Part 28 (2/2)

One of the Indians, as elaborately decorated with all the ornaht, sawout:

”I know you, Pa-ho-has-ka! Coht withbeen known by the Indians

Ithis horse to and fro in front of his e I turned and galloped toward him for fifty yards, and he rode toward me about the same distance Both of us rode at full speed When ere only thirty yards apart I raised my rifle and fired His horse dropped dead under hiround to clear himself of the carcass

Almost at the same instant my own horse stepped into a hole and fell heavily The fall hurt me but little, and almost instantly I was on ht injuries The chief and I were now both on our feet, not twenty paces apart We fired at each other at the same instant My usual luck held His bullet whizzed harmlessly past my head, while mine struck him full in the breast

He reeled and fell, but I took no chances He had barely touched the ground, when I was upon him, knife in hand, and to make sure of him drove the steel into his heart

This whole affair, fro to end, occupied but little ti that I was a little distance fro down uponme off

General Merritt had witnessed the duel, and, realizing the danger I was in, ordered Colonel Mason with Company K to hurry to iven one minute later two hundred Indians would have been upon me, and this present narration would have had to bethe war-bonnet high in the air and shouted: ”The first scalp for Custer!”

It was by this time clear to General Merritt that he could not ae For a tiht hundred Indians, or twice that nuainst such veteran and fearless fighters as the Fifth Cavalry They soon ca retreat for the Red Cloud Agency

For thirty-five round, we drove them before us Soon they were forced to abandon their spare horses and all the equip Despite the i thousands of other Indians at the Agency, we drove our late adversaries directly into it No one in our coathered there had not gone on the warpath, but little difference that made to us The Fifth Cavalry, on the warpath itself, would stop at nothing It was dark e entered the reservation All about us we could see the huddling forh, in fact, to have consummated another Custer ht

While at the Agency I learned that the Indian I had killed in thewas none other than Yellow Hand, a son of old Cut Nose, as a leading chief of the Cheyennes The old man learned from the members of Yellow Hand's party that I had killed his son, and sent a white interpreter tochief's war-bonnet This request I was obliged to refuse, as I wanted it as a trophy of the first expedition to avenge the death of Custer and hiswe started to join the command of General Crook, which was enca Horn Mountains They had decided to await the arrival of the Fifth Cavalry before proceeding against the Sioux, ere so Horn River, in a country that was as nearly inaccessible as any of the Western fastnesses Byrapid marches we reached Crook's caust

At this ca Colonel Royal, who had just received his promotion to a lieutenant-colonelcy

Royal introduced me to General Crook, whom I had never hter I was of course fauide was Frank Grouard, a half-breed, who had lived six years with Sitting Bull hihly familiar with the Sioux and their country

After one day in ca the wagons behind Our supplies were carried by a big pack-train Down the Tongue we , thence westerly to the Rosebud River Here we struck thedown-stream From the size of this trail, which was not more than four days old, we estiest Indian arone that way It was here that ere overtaken by Captain Jack Crawford, widely known East and West as ”The Poet Scout” Crawford had just heard of the Custer massacre, and had written a very creditable poem upon receipt of the news His pen was always ready, and he made hout the country

Jack was a tenderfoot at that ti lately coe He had just brought dispatches to Crook froh a country literally alive with hostile Indians These dispatches notified Crook that General Terry was to operate with a large command south of the Yellowstone, and that the two commands would probably consolidate so that I ith Crook, Crawford at once huntedhis appointht me a present from General Jones, of Cheyenne

”What kind of a present?” I inquired, seeing no indication of any package about Jack

”A bottle of whisky!” he almost shouted

I clapped my hand over his mouth News that whisky was in the cae number of very dry scouts and soldier men Only when Jack and I had assured ourselves that ere absolutely alone did I dare dip into his saddle pockets and pull forth the treasure I will say in passing that I don't believe there is another scout in the West that would have brought a full bottle of whisky three hundred miles But Jack was ”bone dry” As Crawford refused to join me, and I was never a lone drinker, I invited General Carr over to sample the bottle We were just about to have a little drink for then into ca Lathrop, the reporter for the associated Press to e had given the name of Death Rattler Death Rattler appeared to have scented the whisky frolad to have hiood fellow, and certainly kne to appreciate a drink

For two or three days the coain much on the Indians They apparently knew exactly where ere and how fast ere going, and they moved just as fast as we did

On the fourth day of our pursuit I rode about ten ave a fine view of the surrounding country Mounting this, I searched the hills with reat colu about ten miles down the creek As this cloud drifted aside in the keen wind, I could see a colu beneath it These I at first believed to be the Indians ere after, but closer study revealed them as General Terry's soldiers

I forthwith dispatched a scout ith one when I discovered a band of Indians on the opposite side of the creek and another party of them directly in front of me For a few minutes I fancied that I had made a mistake, and that the men I had seen under the dust were really Indians after all

But very shortly I saw a body of soldiers for a skirmish line Then I knew that Terry's men were there, and that the Indians I had seen were Terry's scouts These Indians hadthat I was the leader of a big party, shouted excitedly: ”The Sioux are coeneral threw out the skir into the Post, ordered the Seventh Cavalry to forht up his artillery and had the guns unli another Custer massacre