ten’_shun_! Mount!” shouted Captain Yates. “Right into -line—march! For’r’d—march! Trot—march! Comp’ny—halt!” - -In line they had drawn up before the agency door. An Indian within was -loudly speaking, as if calling to arms. At least five hundred Indians -came running, with their rifles; and out through the doorway was being -hustled between two of the soldiers another Indian, arms bound behind -him, blanket fallen from his proud, handsome, stolid face. Only his -eyes flashed defiance. Two soldiers opened the way; Lieutenant Tom and -the fifth soldier followed. - -“Rain-in-the-Face!” aside said somebody, in the ranks; and the name -traveled right and left. That was Rain-in-the-Face, a prominent Unkpapa -warrior, who had been arrested by Lieutenant Tom. - -“Advance—carbines!” shouted Captain Yates, above the tumult; and butts -of carbines were promptly placed upon thigh, muzzles up. This was a -“ready,” for quick action. - -The Indian orator was still shrieking and urging; the other Indians -were jostling and clamoring, and from all directions the crowd was -being increased. It looked bad for the little company of cavalry. - -Rain-in-the-Face made no resistance. He was hoisted upon a horse, and -ringed by a guard of soldiers, who gave not an inch before the scowls -and threats around-about. - -Gradually, as through the post interpreter Captain Yates now talked to -the Indians, the tumult died. They knew that in a stand-up fight on the -spot many of them would be killed; and they knew that Rain-in-the-Face -had been arrested for good cause. So presently away they began to rush, -to their village, to pow-wow and maybe get reinforcements. - -“Fours right—march! Column right—march!” ordered Captain Yates; and -with Rain-in-the-Face in the middle, out from the agency moved the -compact cavalry column. - -When halt was made at the temporary camp just outside, speedily was -it known to all why Rain-in-the-Face had been arrested. A couple of -weeks before, the Sioux gathered at the agency had a great dance, -during which the warriors had recited their biggest deeds. They spoke -in Sioux, but Charley Reynolds the scout was sitting near, watching. -He understood Sioux. When Rain-in-the-Face had entered the circle, and -boasted of his career, suddenly Charley pricked his ears, but gave no -sign that he heard; for Rain-in-the-Face was vaunting how, a year and a -half before, he had killed two white men. - -One was a fat man with no hair; him he had shot from his horse and had -finished with the war-club. The other was a younger man, the fat man’s -companion, who had taken refuge in a clump of trees. He had signed for -peace, and had offered his hat; but he also had been shot, with bullet -and arrow. No scalps were taken, because the fat man had been bald and -the other man had very short hair. - -Then Charley Reynolds knew that he had found one of the murderers -of Veterinary Surgeon Honzinger and Sutler Baliran, killed when -inoffensive and unarmed, on the Yellowstone expedition of the summer of -1873. Out slipped Charley, as soon as he could, and hastened with the -news to General Custer at Fort Lincoln. - -General Custer had kept the news quiet, lest the Sioux should be -alarmed and send word to Rain-in-the-Face. He was accounted a mighty -warrior, for he had made a record by hanging four hours, in a Sun Dance -ceremony, by ropes fastened to splints thrust through his chest and -back. He had five well-known brothers—Bear’s Face, Red Thunder, Iron -Horn, Little Bear, and Shave Head: warriors all. So whatever was to be -done must be done cunningly. And so it had been done. - -Waiting there in the agency store, until the Indians should give -glimpses of their features, when Rain-in-the-Face finally had dropped -his blanket a little Lieutenant Tom, with a leap from behind, had -clasped him about both arms. - -At Fort Lincoln Rain-in-the-Face confessed to the murders. He evidently -expected to be hanged at once, for he dressed himself in black. His -brother Iron Horn, and other leading Sioux, tried to comfort him, and -in council with the general they pleaded for him. But all actions and -talk were conducted in a solemn dignified manner, as befitting the -great Sioux nation. - -While the general waited specific orders from the War Department, -Rain-in-the-Face must be confined in the guard-house. Here he stayed -for almost four months. He remained ever calm, ever proud, looking at -nobody when he was permitted to walk back and forth, chained to another -prisoner, for exercise. - -Early in the morning of April spread an alarm, from sentry to -officers. Through a hole made in the wooden wall by white prisoners -Rain-in-the-Face had stolen away. He did not appear at the agency. -He was not found in the nearby camps. However, soon, by mouth to -mouth, Sioux to Sioux, from Sitting Bull’s band of hostiles far up the -Yellowstone River in Montana he sent word. Charley Reynolds himself was -authority. - -“Rain-in-the-Face says,” reported Charley, “to tell the Long Hair and -the Long Hair’s brother that he will cut their hearts out because they -put a great warrior in prison.” - - - - -XXI - -SITTING BULL SAYS: “COME ON!” - - -This summer of 1875 no regular campaign or expedition was made by the -Seventh Cavalry. The few months were spent in drills at Fort Lincoln -and Fort Rice, and in short scouts to reconnoitre and for practice. -However, there was no telling when the whole regiment might be ordered -out in a hurry. The Sioux muttered constantly; and according to Charley -Reynolds and other persons who knew, around the posts, they were “going -bad.” - -Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse were still outside the reservation, in -their own country of the Powder River and the Big Horn region; but even -Red Cloud and Spotted Tail, who had first signed the treaty of 1868, -agreeing to the reservation of Dakota, complained stoutly of unfair -treatment. - -Red Cloud had claimed that the Sioux were being robbed in their -supplies; some of the supplies sent out by the Government never reached -them, and other supplies were unfit to use. An investigation proved -that Red Cloud had spoken truth. - -The Northern Pacific Railroad had stopped at Bismarck, but the surveys -on across Dakota had been made, and this also annoyed the Sioux. They -had understood that no white man’s road should cross the reservation -without their permission. And, of course, there was the Black Hills -trouble. - -“Well, what do you think, these days, Charley?” invited Odell, as the -summer wore on, and only rumors filled the air. “It’s getting late for -war, until next year; ain’t it? But I hear there’s a thousand miners in -the Black Hills, and they’ve started a town they call Custer City.” - -“Lonesome” Charley Reynolds slowly puffed at his pipe, and gazed before -with his calm, sombre dark-blue eyes. - -“There’d have been war, if there’d been buffalo,” he answered. “But old -Red Cloud was smart enough to send out runners, to count the buffalo, -and the runners reported mighty few. ’Cording to my notion, taking the -plains altogether, north and south, six or eight millions buffalo have -been butchered by white market hunters. The buffalo is what the Sioux -and the Cheyenne live on. Red Cloud sees that with the buffalo gone the -Sioux are beholden to the whites for meat; they can’t carry on a war, -long; and that’s why instead of a fight Red Cloud and Spotted Tail are -favoring selling the Black Hills to the Government. The whites have the -Hills anyway. Those Custer City lots they’re selling are Injun land. -’Tain’t just and right—but it’s white man’s way. As long as we don’t -want the land the Injuns can have it; but when we want it, then we find -some way of getting it.” - -Reports came in of a great council held September 17, at Crow Butte, -near the Red Cloud agency on the north line of northwestern Nebraska. -Here the United States met the Sioux nation and the Northern Cheyennes -and Arapahos, to barter for the Black Hills. Part of the Indians wanted -to sell, part did not. They spoke of Pah-sap-pa as their “House of -Gold.” - -The United States offered them $400,000 a year as long as the white men -should want the Hills; and offered to buy for $6,000,000. The Sioux -laughed. They asked, some $30,000,000, some $60,000,000; or “support -for every Indian, so long as the Sioux should live.” - -Said Little Wolf, Cheyenne chief: - -“There has been a great deal stolen from those Hills already. If the -Great Father gets this rich country from us he ought to pay us well for -it. That country is worth more than all the wild beasts and all the -tame beasts that the white people have.” - -Said Crow Feather, Sioux: - -“Even if our Great Father should give a hundred different kinds of -live-stock to each Indian house every year, that would not pay for the -Black Hills. I was not born and raised here for fun. I hope the Great -Father will look and see how many millions of dollars have been stolen -from those Black Hills; and when he finds it out, I want him to pay -us that. And we will not allow white people to be coming in by many -trails. The thieves’ road made by the Long Yellow Hair is enough. That -we can watch.” - -So the United States did not buy or lease the Black Hills—the -Pah-sap-pa of the Sioux and the Cheyennes. Ned heard many arguments, -for and against, at the post; but he could not see that the Indians -were much in the wrong. - -However, the Government considered that it, also, had a grievance. Out -there in the Powder River and Big Horn country, off the reservation, -were Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. The treaty said that this fine -region of northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana from the Dakota -and Nebraska lines to the Big Horn Mountains was all Indian property, -to be Sioux hunting-grounds as long as there was anything to hunt. Here -were ranging the free bands of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse; but the -whites of Wyoming and of Montana looked upon these rovers as dangerous, -and the Crows, who were trying to live peaceably on their reservation -to the west of the hunting-grounds, declared that the hunter Sioux -stole their horses. - -“When these Sioux change from hunting buffalo to hunting scalps -or horses, if they can’t find them one place they will another,” -complained the whites—some of whom rather coveted the Powder River -country for themselves. - -“We might just as well go out and fight like we used to,” complained -the Crows, “instead of being good Indians, for we don’t gain anything -by it if other Indians are allowed to steal from us.” - -It was becoming a popular custom among the Sioux for their young men to -slip away from the reservation limits, join the free bands, and have a -good time until they decided to come into the agencies for supplies. - -All in all, matters between the Sioux nation and the nation of the -United States were not satisfactory. Before the middle of December it -was known at Fort Lincoln that the Government had ordered Sitting Bull -and the other bands to come in upon the reservation before the end of -January, or to suffer the consequences. - -“Huh!” grunted Odell, as the news reached Fort Lincoln, on its way to -the various agencies. “That means war.” - -“Yes, and likely a winter campaign, too,” chipped in Sergeant Butler of -Ned’s company. “Another Washita for the Seventh!” - -“Won’t Sitting Bull or Crazy Horse come in, you think?” queried Ned, -anxiously. - -“Charley says they won’t,” quoth Sergeant Butler, nodding toward the -scout. - -Charley was sitting in the barracks room, taking things easy, by the -stove. - -“No, they won’t,” he asserted, calmly. “Why should they? They’re on -their own grounds, guaranteed to them by the Government, where they can -live and hunt. What’s more, half the Sioux nation will be joining ’em. -I’ve got a heap o’ respect for Sitting Bull. He’s the biggest power in -the Sioux nation to-day, though he isn’t a chief.” - -“Do you know him, Charley?” asked Ned. - -“Yes, I know him. He’s a short, heavy-set Injun, with a broad homely -mug, and brown hair and light complexion pock-marked up. Only Injun I -ever saw having brown hair. His Sioux name is Ta-tan-kah-yo-tan-kah. -He’s an Unkpapa, and his name as a boy was Jumping Badger, until he -counted a coup on a Crow carcass and took his father’s name. He’s not a -chief, or son of a chief except a subchief, but he’s the smartest Sioux -living. The war chiefs don’t think much of him. His specialty is making -medicine and guessing at what’ll happen. He’s a good guesser, too. And -he sure can read human character.” - -“Won’t he fight?” - -“Oh, he’s done some fighting, Injun fashion. Up at Buford (Fort Buford) -they’ve got an old roster of the Thirty-first Infantry, that belonged -to Sitting Bull and that another Injun stole from him. He’d pictured it -full of himself and his killings and stealings. So he’s been a warrior; -but among the other Injuns he ranks as big medicine and not as a man -like Crazy Horse or Gall or Red Cloud; except that he hates the whites -and always will, I reckon.” - -“Do you know Crazy Horse, too, Charley?” - -“Yes, I know Crazy Horse. He’s an Oglala Sioux, but his band are mostly -northern Cheyennes. Crazy Horse is a fighter, all right. You can bet on -that. Chief Gall is their general, though. Next to him is Crow King. If -we have a fight, it will be Gall and Crow King and Crazy Horse doing -the planning, and Sitting Bull doing the prophesying, urging ’em on.” - -“We can beat them, anyhow.” This was the confident voice of Boston -Custer. “Bos” had been appointed forage-master, so now he counted -himself a member of the regiment, and was proud of the fact. He liked -to mix with the soldiers, sometimes, and be one of them, even if his -brother was the commanding officer. - -“Maybe so, maybe not,” mused Charley Reynolds, soberly. “That Bad Lands -country is a terror to cross. Those Injuns are better armed than the -soldiers, too; with Springfields and Winchesters and Remingtons that -they’re getting direct from the agencies—along with plenty supplies. -When you run up against those Sioux, son, you’ll know you’ve been in a -scrimmage.” - -The weeks passed. By the first of February the Sitting Bull and Crazy -Horse bands had not come in upon the reservation, and evidently they -did not intend to come in. One day appeared at Fort Lincoln old Isaiah, -a negro interpreter who had married a Sioux wife and lived at the -Standing Rock agency. - -“Well, Isaiah, where are the rest of your Injuns?” hailed a soldier. - -“Who you mean?” demanded Isaiah. - -“Sitting Bull.” - -“Didn’t you get his word?” retorted Isaiah. “He say to the soldiers: -‘Come on. Needn’t bring any guides. You can find me easy. I won’t run -away.’ That is so, because my squaw tell me, an’ she know.” - - - - -XXII - -OUT AGAINST THE SIOUX - - -The general and Mrs. Custer had been away all winter up to this time, -sight-seeing in New York. Now they returned by a hard trip through a -blizzard—and they returned just in time. Orders had been sent out by -General Sheridan, commander of the Division of the West, to General -Terry, commanding the Department of Dakota, that the Department must -bring the disobedient Sioux to task. Of course, the Seventh Cavalry -would take the van, and the Long Hair would lead his warriors. - -Reports said that the march was to begin at once; that General Sheridan -was anxious for another campaign. And it looked that way, with General -Custer bustling about at Fort Lincoln, and with supplies and troops -(according to talks among the officers) being collected at St. Paul in -readiness for the first trains through to Bismarck. - -“Aw, just put the Seventh in the field. That’s enough. We can lick the -Sioux and make ’em eat at the Government’s table,” was the slogan in -Fort Lincoln. - -The plans seemed to be that the Department of Dakota was to attack from -the east and the west, and the Department of the Platte from the south. -Thus it would be pretty hard for the Indians to escape, except by going -north into Canada. - -The spring was late. The winter kept coming back again, to snow a -little more; and after the snows there were many freezes and cold -rains. The general would have started out at any time; but General -Terry, at St. Paul, was not ready. He would accompany the column from -Fort Lincoln, although General Custer was to command in the field. - -Meanwhile the general was letting his hair grow long again, after -having had it cut short for his stay in the East, and was preparing -his command. There were many drills. Everybody was eager to be gone. -Some of the officers, like Captain Benteen and Lieutenant Calhoun and -Captain (he had been promoted) Tom Custer and Lieutenant Smith and -“Queen’s Own” Cook and “Bandbox” Yates had fought Indians before; -others like the new major, Major Marcus Reno, and Lieutenant Reily and -Lieutenant Sturgis, were rather green at the business; and so it was -with the enlisted men. - -As for Ned, he had been transferred to Captain Benteen’s company, which -was Troop H. Captain Tom now commanded Troop C. - -Word went out that the regiment would take the field in April, sure, if -the snow ever quit. Then, amidst the preparations, suddenly General -Custer was summoned to Washington. All knew that he hated to go; yet go -he evidently must. He had been summoned to testify before a committee -appointed by Congress to look into some alleged frauds at the Indian -trading-posts. Of course, it was expected that he would come back soon; -for who else was there to outfight the warriors of the great Sioux -nation? - -March passed. Already the army further west, in Wyoming where the snows -were not so deep, had fought one battle with the Sioux. On March 17, -or Saint Patrick’s Day, the Second and the Third Cavalry out of Fort -Fetterman, under General J. J. Reynolds, sent by General Crook the -“Gray Fox,” had attacked Crazy Horse’s village at the mouth of the -Little Powder River and had destroyed it. - -But the Indians had escaped, and had recovered their pony herd, too; -so that in the opinion of the Seventh, the job could not compare with -the fine job done down on the Washita. However, it was tough luck to be -on waiting orders here at Lincoln, while the Second and the Third were -busy at work. - -No matter, though. Thirty-below-zero weather turned the Fetterman -troops home again. Crazy Horse, now crazier than ever, would join -Sitting Bull; and there would be fighting enough for everybody. - -April arrived, and grew, and still no General Custer appeared. It was -rumored that he had been held in Washington, because of his testimony -that did not please President Grant; next it was rumored that he had -been removed from command of the “Custer” column; and