Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-03-23
shirts, with two war-tried sergeants

the first platoon, and Mason orders ''Foars.
night. trot. and away we go-Out through the
dewy willows; out past the deserted cook fires
where lies our neglected breakfast: out through
the ccttoawoJds at the edge of the water. and
then out upon the broad, dry. sandy waste of
the stream bed just as the red disk of the sun
peeps over the low ridge, far, far down the
valley.
THE FIRST MAN WE SEE IS BUFFALO BILL.
bestrlding a great strawberry roam, plunging
across the sands below us, and waving his hat.
This way. This wayI' he shouts. and Mason
and |. riding side by side. now break into
rapid lope. and the whole troop with carbines
6rasped IN brawny hands. comes cantering at
our heels- where are they, Cody!' shouts
the captain.
'.Cf yonder somewhere" shouts Bill in reply
as ne swings bis new rife by the small of the
stocs. There are two Of the scouts waving to
Us on the ridge. 1 haven't seen them myself
yet az all
We form front into line at the galiop as we
clea- the bottom. and begin the gentle ascent
to the mage IN question. II is only a few hun
dred yards away. Two or three of Bills from
TIER 5 men. hired as scouts. are :here cxcitedly
waving their hats to rs. and signaling come
on" We confidently expect to see the game as
we dash up to the ridge. but when we
get there and rein IL. surprised, there
lies a mile wide ''swale" or depres-
slOn-Gnd not an Indian In sight.
Obeying Bills signals we had crossed the stream
and started out southwark. Now the scouts,
far ahead. are waving come on and we veer
southwe stUcd. hut Mason sternly checks the
men VINO would so off in mad gdllop. II won
have any horses used up in wild goose chase, "
! he SAYS. If there are Indians IN any force We
wont have to chase far to catch them. IL there
are only a few they are miles away BY this
time" Bill still rides with u, and together we
go at brisk center tins next mile stretch, and
reach the second ridge only 10 fad the two
scouts waving their hats ON tl:i:d hog
back" another mile away eastward this
time--and when We have crossed that they are
at the crest OF still another jrlst far away rs
ever. Bat now. having taken "a shorter cut.
Captain Kellogg aud Lieutenant Reilly. with
Il" troop az their heels come riding alongside,
the two companies trOtting III parallel columns.
and In this order five or six miles below the
bivouac we strike the valley of the Cheycnnes
once more. and. still following our hat-wavers
far IN the front. go plunging through the sand.
Mason orders n moments halt 10 water oar
steedS under the willows on the northern bank:
then on We go again, and now, at last, we see
something OF the foe we are pursuing. Pony
tracks by the dozen cross the stream bed as
though scurryinS in hot haste. Here and there
a bag OF provisions. bacon. tiour or sugar {beGf-
ing the mark of the Red Cloud aGencyI-a
dirty red blanket or some other discarded item
OF tmPettt3'ehtG-decks the soil; but the scouts
are waving come on" and now we ride at
speed.
N SIGHT OF WAR PAINT.
The next half hour, full trot, we go north
westward toward high range of bluffs that
spans the horizon, aud with almost level sum-
nit. stretches far to the north. Bill has over
taken two of the scouts, and is giving them
u hearty damning for taking US south of
the river at all, but they swear the In
dams were first sighted on that side
and only took TO the stream and
turned northward after they had fallen
back on their main body. Their numbers
were anywhere from 30 to 50-"ail bucks"-i.
Z, warriors, and many of them had ponies
loaded with provisions besides their mounts.
In an honr the foremost scouts declared that
the Indians could be seen riding along the
range We were approaching. but they kept a
strong party of active young warriors well out
to the rear, who let drive their Winchesters and
Henrys whenever the scouts pressed them too
close, and yet scurried away on their nimble
ponies as soon as we came within range. At last
We caught sight of some OF them. gaudy and
gllstening In war paint and feathers, as they
rode full speed up the slopes i'll the beams of
the cloudless sun. We spurred and pressed on,
all eagerness to Overtake; we reached the sum-
NIT of the lofty range, and followed it north
ward two mortal hours occasionally exchang-
ing long range shot or two with their rear
most riders. and pressing them SO hard that
several OF them dropped their cooking kits and
one fellow abandoned his saddle and blankets,
but at last MONDAY came.
THE FIRST CHASE FAILURE
We had trotted. galloped, chased and painted
just about As miles, and never got within strik-
ing distance of them. The trail was still "hot. :"
but our horses had had enough of it, and were
fairly worn out. Far down in the valley to the
west, and over along the bluffs Of the Mini
Pusa. We could see through my field-glass that
other companies of the regiment were halted
to rest after fruitless search for the nimble
light riders, and at last Mason sent out word
to me to halt and wait for the main body to
come up. He had directed me, with a few
other hght-weights. to take the lead in the
chase, and catch them if we could-but we
couldn't for they had two horses to our one.
and could swap i'll an instant when either
was tired. Cody had said it was no use
going further. We were miles and miles
from camp, and had had no bite OF break
fas:-not that that made much difference We
passed another brace of pack saddles loaded
with plumber Just the order came to halt
and at last fairly distanced. we dismounted.
unsaddled and let our horses blow. The first
chase of the campaign over. and we never
had a show of winning. Late that evening we
got back to the camp. Captain Leib's and
Lieutenant Reilly's horses had dropped dead
under them and our run with Buffalo Bill was a
thing of the past.
But We had much better luck the next time.
CHARLES hING, Captain. L. s. 4.
----------~ ~O>-