The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-10-09

hnrv Della just outside. Charlie Ito the
boy), 90 and kiss your mother"
We helped her to wrap the body IN
or,It and then we carried IL to where the
husband sat, and he kissed the dead face
and covered his own with his hands.
Iucy's face betrayed the torture OF her
soul. but she shed no tears. 1t was shal-
low grave, and the body was soon hidden
from sight. When the earth had been
trodden down the girl said
awhile am preparing breakfast do you
men tear down that stable and bring up
such material as we may want TO
strengthen the cabin"
II was rough shed OF poles and thatch,
but good portion OF 1t was OF value to
US We chinked up many crevices between
the logs, made new portfolios. and when
through with our work We had made a
fort of the shanty. AS we snatched bite
TO eat the girl stood at the door and
watched. We had not finished when she
stepped back and quietly said
"They are coming-a full 200! There
Ia no hurry yet. While you eat l will
distribute the guns and ammunition.
Henry, let me draw you back little. You
can load the guns for the rest OF us to fire.
Charlie, take this Indians Winchester IN
place Of the carbine. I'll put the car
tridges here beside you. One of you men
take the front door, the other the rear.
Now. then, we are all ready for themI"
There were. as was afterward known, 23S
Indians In the force which appeared.
Within twenty-four hours they had mas
sacred about twenty white people and
burned two stage stations. Our force, so
far as they knew, was composed OF only
two men and young woman. Their con-
tempt for us was shown in their hrst
movement. Twenty young bucks, anx-
ious to distinguish themselves, were Sc
lected to attack They divided TO take
the shanty front and rear. They laid their
rifles on the grass, drew their tomahawks,
and at signal came rushing upon us
with the usual accompaniment OF whoops
and yells.
'In case either Of you need fresh gun
call out" said the girl as Bill and l stood
waiting.
As Bill always asserted when relating
our adventure around the campfire, it was
like sitting down to good dinner. We
began firing as soon as they were in range
Each of us had dead rest, and it was no
trick at all to send bullet where you
wanted to. Not one Of them on my side
got nearer than twenty feet. The fire was
SO hot that those unhurt SHE'D off.
"Four down on your side and five on
his" said the girl as she came over to me,
"and think they are all dead. That's good
shooting. They will now make general
attack. Charlie, be ready there, and Twill
take this other side. You men keep your
places as you are"
BY calling out to each other we all kept
informed as to the general movements OF
the band They held a council and then
divided into four bands. That meant an
attack on four sides Of the shanty at once,
and we placed the spare arms where they
would be the most convenient. Each band
marched off to it's station, and men from
each gathered bundles of dry grass. As
the signal for rush was given these bun
dies were ignted. Just what happens at
such time is hard to remember and de
scribe afterward The din made by over
200 redskins, each yelling at the top of his
voice, was something awful. Each had
his rifle and kept firing, and there was nc
checking such rush. / thought they
would lift the shenty high In the air as
they swept up They pulled at the logs,
battered the barricades and mounted &c
the roof, but our steady fire was too much
for them When they fell back a score OF
bundles of hay were burning against the
logs, and they doubtless thought us
doomed The water had thrown about
saved us, however. Each bundle burned
out without damage to the shanty. When
the smoke blew away the sight was one &c
be remembered. In retreating they had
carried off their dead and wounded as far
as possible, but there were twenty-three
dead still lying around, and the dry grass
was so stained and smeared with blood
and there were so many bloody trails criss-
crossing that it seemed like map drawn
In red ink. In that five minutes we killed
and wounded more Indians than the Sew
enth cavalry could show for year. Bill
and were shaking hands and yelling when
we suddenly discovered that Apologize
was dead. A stray bullet had entered the
room and passed through his head. As
we looked about we found the boy Charlie
on the bed with the girl binding up
wound in his cheek.
ut isn't very serious" she said, as we
came forward, "but will disable him for
time. We have given the redskins bad
dose, but they may come again"
did you know that-that he was deadf"
/ asked as ! pointed to the body of Apple.
gate.
eyes, some time ago, poor fellow" she
answered. "What are the Indians doing
nowi"
No band Of redskins ever suffered as
great loss at the hands of four people.
The rapidity Of our fire led them to believe
that there were score Of soldiers in the
shanty and that they had been tricked.
After about an hour a warrior approached
with flag Of truce and demanded sur
render, Our reply was a bullet, which
whizzed close enough TO scare him. About
thirty men then kept up a long range fire
ON the front of the house; while half
dozen tried TO set fire to the back roof by
means Of burning arrows. Nothing came
of it, and after parading up and down and
wasting q great deal of ammunition the
main body retreated about shutdown, leav-
ing perhaps score Of warriors TO main
tain desultory fire and prevent our es-
cape. We were so we'll satisfied that the
fight was over that we simply maintained
lookout at each door. None of US slept
The boy was in too much pain, and the
rest Of us had no desire. An hour after
sunrise 200 cavalrymen came galloping
over the prairie to our rescue, scattering
the redskins like rabbits, and our work
was done. l looked to see the young wom-