next it was -rumored that he would not accompany the regiment at all! This was -startling news to the Seventh. What would be a campaign without “Old -Curly!” - -Now in these the days of chill April every soldier was on tiptoes with -impatience. Custer or no Custer, the time was ripe for the march. Soon -the grass would be greening, the Sioux would be able to travel, and -the advantage would be all with them. Meanwhile, every report from the -agencies was more alarming. The “friendlies” or “reservation Indians” -were slipping, slipping, away, away, taking supplies and guns. - -“Down at Standing Rock I hear there’s only five thousand Injuns where -there used to be seven thousand,” asserted Odell. “The rest have lit -out, to ‘visit’ and to ‘hunt’; but you can depind on’t, ’tis to the Big -Horn country they’re goin’.” - -The four troops of the Seventh from Fort Rice and the six from Fort -Lincoln were moved out of barracks into camp, as a more convenient -place for rendezvous. The infantry allies arrived, with a battery of -gatlings; so did supplies, on the first trains. Bismarck City was alive -with the excitement of the preparations. - -Bloody Knife the Arikara chief scout could not understand what had -happened to the Long Hair. Ned watched him talking rapid sign language -with Charley Reynolds; and afterward stalking away gloomy. - -“Bloody Knife asks why the Long Hair doesn’t come and lead his warriors -out. Too much fuss and wait, he says. The Sioux laugh and brag; and -send in word from the hills: ‘Are the white soldiers tired before they -start?’ ‘What is the matter with the Long Hair?’ ‘Is the Long Hair -sick?’ And so forth. I tell Bloody Knife we have another big chief, -named Terry, to lead us; but he says: ‘No want Terry. Want Long Hair. -Long Hair never tired, never afraid, heap chief.’” - -“Terry’s the man who captured Fort Fisher in Sixty-five, isn’t he?” -queried an infantry soldier, standing near. “He must be a good one, -then.” - -“Yes; that’s how he got his general’s star in the Regular Army, and -thanks o’ Congress besides,” answered Odell. “And wasn’t our own -Lieutenant Smith there, too, on Terry’s staff? Sure, he was carryin’ -the colors, to cheer on a regiment, when a ball so smashed his shoulder -that he never can lift his arm above a level. Terry’s all right. He -was a good lawyer before he was a good soldier. Everybody likes him. -But he’s never fought Injuns. We all want Custer and you can be sure -Sheridan does, too. It’s the president, who be head o’ the Army, that’s -ag’in him. He’s talked too freely, I reckon, an’ some o’ Grant’s -friends have been hurt by it.” - -However, the first week in May, who should arrive but General Custer! -Afterwards it was known that he had just escaped being left behind -entirely. Finally he had begged to be allowed to go upon the expedition -whether he commanded or not. “I appeal to you as a soldier to spare me -the humiliation of seeing my regiment march to meet the enemy and I not -to share its dangers,” had been his telegram to President Grant. - -General Terry had joined in the appeal, and now President Grant had -consented. General Custer was to command only his regiment; General -Terry was to command the whole column; but, anyway, “Old Curly” would -be on hand. - -He looked thin and haggard, as if he had worried much. His hair was -short, and it could not grow out again before the march. Time pressed. -Here it was May, spring had opened, the Indians were afield, every day -added to their strength. - -The officers’ families and the families of many of the enlisted men -moved from the post into the camp. Another Custer also turned up. This -was young Armstrong Reed, or “Autie,” the general’s nephew. His mother -was the general’s eldest sister. “Autie” was younger than “Bos” and -Ned. With a school friend he had come out from the East, to spend his -vacation being either scout or soldier, he wasn’t certain which. He and -“Bos” were wild to go upon the expedition; many of the soldiers also -were eager, and did a little bragging; but the women of the officers’ -circle and of Suds Row, they were very sober. They knew that the Sioux -were gathering, what the delay had done to change the advantage, and -how serious the campaign might be. Mrs. Custer’s eyes seemed to be -brimming; and so did Mrs. Calhoun’s, and Mrs. Yates’, and all. - -Not until the middle of May were orders issued to break camp. First -General Terry and staff arrived from department headquarters at St. -Paul. General Alfred Howe Terry, commander of the Department of Dakota, -was a tall, soldierly man, with long beard and calm, courteous way. Ned -immediately liked his looks. - -May 17 was the day for the start. The “General” or call to strike tents -was sounded at five o’clock in the morning. The wagon train was sent -ahead, escorted by the infantry; but General Terry had directed General -Custer to march the Seventh around the parade ground at Fort Lincoln, -as a compliment to the “wives and sweethearts” there. - -This was kind in General Terry. He had seen how the women were feeling, -and he hoped to cheer them up. - -Proudly straight sat officers and men, as platoon by platoon, in -flashing column of yellow and blue, headed by the band the celebrated -Seventh Regiment—“Custer’s Regiment”—of United States Cavalry, rode -around and around the Fort Abraham Lincoln parade-ground. The band -played “Garryowen”: - - Our hearts so stout have got us fame, - For soon ’tis known from whence we came; - Where’er we go they dread the name - Of Garryowen in glory! - -Voices cheered; children pranced. But from Officers’ Row and from Suds -Row peered tear-stained faces vainly trying to smile, and from the -Ankara village outside welled the mournful chants of doleful squaws. - -Nevertheless Ned, riding in line with Captain Benteen’s platoons, -trumpet on thigh, revolver at hip, could not but feel sure that such a -grand regiment was able to thrash all the Indians of the plains. - -The tune by the band changed to “The Girl I Left Behind Me”: - - The hope of final victory - Within my bosom burning, - Is mingled with sweet thoughts of thee - And of my fond returning. - But should I ne’er return again, - Still worth thy love thou’lt find me; - Dishonor’s breath shall never stain - The name I’ll leave behind me. - -This was sign that the parade was over. Out from the garrison quarters -marched the column of platoons; and here was delivered the command to -halt, and to dismount. - -“Officers and men are permitted to leave the ranks for the purpose of -taking farewells of their families. They will rejoin their commands at -the sound of ‘Assembly.’” - -These were the instructions. However, the general stayed with the -column, and so did Captain Calhoun. Their wives were to ride with them, -a way, as usual. - -Some of the officers and men were suspiciously red-eyed when at -“Assembly” they again fell into place. The wagon train could be seen, -rolling on, following the plodding infantry. The cavalry moved fast, -to pass and take the advance. Mrs. Custer and Mrs. Calhoun rode with -the general at the head of the column. He was mounted on Vic. The stag -hounds trotted on either flank. They were always included. - -Truly, seeing this long column stretching two miles, ranks regular, -spurs jingling, infantry guns aslant, guidon and flag gaily afloat, -there appeared to be no reason why the white “wives and sweethearts” -and those Ree squaws should feel so bad. Here were the twelve -troops of the fighting Seventh Cavalry, under Custer himself; here -were infantry—two companies of the Sixth Regulars and one of the -Seventeenth; here were four gatling guns and a platoon of the Twentieth -Infantry to serve them; and forty Arikari or Ree scouts under Chief -Bloody Knife; and forage Master “Bos” Custer and young “Autie” Reed, -who was appointed a herder for the beef cattle, and “Lonesome” Charley -Reynolds the white scout, and Isaiah the squaw-man black scout from -Fort Rice; and a great supply train of 114 six-mule wagons, 107 other -wagons, and eighty-five pack-mules; altogether, 1,000 men. They had -rations and forage for thirty days, and each soldier carried one -hundred rifle or carbine cartridges, and fifty revolver cartridges. The -Seventh had left their sabres behind and they were glad of it, because -the sabres were a bother. They could do better work with their Colt’s -revolvers and their Remington carbines. Not even the officers wore -swords. - -This was the “Lincoln column.” Up from Wyoming were marching the Crook -column—ten companies of the Third Cavalry, and five of the Second, and -six companies from the Fourth and the Ninth United States Infantry: -1300 men under General George Crook, the “Gray Fox” who had fought the -Apaches in Arizona. In from western Montana were marching the “Montana -column”—four companies of the Second Cavalry, and two of the Seventh -Infantry: 400 men under General John Gibbon, who had won rank and honor -in the Civil War. Twenty-seven hundred soldiers under three famous -generals ought to whip Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. - -The Lincoln column made first camp a short distance out from the fort. -Early the next morning Mrs. Custer and Mrs. Calhoun said good-by to -their husbands and friends and must go back to Lincoln. - -As long as they were in sight they waved their handkerchiefs; the -general and Lieutenant Calhoun