The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-03-19
CHAPTER XII.

with 1atal pressure by the second da
Yellow Wolf had had recourse to dipl
macy-and the aborigine is q past ma
ter Of the art, a man to whom Mette
Mich and Talleyrand might have bowt
in envious contemplation.
Sending squaw to the nearest pick
post of the enemy, which happened
be on the north side, the Indian chi
asked for talk, and later that day,
solemn dignity and all the panoply
war paint and feathers, be appeare
with a retinue Of subchiefs, and, gray,
ly dismounting In the circle of Officer
and soldiers drawn up to meet him,
strobe forward, erect and proud an
powerful still, . splendid specimen {
the plains bred warrior, then halted !;
front a the commanding officer, q
though bidding him step forward an
come the rest Of the way. Atherton wa
not there. He, with his two battalions
Barry and Stannard, was carefully
closely watching the Indian position
from the south and east. Il might al
only be trick, blind under cover O
which the willy chief would attempt t,
run of his village through the mazes O
the sand hills and, favored by the rap
idly descending wings Of night, Sill
away around the right flank of the cav
airy and infantry from the White Rive,
agencies and be off and away to joir
the northern Cheyennes II he ooult
make his quarrel theirs, with theil
united warriors they could laugh at thu
combined forces in the field.
But out there on the rolling slopes tc
the north, with the broad valley of the
Niobrara stretching miles away toward
the horizon, the scene was picturesque
and even barbario. Dismounted from
their gayly caparisoned ponies, Yellow
Wolf and his principal warriors, fear.
less and bearing themselves even now
as conquerors, lowered in a feathered,
painted. brilliant group, the center of a
somber ring Of soldiery. The chief him.
self stood few PAGES advanced from his
followers, and his glance, naughty and
almost defiant, was fixed on the gray
haired, mottle faced officer whom long
years Of rather inconspiouous service
had lifted to the command. The colonel
knew little Of Indians or of Indian char
acter. Fate had found him at the agen.
cies when the order was telegraphed to
hustle out" every available officer
and man and head off those southern
Cheyennes. He was surrounded by his
subordinates, most of whom had spent
long years among the Indians and were
far better calculated to deal with them,
and to one Of these, a keen featured cap.
tain Of infantry, he turned and whis.
pered.
whats the old rip waiting forp"
"You must step forward-meet him
half way-shake hands, " was the whis.
pered answer. Rather sheepishly,
marked contrast to the savage chief In
bearing and demeanor; the colonel, with
his thumbs stuck in his waist belt,
lounged forward and, assuming an affa-
BILE grin, stopped when he neared yell
low Wolf and, slowly Withdrawing the
right hand from his belt, shifted his
guild of tobacco to the other cheek,
blushed as though be knew he were
making a mess Of it and held forth his
hand.
Wolf glanced first at the extended
hand and then at the soldier perturbed
face, something almost contemptuous
shooting across his own swarthy fea-
lures. Then slowly raising his right
hand he as coolly brought the fingers of
;he left close to the finger tips of the
'ther and began in excellent pantomims
The motion Of pulling of a glove and
,asting it aside. The whole action was
significant. Turning redder yet, the
colonel hastily jerked his gauntlet from
lis knotty digits and again held forth
lis hand. This time the warrior conde-
cended. Striding forward, erect and
ignified as ever, he seized the colonel
aw and gave it a wrench that made
be veteran vince, whereat some of the
ounger Indians nearly laughed aloud
nd there was an audible litter among
he soldiers. This formality concluded
he colonel proceeded to shake hands
nth each of the warriors in the suit of
elbow Wolf, saying, as he had heard
rother officers greet the Ogalalla braves j..
the fort, "How, Colah?" which !,
'asn't Cheyenne at all, but Sioux, or a :,
olloquial modification thereof. How. =.
YER, it seemed to pass muster among .
,e visitors, with whom certain others
the officers shook hands and exchang-
cordial greetings. They were old &C. :,
laintances. !,
And then at a word from Yellow ..
'olf his followers seated themselves in =
10 arc Of circle, all save one, an In :.
an as Thoroughbred looking as the !.
lief. who remained close to the latter's y
de-. who bent attentive ear to the :,
ords spoken in low voice by his leader =
ID then addressed himself in excellent =
lglish to the colonel:
"Yellow Wolf has come to talk with .
9 commander Of the white soldiers. y
1t we have no meat We are poor and =
Ingry Our children cry for food. y
"Order dinner for the dozen, colo :. =,
!" whispered the captain. coming to "
) side. "There can be no talk till you
;" And over an hour was consumed u
lille the chief and his friends were be. a
: fed and comforted, a proceeding =,
1t took three times the amount of ba. " :"
I and hard tack, coffee and sugar that =
uld have satisfied the stomachs Of -
my hungry white man. Meantime "
} sun was sinking toward the hori. a. a.
!, and old Stannard. with Atherton's ~
came squirting up from the ", !"
Itheast to inquire, as he did in tarse ~ ~
guage, what the devil was the mat. " y.
and why in the DEVILS abiding ~
&c they were wasting go much vain. ~
Q time. Being informed that Yellow To
IF had declared himself poor and az
,gry and had begged for food as pre-. '"
mary to the council, stannard ripped -.
an explosive protest. 1.-The old "a
undrel is only playing you," said he ~ ~
he colonel. Hes sparring for wind ~
time, don't you see? He knows ~. ~,
re right in on top of him now, by ~
t Of two days siege work, and that ~
could attack now with every pros pe
Of giving them thrashing. He's S
standing you off until sunset, colo. ua
For Gods sake send him to the :A.