Part 13 (1/2)

My one chance for my life was to run I wheeled ham struck out as if he co the next ridge I looked around and saw the Indians, evidently well haht, and for a fewI ever saw But the Indians had nearly as good mounts as he, and one of their horses in particular, a spotted aniained onthis fleet horse would send a bullet whistling after an to strike too near for co behind, and could do no ie But I saw that the fellow in the lead ht hit ham, therefore, I raised old ”Lucretia” toto hit either the horse or the rider He was not eighty yards behind me At the crack of the rifle doent the horse

Not waiting to see if he regained his feet, Brighaent business just then and were in a hurry to attend to it

The other Indians had gained while I stopped to drop the leader A volley of shots whizzed past me Fortunately none of them hit Now and then, to return the co of one of ht Indians now reerous proxi, I checked Brighaet a few extra breaths I had determined that if the worst came to the worst I would drop into a buffalo here I ht possibly stand off hah nobly

When we came within three miles of the railroad track, where two coave the alarht, I sawto the rescue The Indians quickly turned and galloped away as fast as they had cohaiven the care and rub-down that he richly deserved

Captain Nolan of the Tenth Cavalry now ca my account of what had happened deteriven a cavalry horse for a remount and ere off

Our horses were all fresh and excellent stock We soon began shortening the distance between ourselves and the fugitives Before they had fled five ht of their nu to the place where I had dropped the spotted horse that carried the leader of my pursuers I found thathied in better business

On our return we found old Brigha, as if to ask if we had punished the redskins who pursued us

I think he read the answer in my eyes

Another adventure which deserves a place in these reminiscences occurred near the Saline River My companion at the time was Scotty, the butcher who accompanied on for hauling to the railroad camp

I had killed fifteen buffaloes, and ere on our way ho band of Indians

[Illustration: WINNING MY NAME--”BUFFALO BILL”]

I wasto the company, and could easily have made my escape, but Scotty had only the ht, and of course I could not leave him

To think was to act in those days Scotty and I had often talked of ould do in case of a sudden attack, and we forthwith proceeded to carry out the plan we had round, we unhitched the mules more quickly than that operation had ever been perforon We threw the buffalo haround and piled them about the wheels so as to form a breastwork Then, with an extra box of ammunition and three or four extra revolvers which ays carried with us, we crept under the wagon, prepared to give our visitors a reception they would reot within a hundred yards of us we opened such a sudden and galling fire that they held up and began circling about us

Several tied Their shots killed the two ht and left, and had the satisfaction of seeing three of theround not more than fifty feet away

When we had been cooped up in our little fort for about an hourthe cavalry coallop, over the prairie The Indians saw the soldiers al their horses, they disappeared down the canon of the creek When the cavalry arrived we had the satisfaction of showing theood” for all time Two hours later we reached the cah it had a few bullets and arrows i for the railroad that I becauides, scouts, and hunters that the West ever produced He was going through our country on his way to Washi+ngton I uest for a few days in Hays City He then proceeded to Fort Lyon, Colorado, near which his son-in-law, Mr Boggs, resided His health had been failing for sos's residence on Picket Wire Creek

Soon after the adventure with Scotty I hadcontest with Billy Couide, scout, and interpreter Comstock, as chief of scouts at Fort Wallace, had a reputation of being a successful buffalo hunter, and his friends at the fort--the officers in particular--were anxious to back hied that I should shoot a match with hied We were to hunt one day of eight hours, beginning at eight o'clock in the er was five hundred dollars a side, and the reater number of buffaloes from horseback was to be declared the winner Incidentally my title of ”Buffalo Bill” was at stake

The hunt took place twenty miles east of Sheridan It had been well advertised, and there was a big ”gallery” An excursion party, whose members came chiefly froentle thehter Arta, who had come to visit reed that we should go into the herd at the sa as many animals as possible A referee followed each of us, horseback, and counted the buffaloes killed by each man The excursionists and other spectators rode out to the hunting-grounds in wagons and on horseback, keeping well out of sight of the buffaloes, so as not to frighten them until the time came for us to dash into the herd They were per on

For the first ”run” ere fortunate in getting good ground Cohas: first, I had the best buffalo horse in the country; second, I was using as known at the tifield rifle, caliber 50 This was ”Lucretia,” the weapon of which I have already told you Coh it could fire more rapidly than h to equal o into the herd, Comstock and I dashed forward, followed by the referees The aniht My great forte in killing buffaloes was to get thetheir leaders Thus the brutes behind were crowded to the left, so that they were soon going round and round

This particularI soon had the in a beautiful circle I dropped theht, which finishedat the rear of the buffaloes he was chasing, and they kept on in a straight line He succeeded in killing twenty-three, but they were scattered over a distance of three ether

Our St Louis friends set out chane when the result of the first run was announced It proved a good drink on a Kansas prairie, and a buffalo hunter proved an excellentwe espied another herd approaching It was a small drove, but we prepared to make it serve our purpose The buffaloes were cows and calves, quicker in their ot eighteen to Coain the spectators approached, and once ne went round After a luncheon we resumed the hunt Three miles distantanother herd I was so far ahead of ive an exhibition ofmy saddle and bridle behind, I rode, with my competitor, to ard of the buffaloes