from their positions waved back. When -this ceased, then did it seem to Ned as though at last the campaign -into the enemy’s country had actually begun. - - - - -XXIII - -LOOKING FOR SITTING BULL - - -“How many Injuns will there be, do you think?” invited “Autie” Reed, -excitedly, of Ned. - -This was the evening of June 21. The expedition had been out from Fort -Lincoln over a month. Now they were in camp at the mouth of the Rosebud -River, on the south side of the Yellowstone River in southeastern -Montana—just beyond the Tongue River where in the summer of 1873 -General Custer had first met the Sioux in battle and had almost been -cut off, and Doctor Honzinger and Sutler Baliran had been killed by -Rain-in-the-Face. - -No Indians had been met. Many of the officers and men were of the -opinion that none would be found, and that all would escape. But when -here the searchers were, at last, right in the enemy’s home, it looked -as though a fight was likely to occur soon. General Gibbon’s “Montana -column” was encamped across the Yellowstone. They had marched from the -west down the north bank, and had reported that no Sioux had traveled -north, but that they had seen hostile Indians watching them from the -south bank. Therefore in the opinion of General Gibbon the Sioux were -still south of the Yellowstone, in the wild hunting-grounds of the Big -Horn and the Powder Rivers. - -General Crook the Gray Fox was down there, with his soldiers. He had -not been heard from, but it was expected that as he approached he would -be driving the Sioux before him. Nobody knew that on June 17 General -Crook had been met on the upper Rosebud by Sitting Bull’s warriors -and had been forced back. The red general had out-matched the white -general. The Sioux were better warriors than the Apaches. - -Major Reno had been ordered by General Terry to take his portion of the -Seventh and scout southward, to examine the country for Indian signs -and perhaps to sight General Crook. He had not sighted General Crook, -who was a hundred miles distant, shut off by a wide stretch of rough, -perilous country. But swinging in a circle back he had come, with -news that on the Rosebud River he had struck a large trail, trending -up-river, made by many Sioux. This was news indeed, and welcome news. - -Steamboats ran on the Yellowstone. The Government supply boat Far West, -Captain Grant Marsh, had arrived from the Missouri. General Terry and -General Gibbon and General Custer had consulted, aboard her where she -was tied to the shore unloading her supplies; and the results were -known. - -The “Montana column” were to be crossed to the south bank; and they, -and the infantry, under General Terry and General Gibbon, were to -proceed south up the Big Horn River, which was the next river beyond -the Rosebud. The Far West was to accompany as far as it could. But -the whole Seventh Cavalry were to march up the Rosebud, to the Indian -trail, and see where the trail went to. Then, if the Indians tried to -escape by the east or the southeast, the Seventh would turn them; and -if they tried to escape north down the Big Horn, the other column would -turn them. - -Every soldier was now much interested, but none more interested than -“Autie.” So he had sought out Ned the veteran, to confer with him. -“Autie,” being the general’s nephew, always was chock-full of inside -information that he picked up among the officers. So together they made -a good team. - -“How many Injuns will there be, do you think?” asked “Autie,” by the -camp-fire. - -“Major Reno says he counted sign of three hundred and eighty lodges, -didn’t he?” answered Ned. “Charley Reynolds says that means about -fourteen hundred in all; four or five hundred warriors, if we include -the boys. Indian boys over fourteen can fight as hard as the men. They -did down on the Washita.” - -“Bloody Knife and the Rees are scared already,” declared “Autie.” -“They’re making medicine. But Half-Yellow-Face and Curly and the other -Crows aren’t scared. (Some Crow Indians had joined the Arikari scouts, -to fight against the enemy Sioux.) I like them the best, anyway. -They’re as jolly as any of us.” - -“Yes,” agreed Ned, wisely; “they’re about the best Indians I’ve ever -seen.” - -“Sioux can whip ’em,” grunted a voice. It was that of Isaiah, the black -squaw-man scout. “Sioux best fighters on plains.” - -“They can’t whip us, though,” retorted “Autie.” “Is that Sitting Bull’s -trail we’re going to follow, Ike?” - -“No, guess not. Band goin’ to Settin’ Bull’s village, mebbe. But don’t -you worry, boy. We find Settin’ Bull, plenty quick; or he find us. -Crazy Hoss, too. Gall, Lame Deer, Black Moon, Two Moon, He Dog, Hump, -Big Road, Crow King—they all be there, with their Minniconjous, an’ -Oglalas, an’ Cheyennes, an’ Sans Arc, an’ Brules, an’ Hunkpapas, an’ -Blackfeet, jest sp’ilin’ for a fight if we only fetch it to ’em in the -right place.” - -“And Rain-in-the-Face,” suggested “Autie.” - -“Yep; Rain-in-the-Face. He be there.” - -“We don’t care,” scoffed “Autie,” true to the Seventh. “General Terry -offered Uncle Autie the gatling guns and some of the Second Cavalry; -but Uncle Autie says the Seventh is enough. We don’t need anybody to -help us; do we, Ned!” - -“No,” asserted Ned. “We can take care of all the Sioux that come. There -aren’t more than three thousand of them off the reservation, according -to the Indian Department report; and only six or eight hundred of these -are warriors. The Seventh Cavalry can whip _them_.” - -“You see,” grunted Isaiah. “There as many Sioux off reservation as on. -My squaw Sioux. She know.” - -“We don’t care,” again scoffed “Autie.” - -When the Seventh started, the next noon, they started in style. They -passed in review before General Terry and General Gibbon and General -Custer. The general, and Captain Tom and Adjutant Cook and Captain -Keogh wore their buckskin suits; all the regiment were natty and -businesslike; the band played “Garryowen”—but they were to be left -behind, this time, were the band. General Terry smiled and saluted each -troop as in platoons they swung past. On prancing Dandy the general sat -straight and proud, for this was his crack regiment. - -That evening “Autie” reported upon the officers’ council which was held -at the general’s tent. “Uncle Autie” had said that the regiment were to -follow the Sioux even if the trail led clear to the Nebraska agencies; -and it must be done on the fifteen days’ rations. That sounded exactly -like the general. Just as General Sheridan had once declared, when he -wanted a thing done quickly he sent Custer. - -The Rosebud was a small but rapid stream, flowing north through a -bluffy, bare country. The Indian trail was struck the next day. There -were lodge-pole marks and pony tracks, and little brush wicki-ups that -looked as if dogs had slept under them. The Ree and Crow scouts, and -Charley Reynolds and Isaiah and other scouts not Indians, rode in the -advance, closely examining all the signs. They thought that the trail -was about ten days old. - -Over to the right was the Big Horn River, running northeast parallel -with the Rosebud. But between was the Little Big Horn, which flowing -northwest emptied into the Big Horn. The theory was, that the Sitting -Bull or Crazy Horse village, or both, were in on the Little Horn or the -Big Horn. The Seventh was to swing in a curve and meet the infantry and -the Gibbon column about where the Little Horn joined the Big Horn. - -That Indians were over there somewhere seemed certain; for to-day, -Saturday, June 24, Curly the Crow scout reported through Mitch Bouyer -the interpreter that they had found fresh Indian tracks; and they saw -signal smokes on the west, or the right. The main trail was very broad -and beaten to dust by the hoofs of many, many ponies. - -“Ike says the dust we’re making will be seen by the Sioux, sure,” -complained “Autie,” much concerned, at noon camp finding Ned. “The -Little Big Horn is called by the Sioux ‘Greasy Grass River.’ It’s just -beyond those hills. They’re the Wolf Mountains. The Injuns might be on -top, spying down on us. Maybe we won’t catch ’em.” - -However, General Custer knew as much as Isaiah. The companies were -ordered to march at wider intervals, so as to make as little dust as -possible; and that night the camp was pitched under a flanking bluff, -and fires were extinguished as soon as supper had been cooked. The -trail had turned off from the valley of the Rosebud. It headed for the -west, as if to cross over to the Little Big Horn. The first sergeants -spread the word among the companies for the men to be ready to march -again at eleven-thirty. After taps there seemed to be another officers’ -council, by candle-light at headquarters. Lying in his blanket, amidst -the dark, while officers on their way to the general’s stepped over -him, Ned could tell that something was up. The air was full of mystery -and expectation. - -As young “Autie” was sound asleep in his own blanket, Ned, like other -men in the ranks, did not know precisely what the officers had talked -about. But at 11.30 the silent reveille—which was touch of hand and low -word by the sergeants and corporals—was “sounded,” and by column of -fours the regiment rode out through the dusty dusk; the train of pack -mules followed. - -It was slow going. Long after midnight the command to halt was passed -down the column; and presently was it known that the scouts claimed -they could not guide them any further across the divide until daylight. - -Everybody waited. Daylight was near. In about an hour the east began -to brighten; in another hour there was light enough for making coffee. -Carrying a message, from Captain Benteen, Ned had another glimpse of -“Autie,” who was going back to the horse herd. - -“Hello,” hailed “Autie.” “You ought to have been there! Uncle Autie -and the Injun scouts have been talking, and Bloody Knife said to the -others: ‘We’ll find enough Sioux to keep us all fighting two or three -days.’ And Uncle Autie just smiled and said: ‘Oh, I guess we’ll get -through with them in one day!’ Those Rees are awful scared. It’s going -to be a big battle, I bet. I wonder if we’ll fight on Sunday. I’ve got -to tend to my horses. Good-by.” - -The sun was well up. It was a glorious June day; and it was the 25th, -or Sunday, as “Autie” had remarked. Pretty soon, while the troops were -still waiting and resting and wondering, the general came riding down -the column. He was bareback, on Vic. His face was aglow, under his -broad-brimmed hat, his yellow hair and tawny moustache shone, but his -blue eyes were weary and puckered, with a trace of worry. - -“We march at eight o’clock, Benteen,” he directed, to the captain. “The -scouts have spied the location of the Indian camp about fifteen miles -ahead, over on the Little Horn. A lot of smoke and ‘heap ponies.’ -Varnum reports they passed some bodies, on Sioux scaffolding. Let me -have Fletcher as my orderly.” - -“All right, sir,” responded Captain Benteen; and the general trotted -on. At a nod from the captain, Ned made haste to mount and follow. - -“Probably we approach as close as we can, to reconnoiter; and early -in the morning we’ll attack,” was remarking to the captain Lieutenant -Gibson, as Ned sped away. - -“There can’t be more than twelve or fifteen hundred. We can trim that -number easy,” was the answer. - -Who was there to tell that over the ridge, well concealed in the -crooked valley of the Little Big Horn, lay in one great village—another -village like the village on the Washita, only larger—the allied bands -of the Oglalas, the Minneconjous, the Sans Arc or Bowless, the Brules -or Burnt Thighs, the Hunkpapas, the Blackfeet, the Northern Cheyennes: -15,000 Indians, with at least 3000 of them fighters well-armed and -commanded by wise Gall and other mighty chiefs. The flower of the Sioux -nation, they feared no white soldiers. They asked only to be let alone. - -Ned now riding with the general, the march was along a little pass -through the hills of the divide. About the middle of the morning halt -was again ordered, in a ravine. - -But taking Adjutant Cook and his orderlies and Bloody Knife the general -galloped ahead to join the scouts on a ridge before. Ned and Sergeant -Butler of Captain Tom’s troop (he was the other orderly) must hold -the horses while the general and the adjutant stole forward afoot, to -survey over the ridge. - -“Smoke,” commented Sergeant Butler, nodding. - -Beyond the ridge hung a film of smoke, mingled with dust. When the -officers returned, by their talk they had sighted through their glasses -a pony herd also. The Indian village must be down there. - -In the ravine again it was hot; the brush quivered in the heat -reflected by the rocks. The column were waiting, expectant. The Rees -were in a group, stripped as for a fight. Their medicine-man, Bob-tail -Bull, was passing from one to another, smearing them with an oil, -to make them safe against the weapons of the enemy. The Crows were -squatting, witnessing. - -Captain Tom came galloping to meet the general. - -“Keogh reports that the detail sent back by Yates to get the hardtack -he dropped ran into a Sioux, opening one of the boxes with his hatchet. -The fellow made off, till out of range; then he rode leisurely along -the ridge, sizing us up.” - -“Sound officers’ call,” bade the general, to Ned. - -The officers gathered. - -“Gentlemen,” said the general, “Indians, have been seen on the back -trail and on the hills, and our presence must be well known. This will -necessitate our attacking at once, instead of waiting until the early -morning, as I had intended. If we wait, the village will scatter and -get away. Each troop commander will detail a non-commissioned officer -and six men to accompany the packs. The troops will be inspected for -action. The column will form in the order in which final reports are -made, and the first troop reported ready will be given the post of -honor, in the advance.” - -Captain French, M Troop, won the honor; and speedily all the troops -were reported “Ready, sir.” - -“Prepare to mount—mount! For-r’d—march!” To fight the Sioux, onward -rode the eager Seventh. “Autie” had hastened forward. Ned was the -general’s orderly, just as he had been at the battle of the Washita. -What luck! - -The divide had been crossed, for now the trail seemed to be more down -hill. The Rosebud was behind; the Little Big Horn before; but the -hills still enclosed on all sides. Another halt was made, and the -column reformed into three battalions. So the attack would be launched -in several blows—also just as at the Washita. This was the general’s -favorite mode of fighting. He had used it in the Civil War, too. - -Major Reno had the first battalion, of three companies and the scouts; -the general had five companies; Captain Benteen had three, and B -Company under Captain McDougall escorted the pack-train and the loose -horses. The general kept Vic for his battle-horse; Dandy was put with -the extras. - -Captain Benteen’s battalion swung off to the left, on a circuit down -another valley. Major Reno’s column also veered to the left more. The -general drew even with him, across on the right side of the first -valley. - -As the two columns pushed ahead, Ned’s heart beat as it always beat -before a fight. He was seeing Indians, in the rocks and the brush—but -they vanished when he looked hard. He was not afraid; no, not afraid. -General Custer himself commanded, and the very best officers of the -regiment were here: gallant Captain Tom, and brave Captain Keogh of -two great wars, and Captain Yates the dandy, and Lieutenant Smith with -crippled arm, and Lieutenant Calhoun who had married Maggie Custer, -and Lieutenant “Queen’s Own” Cook the adjutant. They all had been at -the battle of the Washita. And here were Captain Lord the surgeon -and little “Autie” and good old “Bos” and the civilian Mr. Kellogg, -who wrote for the New York Herald. Isaiah the black squaw-man and -“Lonesome” Charley Reynolds were over there with Major Reno. - -But where were the Sioux? How long before the Little Big Horn would be -reached, where stood the village? - -The Ree and the Crow scouts were spread out, across the valley. He -could see Bloody Knife, and Bob-tail Bull and Stab and Half-Yellow-Face -and Curly the Crow who spoke English. Now they all had gathered in -a group, and had made a smoke. Yes—there were some Sioux! The scouts -had left the smoke and were chasing other riders; just a few. When the -troops reached the place of the smoke they found it to be from a tipi -with a dead Sioux inside. The scouts had set fire to the tipi, and had -chased Sioux warriors out of the place which seemed to have been a -small village camp. - -“Oh, Cook,” called the general; and Adjutant Cook trotted to him. “Tell -Reno the Indians are running away. The village must be only about two -miles off yonder. Tell him to move on at as rapid a gait as he thinks -prudent, and when he strikes the village to charge; and the whole -outfit will support him.” - -Adjutant Cook galloped across to Major Reno. Major Reno turned in his -saddle to give the order; his column broke into a fast trot; and amidst -a cloud of dust away they went, forging ahead, veering to the left as -they followed the trail down beside a little stream, and around the -point of a high ridge. The Little Big Horn was close before, at the end -of the valley! - -But the general led his column away from the trail, more to the right. -Everybody listened, while peering; listened for the cheers and the -volleys of the major or of Captain Benteen. - -“Steady, men,” warned Captain Keogh, on his horse Comanche, to his -company, behind Ned’s position. - -They were climbing the hither flank of the ridge around which Major -Reno now had disappeared. The moments seemed hours. With thud of rapid -hoof came galloping from the rear a trooper; he was a corporal, Major -Reno’s orderly. By the general’s side he pulled short to his horse’s -haunches and saluted. - -“The Major’s compliments, sir, and says he is at the river and has -everything in front of him and they are strong.” - -“Very well, sir,” answered the general. His voice was brusque, tense -with energy. “Adjutant, you’d better send somebody back with orders for -that pack-train and ammunition to hurry along.” - -And Adjutant Cook sent a sergeant from the non-commissioned staff. Ned -had forgotten his name. Away he dashed. - -They continued to climb, diagonaling the slope. At any moment they -would hear the shouts and shots of the Reno men, the whoops and shots -of the Sioux. - -“We’re going to have a big fight, I guess,” again ventured “Autie,” -dropping back a few paces to ride with Ned. His voice was tremulous, -his brown face was paled, but his eyes were snapping. Ned gravely -nodded. - -The