Part 14 (1/2)

Thereupon the chiefs held a consultation Presently Satanta asked eneral had really said they were to have the cattle I assured hinified inquiry as to why his young hly

He intimated that this was only a boyish freak, for which he was very sorry The young , he said, was a joke The old liar was now beatingthe best of it

I did not let hi men to restorea crafty ga if possible, and iven him food for reflection After another council the oldthe cattle down ”Of course,” I told him ”Such are my instructions from General Hazen”

In response to an inquiry if I wanted any of his young o alone Wheelingthe chief fir for the cattle, which existed only in et the river between ood three-quarters of a mile start of them and could make a run for Fort Larned But as I reached the river bank I looked about and saw ten or fifteen Indians who had begun to suspect that all was not as it should be

The ed hi tothe top of the ridge and riding down the other side out of view, I turned my mount and headed ard for Fort Larned I let him out for all he orth, and when I reached a little rise and looked back the Indian village lay in plain sight

My pursuers were by this ti for me in every direction Soon they discoveredaway They struck out in swift pursuit In a few

When I crossed pawnee Fork, two miles from the Post, two or three of theained the opposite side of the creek I was overjoyed to see soon a short distance away I yelled at the top of s that the Indians were after me

When Denver Jim, an old scout, ith the party, was informed that there were ten or fifteen Indians in the pursuit he said:

”Let's lay for the the trees and low box-elder bushes, and secreted, while aited We did not wait long Soon up ca and panting

We let two of them pass, then opened a lively fire on the next three or four, killing two at the first volley The others discovering that they had run into an ambush, whirled around and ran back in the direction from which they had co and made their escape

The Indians that were killed were scalped, and we appropriated their ar the horses, we , and as we entered the fort dru the call to fall in The officers had thought Satanta and his warriors were co, two hours after General Hazen had left, the old chief drove into the Post in an ambulance which he had received sory and bent onofficer, he asked why General Hazen had left the fort without supplying him with beef cattle The captain said the cattle were then on the road, but could not explain why they were delayed

The chief made numerous threats He said that if he wanted to he could capture the whole Post Captain Parker, as a bravebeyond his powers Satanta finally left in anger Going to the sutler's store, he sold his ambulance to the post-trader, and a part of the proceeds he secretly invested in whisky, which could always be secured by the Indians fro the military and civil laws

He then e He returned in an hour with seven or eight hundred of his warriors, and it looked as if he intended to carry out his threat of capturing the fort The garrison at once turned out The redskins, ithin a halfseveral shots into it

While this circlingplace, the soldiers observed that the whole village had packed up and was on the move The ive their faet away At last they circled the Post several tialloped over the prairie to overtake the fast-departing village On their way they surprised and killed a party of woodchoppers on pawnee Fork, as well as a party of herders guarding beef cattle

The soldiers with the wagon I had opportunelyfor the bodies of these victiht in all Under the circuuns should have persuaded the garrison that Satanta'sback to make their threatened assault

There was uards had been doubled

Captain Parker had all the scouts at his headquarters He was seeking to get one of them to take dispatches to General Sheridan at Fort Hays

I reported to hi him of my encounter and my escape

”You were lucky to think of that cattle story, Cody,” he said ”But for that little gae”

”Cody,” put in dick Curtis, ”the captain is trying to get somebody to take dispatches to General Sheridan None of the scouts here see to undertake the trip They say they are not well enough acquainted with the country to find the way at night”

A storht Not only did the scouts fear they would lose the way, but, with hostile Indians all about, the undertaking was exceedingly dangerous A large party of redskins was known to be encamped at Walnut Creek, on the direct road to Fort Hays