The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-11-14

divide the command refined in for look al
the great Indian cavalcade swarming in the
northeastward valley, and covering It's grassy
surface still a good mile away. Out from
among the dingy mass came galloplng half a
dozen young braves, followed by as many
snuaws The former soon spread out over
the billowy surface, some following the III
rec,ion of the chase, some bounding on south
westward as though confident OIL HhulhS
what they sought the moment they Feacnsu
the nearest ridge; some riding straight 10 the
pont where lay the carcasses OF the earlesl
t,ictime of the hunt Here in full view OF TIE
soldierly but Youchsafing them no glance
nor greeting whatever, TWO young warfl 'gi!
refined in their lively ponies ana dlsualnlul ~ ,
turned their backs upon the spectators on Tue
divide while the squaws, with shrill laugh
and chatter, rolled from their sauu!es anu
began the drudgery of their lot-sklnnlhs d!u
cutting up the buffalos slaughtered D! thell
lords. ,o,, cite
nothing but village cut for hunt-nothlhG
in Gods world to get stampeded ABOUT. we
had al this show of warlike PREPARATION IHl
nothing" But he turned away again as ne
csnebt the steady look in the engineers blue
ewes. and shouted to his more appreciatlNe
friend. the aide-de-camp: Wei, pardheI =
haven't we fooled away enough tune mere,
or have we got to await the pleasure Oh pSopie
that never saw Indians before ~
Dean flushed crimson at the taunt' I5
well knew for whom it was meant. ne vas va.
indignant enough by this time to speak Ios
himself. but the ade-de-camp saved MN the
Il requested Mr. Dean to halt few mo,
ments. Burleigh. 1t is necessary l..siiouIo
know what band this is, and now MANY are
well, be quick about it, snapped the
ouartermaster Il want to get to Reno be-
fore midnight, and at this rate we won
make it in a week" am, c.,,.
A sergeant who could speak little SIOUX
came riding to the camp, a grin on his sun
blistered face well, sergeant, what lie
saw" asked the staff officer. >,
HE said would place to go to nell SOFT
was the prompt response. ~,
Wont he tell you who they are?'' ,ou,
.He won't. sorr He says we know
uidout askin', which is thrue, sorr. They re
Ogallallas to a man, barrln the squaWS anu
pappooses, wild ould Red Cloud hlmsel.
p' How'd YOU find out. if they wouldn
TALK" asked the staff officer. impatiently.
Twas the bucks wouldn't talk-eXcePt IN
swear wurruds | wasted no time on thenl'
sorr. l gave the first squaw the last hard-
tack in me saddlebags and tould her was II
Nachpealota and she said 1t was, ana lie
was wild Box Karesha-thats ouio r0ls0 2l -
not six hours ago, an Folsom's gone back to
the cantonment. A., t..+o,. >,
were the aide camps words. Get US 10
Reno fast as you can, Dean. strike loT tne
road again as soon as were well Deyonu tneh
buffalo Now for it! There's something pc
bird all this bogus hunt business, and Fol
som knows What it Is. go 49,,
And every mile of the way, unuI thIcA
darkness settled down over the prairie, tneIe
was something behind the trooper cayalcade-
several s1methings+wary red men, young ana
wiry. who never let themselves be seen, yet
followed On over wave after wave OF prairie
to look to it that no man went PACK IroIh
that column to carry the news OF their pres
opoa ~ tho LITTLE battalion left in charge
of the new post at Warrior Gap.
1t was the dark OF the moon, or. as the
Indians say, the nights the moon IS sleep
ing in his lodge" and by 10 p. m. the skies
were overcast. Only here and there twink
ing star was visible and only where some
trooper struck a light for his pipe could
hand be seen in front OF the race. me am
bulance mules that had kept their steady jog
during the late afternoon and the long gioam-
ing that followed still seemed able to main
tain the gait and even the big numbering
wagon at the rear came prlskly on unoer
the tug of it's triple span, but In the intense
darkness the guide at the head or the col
umn kept losing the road, and the pumping
of the wagon would reval the fact, ana
a halt would be ordered men would DIS
mount and go bending and crouching and
feeling there way over the almost barren
surface, hunting among the sage brush LOT
the double furrOw of the trail Matches In.
Vulnerable were consumed, and minutes OF
valuable. time, and the quartermaster waxed
fretful and impatient, and swore that his
mules could find their way where the troop
ers couldn't, and finally, after the trall mad
been lost and found half dozen times, old
Brooks was badgered into telling Dean to
let the ambulance take the lead. The driver
shirked at once.
There's no tellin' where we'll fetch up, "
said he. Those mules can't see the trail
if a man can't. Take their harness eff and
turn 'em loose an 1 suppose they can find
their way to- the post, but sure as you turn
them loose when they've got somethin on
hah ind 60pQOnn
ness of the creatures will prompt them to
smash things"
But the quartermaster said he'd tried it
with those very mules, between Emory and
Medicine Bow dozen times, and he'd risk
it. The driver could get off his seat il he
wanted to, and run alongside but he'd stay
where he was.
and jumped to the ground, and then the
cavaicade pushed on again. The driver, as
ordered by an employer whom he dared not
disobey. let the reins drop on the mules
backs, the troopers falling behind the yellow
ambulance and the big baggage wagon bring
ing uD the rear.
'7Then, with a horseman on each side, the
mules were persuaded to push on again, and
then when fairly started BuEleigh called to
the troopers to fall back, so that the mules
should not as he expressed it, "be inhu-
enced." Leave them to themselves and they
can get along all right," said he, but mix
them UP with the horses, and they want them
to take the responsibility"
And now the command was barely crawling.
Brooks, heavy, languid with splitting head
ache, lay in feverish torpor in his ambulance,
asking only to be let alone. The engineer a
subaltern as yet, felt that he had no right
attempting to advise men like Burleigh, who
proclaimed himself an old campaigner. The
aide-de-camp was getting both sleepy and i'm
patient, but he too. was much the quarter
masters junior in rank. As for Dean, he had
no yolition whatever. Escort the party -
were his orders, and that meant that he must
govern the movements Of his horses and men
by the wishes of the senior staff official. And
so they logged along perhaps twenty minutes
more and then there was a sudden splutter
and plunge and stumble ahead, a sharp pull
on the reins that threw the wheel team on
their launches, and thereby saved the out
fit' for when men and matches were hur-
ried TO the front the lead mules were discov-
cred kicking and splashing in mudhole.