general had spurred impatiently; and in a little squad making for -a high knoll ahead, they gradually left the column. The general first -reached the top of the knoll. He had been craning anxiously, searching -for the view beyond. Now he hauled short on Vic, as if surprised. -Adjutant Cook immediately joined him. They intently peered. So did -“Autie.” Ned pressed forward, to see. On the left, before and below, -lay the valley of the Greasy Grass and the Sioux village. - -An irregular line of green willows and cottonwoods marked the course -of a very crooked stream flowing evidently between high banks, amidst -rolling bluffs. High, dark mountains rose far southward, shutting in a -level plateau. But of these Ned took only a glimpse, for something of -more importance was closer at hand. - -The valley of the crooked stream was a mile and a half away, yet, -partially concealed by another and lower ridge. But over the ridge was -floating brown dust, from some commotion; and yonder along the stream -was floating more dust. The white lodges of the Sioux gleamed through -it, as they clustered for a mile and more of length! A tremendous -village, this! Ant-like figures were moving hither-thither; the pony -herds (which made the dust) were grazing on the plateau beyond the -tipis; shrill cries of squaws, and the barking of dogs, wafted faintly -through the still, sunny air. Ned looked to see Major Reno’s column, -but they were not yet visible. - -“A big one!” exclaimed the general, his face glowing. “Good! Send -another order back to Benteen, Cook. We must have those packs with -their ammunition at once, and more men.” - -Lieutenant Cook jerked out his field note-book, and with his pencil -stub hastily scrawled, resting the book upon his buckskin knee. As he -wrote, digging hard in his earnestness, he read: - -“Benteen, come on. Big village. Be quick. Bring packs.” - -He glanced over it, once, and added another word or two. He thrust the -folded paper at Ned. - -“Here,” he said, crisply. “Take that to Captain Benteen, and don’t -spare your horse.” - -[Illustration: “HERE, TAKE THAT TO CAPTAIN BENTEEN, AND DON’T SPARE -YOUR HORSE”] - - - - -XXIV - -SITTING BULL AT BAY - - -Saluting, around wheeled Ned. He had one glimpse of the general’s face. -The blue eyes were blazing, the broad-brimmed hat was being swung to -the column urging forward at a trot. - -“We’ve caught ’em asleep, boys!” cheered the general’s high, clear -voice. “Now for a charge!” - -Down along the column Ned went thundering, for the back trail. -Familiar faces, dusty and sweaty, but resolute all, grinned at him; -a hand or two waved. From the murk at the rear of the eager ranks he -looked behind him. The column had topped the ridge. Headed by the -general and the adjutant and young “Autie,” the stars and stripes and -the headquarters or “general’s own” flag close following, with the -cavalry guidons of red and white streaming in the sun to mark each -troop, horses at hard trot, men leaning forward, hat-brims flaring, -bridle-hands forward, carbines and pistols not yet drawn, rank by rank, -guidon by guidon they dipped over, into a hollow, and disappeared. They -were gone: but they left a cheer behind. - -Ned did not look again. He had his duty to perform. He was not certain -as to where he would find Major Benteen; but it would be somewhere -toward the river; the branching of the trails would guide. - -“Go on! Go on!” he urged, into the pricked ears of his horse, another -“Buckie.” - -“Thud-ity thud! Thud-ity thud! Thud-ity thud!” The brush and the rocks -reeled dizzily past, the brown trail of many hoofs flowed under. He -extracted the message from his blouse, to read it and to be sure of it -in case it was lost. Yes, that was it in Adjutant Cook’s hasty scrawl: - - Benteen, come on. Big - Village. Be quick. - Bring packs. - - COOK, adj’t. - - P. S. Bring packs. - -“Cl’k!” clucked Ned to Buckie; and pricked him again with the spurs. -They must make it. The general would be depending upon them. Adjutant -Cook had repeated the words “Bring packs,” which showed how important -was the matter. - -“Thud-ity thud! Thud-ity thud! Thud-ity thud!” The lather was white -where the bridle reins rubbed Buckie’s wet neck; his breath whistled, -occasionally he snorted to blow from his straining nostrils the dust -and moisture; but he never faltered. Good horse! - -Far and faint from the right were heard a spattering of rifle-shots, -like a skirmish fire; and then cheers! That must be Major Reno, or -Captain Benteen; and off there would lie the river. - -Gallop, gallop, up the back trail, with the rounded slopes, sagey and -hot, girding the long, long way. Where was Captain Benteen? Where was -the pack-train? Ah, here came somebody—a rider also galloping hard. -Out whipped Ned’s revolver; but soon the speck resolved into a man in -white-man’s garb. Looked like a soldier. It was “Bos!” “Bos” Custer, -forage-master. - -He saw Ned, and waved. Ned drew rein barely for a moment, as they met. - -“Where you been?” - -“Back to get a fresh horse.” - -“Where’s Captain Benteen? Seen him?” - -“Just left him. Straight on. Keep the trail. A fight, isn’t it?” - -“You bet.” And Ned was away, in the one direction; “Bos” galloped on to -join his big brother. Five of the Custer family were to be together in -that battle: three brothers, a brother-in-law, and a nephew. - -Ned kept watch ahead for any token of the Benteen column. Hurrah! There -they were—a long mass of dusty blue, moving at a trot, down the trail, -Captain Benteen and his aide leading. The pack-train was not in sight. -On galloped Ned (revolver stowed again in holster), and met Captain -Benteen, who had been watching his approach. - -“A dispatch from headquarters, sir,” panted Ned, holding it out. - -As he rode, Captain Benteen rapidly read it. Ned held himself prepared -at a word to whirl and carry the order on to the packs. But as the -captain read, the spattering of shots in the distance before suddenly -swelled to a continuous clamor. The captain raised his head, listening, -gazing. Louder, and louder, rang the gun-fire, as if the battle was -approaching. The Indians were being driven this way? What——? But the -captain’s order rang smartly. - -“B’tall-_yun_, draw—pistols! Gallop—march!” - -With a cheer they lunged ahead, pistols held high, eyes alert, ready to -meet the fleeing Sioux and turn them back again. - -The valley widened; in this direction had ridden the Major Reno -battalion, recalled Ned, as he, too, galloped, pistol high. - -“Right and left into line—march!” shouted Captain Benteen, to cover the -ground with battle front. - -Then, as all were galloping, forming the line, the draw opened upon -a wide cross valley, and there was the battle field—a brushy, broken -arena, cut by the willow-bordered crooked stream, hazy with smoke -of burning grass and powder through which echoed shot and shout and -chant, and through which dimly could be seen horsemen careering in all -directions, as if attacking a common object in their midst. Upon a -bluff to the right was another battle—soldiers above, Indians below. - -The gallop quickly ceased. Now where to go, or what to do, first? - -“Look out! Here come some!” - -The cry and the murmur swept from man to man. A confused mass was -rapidly bearing up the valley, toward them. - -“No, that’s all right. They’ve signaled. They’re Crows, with a pony -herd.” - -So they were. As they wildly scampered past, driving off their spoils, -Indian-fashion, voices hailed them, inquiring where was Reno, where was -Custer. One of the Crows waved his hand at the bluff. - -“Soldiers there,” he said. - -“Right oblique, trot—march!” ordered Captain Benteen. And for the bluff -they made. - -The men upon the bluff proved to be Major Reno and his battalion. They -were dismounted, and were firing at long range down the slopes. The -fighting below had been by the rear guard, in the retreat to the bluff. -Major Reno wore a handkerchief tied about his head. Ned thought that -he had been wounded, but he had only lost his hat. He had lost his -revolver, too. He greeted Major Benteen feverishly. - -“Where’s Custer? Have you seen Custer?” - -“No.” - -“Neither have I. He promised to support me. It was too hot in there -for us. We were driven out. Five to one.” The major appeared almost -beside himself. “Why, I tell you we’re fighting all the Sioux nation, -and all the outlaws and half-breeds east of the Rocky Mountains. -Dismount your men, captain, and deploy them as skirmishers along that -hill on the south.” - -Yes, Major Reno and his 200 men had started in to charge the village, -across the river; but it had looked as if they were being drawn on -into an ambush; when they had halted, to survey, out had swarmed the -Sioux, thicker and thicker. Afoot they came, and ahorse. “Hi-yih hi-yih -yip-yip-yip!” had they cried, frightfully. The Rees, on the left flank, -had fled pell-mell. The major had dismounted his men in some timber; -but no Custer was in sight, the Indians were surrounding, and he had -ordered a retreat to the bluff on this side. - -That had been a close call. In the retreat Lieutenant Don McIntosh and -Lieutenant Benny Hodgson the acting adjutant had been killed, and so -had Doctor DeWolf, and “Lonesome” Charley Reynolds, and black Isaiah. -Faithful Bloody Knife, too, had fallen; struck down, said somebody, at -Major Reno’s side. Twenty-nine other men also were