Part 10 (1/2)

”Who are you?” he asked, walking over to ood recommendation”

”Kindly remember,” I replied, ”that we have had a little war for the past five years on the border These people were on one side and I on the other, and it is natural that they shouldn't think very highly ofto take ain,” said my father-in-law, and started toward the staterooht him to leave the decision to her, and for the next ten minutes I pleadedagainst odds, for my wife, as well as her parents' friends, were all ardent Southerners, and I am proud to say that after fifty years of ly ”Secesh” as ever But when I put the case to her she said gamely that she had taken me for better or for worse and intended to stick to ood-by to her parents and friends, and still in tears after they had left I tried to co Northern people I would not be regarded as such a desperate character, but my consolation was of little avail At dinner the hostile stares that were bent on hbors at table did not serve to reassure her It was some comfort to me afterhen the captain sent for me and told me that he knew me, that my Uncle Elijah was his old-time friend, and one of the most extensive shi+ppers on the stea you,” he said, ”but let it pass, and e get to Independence everything will be all right”

But everything was not all right In the evening, when I led ers were dancing, every dancer i and the woht my hile I walked the floor

At daybreak, e stopped for wood, I heard shots and shouting

Walking out on deck, I saw the freed negroes who co back on board The stea out in the streaers had wired up the river that I was on board, and an aret”into my trunk, took out and buckled on a brace of revolvers which had done excellent service in times past This action promptly confirmed my wife's suspicions She was now certain that I was the bandit I had been accused of being I had no ti my coat back, so that I rested my hands on the butts of h the crowd

One or twoa few minutes past backed away, as I walked past and looked the more was said, and soon I reached the steward's office, unmolested Here I found a number of edto Kansas, steerage, saving their ht have it to invest in homes when they reached their destination They had all heard of me, and now proposed to arm and defend ladly welcomed their support, more for my wife's sake than for my own

”My wife,” I said, ”firmly believes that I am an outlaw”

”You can't blame her,” said the spokesman of the party, ”after what has happened But wait till she gets a Union people and she will learn her mistake We know your history, and of your recent services to General Sherman We know that old 'Pap' Sherman wouldn't have an outlaw in his service If you had seen soiven out about your wife's father and his friends there would have been trouble at the start”

My new-found friends did not do things by halves In order to be able to give a ball in the cabin they exchanged their steerage tickets for first-class passage That night the ball was given, with uests of honor

The Independence crowd, observing the preparations for the ball, demanded that the captain stop at the first town and let them off They saw that the tide had turned, and were apprehensive of reprisals The captain told theentleht they stood outside looking in while my wife, now quite reassured, was introduced to the ladies and gentlemen from Indiana, and danced till she eary

We looked for trouble e reached Independence the next day There was a bigger crowd than usual on the levee, but when it was seen that my Yankee friends had their Spencer carbines with them all was quiet

As we pulled out the old captain called me outside

”Cody, it is all over now,” he said ”But don't you think you were the only restless ht I had to leave four of my best deckhands either dead or wounded on the bank I will never forget the way you walked out through the croith that pair of guns in your hand I have heard of the execution these weapons can do when they get in action”

When we stopped at Kansas City I telegraphed to Leavenworth that ere co As the boat approached the Leavenworth levee my soldier friends were out on deck in their dress uniforms, and I stood on the deck, my bride on my arm Soon we heard the music of the Fort Leavenworth band and the town band, and crowds of citizens were on the wharf as the boat tied up

The commandant of the fort, DR Anthony, the Mayor of Leavenworth,aboard the boat to greet us That night ere given a big banquet to which lorious time After it was all over, she put her arms about my neck and cried:

”willy, I don't believe you are an outlaw at all!”

I had reluctantly promised my wife that I would abandon the Plains It was necessary to , so I rented a hotel in Salt Creek Valley, the same hotel my mother had formerly conducted, and set up as a landlord

It was a typical frontier hotel, patronized by people going to and from the Plains, and it took considerable tact and diplomacy to conduct it successfully I called the place ”The Golden-Rule House,” and tried to conduct it on that principle I seemed to have the qualifications necessary, but for a man who had lived my kind of life it proved a ta once more for the freedom of the Plains Incidentally I felt sure I could make money as a plainsman, and, now that I had a wife to support, money had become a very important consideration

I sold out the Golden-Rule House and set out alone for Saline, Kansas, which was then at the end of construction of the Kansas Pacific Railway On ainfor the Government, with headquarters at Fort Ellsworth, afterward called Fort Harker He told me more scouts were needed at the Post, and I acco e the winter of 1866-67 I scouted between Fort Ellsworth and Fort Fletcher I was at Fort Fletcher in the spring of 1867 when General Custer came out to accompany General Hancock on an Indian expedition I re Creek, on which it was located The water overflowed the fortifications, rendering the place unfit for further occupancy, and it was abandoned by the Government The troops were removed to Fort Hays, a new post, located farther west, on the south fork of Big Creek It hile I was at Fort Hays that I hadCuster He had come up frouide to pilot him to Fort Larned, sixty-five miles distant