St. Paul daily globe., 1893-03-24
A COUNCIL OF THE DEAD.
Nine Scouts Went Out, but None
of Them Ever Came Back.

Nine Scouts Went Out, but None
of Them Ever Came Back.
Chicago Times.
We had sighted the Cheyenne village
Just before sundown, and ere the night
became too dark the whole company
had moved up to within half mile of
it, so as to be ready for an attack when
the moon rose Between US and the
village was a wooded hill, and as night
fairly set in two OF our KiOWa scouts
were sent forward to spy Out the
strength and location of the village.
The horses were corralled in small
valley; no fires were lighted, and the $50
men looked to be blotches on the earth
as they rested after the long march.
Half an hour after the first scouts
were sent out two more were dis
patched. The first two ought to have
returned at the end of an hour, but
four had been heard of at 10 O'Clock the
third pair were sent forward. We
could hear the barking of the dogs IN
the village and catch the tinkle of the
bells on the leaders of the herd of
ponies, and we had the utmost conf
dence that our presence was GnSus-
pected and unprepared for. We had
but to pick our way carefully up the
hillside, descend to the eastern base,
and there was the village before us.
The moon would rise at 1O:30. We
would wait half an hour after that.
''Can it be that your young men are
afraid, and are hiding in the bushes"'
asked the general OF Red Fox, the chief
of the scouts. as the latter crept up be-
side him in obedience to message.
"A Kiowa afraid! ~ replied the chief.
"Wnere is the enemy who dares charge
Kiowa warrior with knowing what
fear is? The village is large and my
scouts wish to bring YOU full informa-
ton. They will even tell you how many
papooSeS there are in the village when
they return"
Fifteen minutes later, as nothing had
yet been heard from the scouts, Red
Fox started ont with two others, prom
isng to send back word within quar-
ter of an hour. 1t did not come. The
general waited for three-quarterS of an
hour and then we got the whispered
command to move up the hill. Like
shadows we followed in each others foot
steps-turning, twisting apd climbing.
At the crest we paused tofisten. Here
and there dog bayed at the mOon-nOw
and then came the JinKle of bell. 1t
seemed as if every soul in the village
was fast asleep. Now, as we descended,
every man increased his caution, and
the only sound a listener could have
heard was slight rustling as OF a sum-
mer breeze moving twig and leaf. We
cleared the pines at last aud drew up i'll
line beyond them.
Where is the village?"
Each man asked himself the question
ac M otnn6 ct torinU nf tha NVhprQ
the village had been and still ought to
be, but was not. A hundred men had
seen it, before sunset. Ten minutes
ago we had heard the dogs and bells.
The valley was clear of tepeeS. There
was not a campfire. The full moon
showed us every blade of grass under
our feet, and would have betrayed a
pony a mile away. We stood aghast
and appalled, when we got the order to
move forward. In five minutes we
were among the ashes of the eXtin-
guished campfires. Five minutes later
we were looking in horror upon the fate
which had befallen our scouts. There
they were-nine of. them-Seated i'll
circle, each body propped up by a
rock at its back. They faced inward,
and their feet touched. Some had been
stabbed, others killed by blow of the
tomahawk. Nine dead men sitting in
council, as it were, with the blood still
ooZing from their mortal hurts, with
their chins on their breasts and their
arms crossed! Around the dead were
$50 living men, looking up and down
and across the valley for trace of what
had been. Five hundred people, 300
ponies, nearly 200 lodges-all had van
ished off the face of the earth. leaving
a council of dead men to point out the
direction of their mysterious flight.