dead. A score were -missing. The bodies of most of the killed were down there still. - -The battalion might have done better had they stayed in the timber by -the village and fought dismounted. But where was Custer? Where was the -general? - -The bugles shrilled. - -“Cease firing, men! Cease firing!” bade the sergeants, along the -skirmish line of kneeling men, protecting the bluff. - -Now might all pause from squinting over hot carbine barrels, and wipe -foreheads. The Indians in the valley were galloping away, along the -hills and stream, toward the north. - -What was the matter there? Oh! Listen! Custer must be in action. His -carbines were rattling fast and faster. Why doesn’t he send some word, -though? Why was the battalion kept here? Why didn’t the major order an -advance? - -Listen _now_! Crash! Volley firing! And again “Crash!” Another. Surely -“Old Curly” was giving it to them heavy. Who was that coming? Ah, -McDougall and the packs. Good! The general had sent word for the packs; -wasn’t it time to push ahead in force and join him, or help him out by -attack? - -Water was needed; but when soldiers tried to get it from the river -below they were promptly fired upon. The shooting in the direction -where the general was died away to a fitful clatter; few Indians were -to be seen; and at last Major Reno did order a movement north on the -bluffs, toward the general. Then the Indians gathered fast and furious, -and the command was driven back to the first bluff. The general’s -battalion had been in sight, two miles distant, on a hill. At least, -over there was an eddy of riding and irregular firing. From the place -many Indians suddenly came hurrying to attack the other white soldiers. -So it looked as if the general had been defeated and his rear-guard had -been defending his retreat. - -But why didn’t he send a courier through or make signals, to inform the -rest of the regiment? - -The bluff was a lively spot. Thicker and thicker the Sioux and the -Cheyennes were besieging it. From every side, from above as well as -from below, shrieked their taunts, whined their bullets. The day was -almost spent. As the sun sank into the desolate hills the red foe -yelped the louder, fired the faster; every bunch of sage and every rock -seemed to harbor an Indian; down by the willow-bordered stream the -squaws sang vengefully in the village still standing and triumphant. - -Even at twilight the Indians did not dare to charge. Steadily and -desperately the soldiers replied to their bullets. Officer and man -shot as one; and Ned among them. His stubby cavalry carbine repeatedly -jammed on him. It wouldn’t extract the shell. On right and left he -heard his mates complaining of their carbines also. They must stop and -use their knife-blades, to pry loose the shells. - -The twilight faded; the dusk settled; and the Indians quit. The reports -of rifle and carbine ceased; and for an instant quiet blessed the -valley. Ned was glad to rise and stretch his cramped legs and back, -and look about. - -“Hark!” again cautioned somebody. “I hear commands! Troops are coming! -Hurrah for Crook!” - -“Don’t you see them over there? Right over there against the sky-line! -Ah—now they’ve disappeared. But they’re coming—Terry or Crook or -Custer! Hurrah!” - -“Hurrah!” welled the cheers, from this hill and all along the bluff, -where the Reno men also were stirred. - -“Sound stables, Fletcher,” bade Captain Benteen, of Ned. “Loud as you -can, to reach them and guide them.” - -With parched and cracked lips Ned did his best, pealing from his -battered trumpet the rollicking, familiar tune: - - Come off to the stable all ye who are able, - And give your horses some oats and some corn; - For if you don’t do it your colonel will know it, - And then you will rue it as sure as you’re born. - -“Now listen!” - -It did seem as though answering bugle call floated in through the -dusk. But after shots had been fired, and more calls had been sounded, -officers and men must agree that their hopes deceived them. Nobody was -coming. So where was Custer? - -Barricades of boxes and horse carcasses were being piled up, and the -order went forth to scoop out rifle pits, for the next day’s fight. -The darkness gradually settled. There was no water for coffee, and -every mouth was too dry to chew bread. The bluff was miserable, but the -village below was gay. Great fires flared redly; and about them the -Indians were prancing and yelping in a tremendous scalp dance. With -flames and shrieks and hoots and firing of guns and beating of tom-toms -the dances lasted all night. But the Indians were not unmindful of the -watchers on the bluff; for when Major Reno sent out scouts to find an -open way they speedily crept back, with word that they had encountered -nothing but Sioux, Sioux, Sioux, everywhere. - -No matter; Custer would come, in the morning; and soon would come Terry -and Gibbon, and Crook the Gray Fox. - -The digging of the little rifle-pits took most of the night. Ned had -been helping one of the squads. They had finished their pit, and he had -closed his eyes, for a moment (he was so tired!), when he wakened with -a jump. Two rifle-shots echoed in his ears. To the signal up-swelled a -hideous clamor again, of whoops and rapid reports; the bullets pelted -in, ringing upon the rocks and cutting the dry earth and the brittle -sage. There was no need for “Assembly”; into the pits dived the men. - -The east was barely pink. Dawn scarce had arrived. The hour must be -very early. But for white and red the day had begun. - -“Give it to ’em, men; give it to ’em, but be careful how you shoot. -Make every bullet tell.” The sharp words of Captain Benteen and -Lieutenant Gibson, as they walked up and down behind Troop H, steadied -the nerves of all. - -How fast the bullets rained in! They struck from before and from -behind. As the dawn brightened, the feathered chiefs could be seen -gesturing and commanding, while hither-thither ran their naked -warriors, to occupy better positions. There were swarms of them; -_swarms_! - -“For the love o’ Saint Patrick, but they’re all sharp-shooters!” gasped -Private McDermott, at Ned’s elbow. “An’ half o’ them are out o’ range -of us, wid these sawed-off carbines.” - -So they were—all sharp-shooters. Fast and true their lead picked, -picked, at the rifle-pits and barricades; searched the hollow where -were herded the pack-mules and the extra horses. Along the line of H -company men were being killed, some by bullets from behind. Mules and -horses screamed with wounds. Powder reek filled the still air. One’s -head ached with the noise, one’s throat smarted with the smoke. - -Major Reno, in his position to the north, must lie low; must lie low -Captain Benteen and every other officer. The Indians were creeping -closer. By little dashes and rushes they stole up, through the brush. -With whish and patter arrows began to eke out the hail of bullets. - -“Must be short o’ ammunition,” muttered Private McDermott. - -“Wait! I’ll get one of those red beggars,” exclaimed Private Burns. -From his place he crawled forward, hugging the brush, for better aim. -On he went, peering; but see! Half-up he sprang, and fell, crumpled -into a lax heap. - -With exultant whoop a painted, glistening coppery figure darted toward -him, speeding like a deer, coupstick, ten feet long, out-stretched -to touch his body and claim a scalp. But half a dozen carbines spoke -together, and the painted, glistening coppery figure collapsed to a -dully red mass. - -Bold? Yes. There between the lines lay soldier and Sioux, while over -them passed and repassed bullet and arrow, shout and groan. Truly, the -fight was growing more desperate. - -“That won’t do,” spoke Captain Benteen. Major Reno had come over. -“We’ll have to act quick, or they’ll be running into our lines. We must -drive them back, major; drive them back.” - -“Get your men ready for a charge, then,” directed the major. - -“All ready, men,” called the captain, briskly. “Now’s your time. Hip, -hip, here we go! Give it to ’em! Give it to ’em!” - -“Hurrah!” cheered Lieutenant Gibson. - -Out from shelter and down the sagey slope surged the blue-shirted line. -Ned took no time to blow the “Charge”; he was shooting. Lead and not -brass was needed. The carbines roared, the men shouted fiercely, and -for the river broke the Indians. - -“Back, men! Get back!” ordered Major Reno, following with the other -officers, close behind. - -So it was into the rifle-pits again. - -Noon was near; either the Indians were out of ammunition, or else they -were exhausted, for the firing by them slackened. Acting Adjutant Hare -came hastening to Captain Benteen. - -“The major’s compliments, and will you advance your skirmish line to -cover volunteers getting water.” - -The water-getters were making way, by hollow and ravine, toward the -river in front. They carried camp-kettles and bunches of canteens. -Dangerous work was this, and some of them were wounded; but they filled -the canteens. These were handed along the lines. Ah, but it was good, -to have a drink at last! - -The sun had traveled from east across to the west. The afternoon waxed -and waned: sometimes the Indians shot angrily; sometimes they seemed -to be resting. What was to occur next? What were they scheming? The -officers walked about, bidding the men be ready and not afraid. - -“Sure, but looks to me as if the beggars were leavin’,” mused Private -McDermott, gazing puzzled. - -Then, toward sunset and the close of this the second day of fighting, -from the bluff arose a murmur and a cry. The Indians were quitting, -and riding off! ’Twas too good to be true; but nevertheless tipis were -falling, as the squaws labored hard to pack the village. Soon billows -of fresh smoke rolled up. The grass had again been fired; figures could -be seen behind it, fanning it with blankets. - -Officers and men stared. In the cool glow of twilight the whole -village—or what looked to be the whole village—emerged from the -concealing smoke and moved away across the bare plateau which had been -the pony pasture. - -An enormous, regular mass they made; no wonder that the Seventh Cavalry -battalions had not whipped all this people. - -“They’re as large as a brigade of the Army of the Potomac, and in as -fine order,” pronounced Major Reno, watching from amidst his officers. - -However, the Indians might be planning a trap. Eighteen dead and -fifty-two wounded was the report of Doctor Porter, the surgeon on -the bluff. Major Reno did not dare to venture far, but he moved the -companies nearer to the river, for the water. Thus night descended upon -Monday, June 26, 1876, by the Little Big Horn. - -Tuesday the third day dawned clear and peaceful. Before, the only -moving objects were a few Indian ponies grazing in the bottoms; not an -Indian lodge-fire was to be sighted. Now where was Custer? Where was -Crook? When could Terry and Gibbon be expected? - -After breakfast the men might sit about, wary but at ease, except the -wounded. The sun floated higher, and the sage shimmered with heat. -Scarcely a sound broke the aftermath of battle noise, save as magpies -croaked hoarsely. Upon a knoll were sitting also Major Reno and Acting -Adjutant Hare and Captain Benteen, and other officers—Ned and his -fellow orderlies close at hand. - -The talk was much upon Custer, and why he did not send word. Some of -the officers were impatient with him. But suddenly talk ceased. Major -Reno was peering intently through his glass, at the northward. What was -that? From the lounging men uprose again a murmur. They were springing -to their feet—as sprang to their feet Major Reno and all. - -“Sound the assembly, trumpeter! To your posts, gentlemen!” ordered the -major. - -Against the mountain-tops far down the course of the crooked, -half-hidden river was another spume of dust like a brownish cloud. -To the hurrying notes of the “Assembly” by bugle after bugle the men -hastened from the river below, seized carbines and crouched again in -line. The Indians were coming back! - -No! The dust did not approach fast enough for Indian riders. It was -more like the dust of a cavalry or an infantry march. And yet—if -Indians it was, could the bluff hold out against them, another day? - -Ned felt his heart sink with dread. Evidently Major Reno was doubtful. -He pondered, a moment; and wrote rapidly an order. - -“I want three men to carry this message through,” he said, to Acting -Adjutant Hare. “They’re to go as close as possible to that approaching -column, and see what it is. If it’s Indians, they’re to pass on and -take this word through to Terry at the Big Horn, so that he’ll hurry. -If it’s a white column, they are to turn back at once and let us know. -You can ask for volunteers from the ranks. Our Indians are no good. I -can’t depend on them.” - -Following the line of bluffs had ridden away the three brave couriers. -The two battalions must wait. - -“That may be Terry, don’t you think, major?” queried Adjutant Hare. - -“No. If cavalry, they must be Custer. Terry would hardly have had time -to get in this far.” - -“Look for the gray horse troop, then,” suggested Captain Benteen. -“Troop E; Smith’s. That will tell the story.” - -An hour passed; and hurrah, here came the three couriers, hastening -along the ridge! With them was a fourth rider. The dust also was -nearing; soon the men under it would be in sight. - -The squad of four arrived panting with their haste. The extra man was a -scout, by his rig. He was weary and travel-worn. - -“’Tis an army column; cavalry and infantry both, sir,” reported the -corporal of the three couriers; and the strange scout handed to Major -Reno a soiled note. - -The major read it—read it twice, and passed it to the next officer. - -“What do you make of it, gentlemen?” he asked, anxiously. “You say -that’s Terry yonder?” he queried of the scout: - -The scout nodded, and out of drawn face answered. - -“Yes, sir.” - -“And Custer isn’t with him?” - -“No, sir.” - -“This note is addressed to General Custer,” said Lieutenant Hare; “from -General Terry.” And he read it aloud: “General: A Crow scout has just -come into camp, saying you’ve been whipped. I don’t believe it, but I’m -coming with medical aid.” - -“Tried to get into your lines last night,” informed the white scout, -“but the blamed Sioux were so thick they held me back. I s’posed you -were Custer. Where is Custer, might I ask?” - -Whitening face turned to whitening face. Ned knew himself grown pale -and shaky with a great fear. - -“If Custer didn’t meet Terry——” - -“And hasn’t communicated with us——” - -“Or with him——” - -“We must hope for the best, gentlemen,” faltered Captain Benteen. - -Sped like lightning through the rifle-pits the rumor that the Custer -battalion had met a great disaster. Little exclamations of wonder and -pity were succeeded by an expectant silence. - -But here along the valley, right where had stood the proud Sioux -village, appeared the head of the column; appeared cavalry and -infantry, under guidon and banner. Hooray for Terry and Gibbon! Hooray -for comrades in blue! Hats were swung, grimy hand gripped grimy hand. - -On came the column, to the cheering lines. General Terry, leading, was -grave. Evidently he bore very bad news. Sober were all the officers -with him, sober were the men; and sober grew the awed camp. - -“Custer! What about Custer?” - -Heads were shaken. - -“Don’t know yet, for sure. But some command has been killed off, every -man, apparently, yonder on those hills. We passed about two hundred -stripped bodies.” - -Ned glimpsed a familiar face. It was that of Curly, the Crow scout. He -rushed to Curly. - -“Where’s the general, Curly? Where’s the Long Hair?” - -Curly shook his head, as other heads were being shaken. - -“Long Hair dead,” he said, gutturally. “All dead. Me only one left. -Let hair down like Sioux, put on Sioux paint, an’ ride out. Nearly all -killed, then.” - -So Curly had been with Custer in the fight. - -Acting Adjutant Hare’s voice was choked, he scarcely could speak, when -in due time seeking out Captain Benteen he said: - -“The major has the permission of General Terry to send out a company -to inspect the battle-field where the bodies were seen. He therefore -directs that you take your company, and return as soon as practicable -with a report.” - -Soberly Captain Benteen acknowledged the salute; and soberly rode away -with him his men of Company H, including Ned, cavalry trumpeter. - -Yes, there they lay, on slope and ridge, two miles from Reno Hill. -There they lay: 212 by count, the fighting men of the great white chief -Long Hair, overwhelmed by the 2000 fighting men of the great red chiefs -Gall and Crazy Horse, and the medicine of Sitting Bull. - -Company by company, in retreat from position to position, they could be -recognized not by guidon but by officers and men. Here was fair Calhoun -and his line; here was dark Captain Keogh and his; here were the Yates -men and the Smith men and Tom Custer’s, backed by their officers. Here -was “Queen’s Own” Cook; and “Bos” and little “Autie”; and in the circle -of the brave was the general. - -Scalps had been taken, hatchet and club had been at work; but General -Custer lay calm and at ease, with two wounds only, and looking much -as Ned had seen him look a thousand times before. Even the knife of -Rain-in-the-Face had passed him by. Said the Sioux: “Of all the brave -men we ever fought, the Long Hair was the bravest.” - - * * * * * - -Two hundred and sixty-five killed, fifty-two wounded, was the roll-call -of the Seventh Cavalry, after this battle of the Little Big Horn, June -25 and 26, 1876. The Sioux fled, Crazy Horse to the east, Sitting Bull -to the west. Pursuit was long. Band after band must yield to cavalry -and to infantry. American Horse was killed; Iron Dog surrendered; Dull -Knife the Cheyenne was defeated; Lame Deer was killed; Two Moons and -Hump surrendered; Crazy Horse was defeated, and must surrender; Sitting -Bull was twice defeated, and through snow and cold must lead into -Canada the few of his people left. Five years after the great battle -by the Greasy Grass he, too, surrendered. The United States had bought -the Black Hills. But the Chief with the Long Yellow Hair and nigh three -hundred of his Seventh Cavalry rode never again. - - - - -LIPPINCOTT’S POPULAR BOOKS FOR BOYS - -12mo. Illustrated. Cloth, ornamental, $1.00 per volume. - - - THE LOST GOLD OF THE MONTEZUMAS. By W. O. Stoddard. - - TROOPER ROSS, AND SIGNAL BUTTE. By General Charles King, U.S.A. - - CAPTAIN CHAP. By Frank R. Stockton. - - CHARLIE LUCKEN. By H. C. Adams. - - THE YOUNG CASTELLAN. By George Manville Fenn. - - THE BLACK TOR. By George Manville Fenn. - - THE MYSTERY OF THE ISLAND. By Henry Kingsley. - - CHUMLEY’S POST. 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