Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1898-10-27

when Mrs. Stannard sadly stepped from
the carriage at Mrs. Barrys door, she
was accosted by Mrs. Turner, who came
tripping from Miss Maynard's side to
meet her and to say with eager dilation
ct the eye and pursings of the mouth:
"She's back-she's just got here.
Where on earth can she have been?'
And turning, unsatisfying, from her
questioner, Mrs. Stannard rang at the
Barrys' door and entered and found
Nathalie soboing her heart out as she
knelt by Mrs, Barry's side, encircled by
that lady's loving arms.
81 DECLARE said Mrs Turner that
afternoon, there's just ten times as
much mystery and misery about this
old post when the men are away as
when they re here, for that night the
doctor had a patient at Barrys' who
needed all his care-Nathalie' strength
had given way and she was very i'll in
deed.
And then came stirring, thrilling
news next day from the front Bota
battalions Of the til, diving after the
Cheyennes into the sand hills, had sud-
denly been brought to bay. Yellow
Wolf and his desperate band, finding
themselves confronted, SO said the young
men sent far out in advance by strong
forces OF cavalry and infantry from the
northern agencies, had recoiled to GER
tain well known old Businesses in the
deep breaks to the south of the Niobra-
IA, and in recoiling had stumbled
against STANDARDS advance, thereby
bringing on a sharp and rafting fight
that had warmed the cookies of the old
campaigner's heart and shown even his
tie.
All the same Yellow Wolf was in no
mood for general melee, or he could
have made it hot for Stannard that crisp
April morning, for he had only four
troops, Barry being some miles away to
the southeast. The two battalions We're
converging as they FASTENED northward,
and had Yellow Wolf been strategist
he had excellent opportunity to beat his
opponents in detail. The Indians, how
ever, really wished to avoid conflict
with the cavalry. Every life was pre-
cious i'll the long badgered and fast di-
minishing tribe, and there was some
thing almost pathetic in the efforts Of
the old chief and leader of the Chey-
ennes to get his people, warriors, wom-
en- and children, safely in touch with
their kindred Of the northern tribe, the
very thing which the interior depart
ment was most anxious to prevent.
For an hour his young men had kept
up their dashing long range fight with
STANDARDS skirmish line, striving to kill
and wound as many of the soldiers as
possible so as to hamper their subse-
quent movements. Others at the same
time far to the north kept watch over
the slow advance of the force from the
agencies, while other braves still safely
escorted the village-the old men, wom-
en- and children-far in among the fast
nesses of the sand hills to the west
There, as among the Bad Lands along
the Dakota border, were natural fortifi-
cations and tortuous, intricate trails
along which only in single file could
pursuers march, and 20 braves could
hold the passage against regiment of
soldiers. So perfectly was this masked
from the sight of the cavalry, cautious
ly advancing from the north, but still
nearly dozen miles away, and from
Stannard view, thanks to the interven-
ing ridges at which his men were i'm
petuously dashing. that when, after a
! long morning of skirmishing with not a
little loss to officers, men and mounts
the major ordered the recall and assem-.
bly, sounded and proper disposition made
for the care of the wounded, nothing
whatever had been seen of the flank
movement of the village.
An hour later, just about l O'Clock
when the warriors themselves seemed
to have drawn away from his widely
dispersed skirmishers now formed in a
big circle about the pack train and
wounded. the veteran soldier sent an
officer and q dozen men to see what
could be seen from the summit of a
butte barely a mile distant, and almost
Instantly these began signaling, and
presently IA trooper came tearing back
at gallop. "The cavalry from White
River, sir, the lieutenant says. You can
see 'em plain not more than six or eight
miles off to the north.'
Damn the cavalry from White Riv.
er!" said Stannard explosively. "Where
are the Indians?''
"None in sight, sir, anywhere %
"Well, then, they've got to their
holes in the sand hills, and we'll have
hell to pay roofing 'em out" was the
old dragon disgusted outbreak.
And Stannard was true prophet
The news that reached Russell by tele-
graph that fine April evening was that
Colonel Atherton himself had hastened
from the railway northward to the
field, that Barry was ordered to close in
on Stannard, that the Indians had got
into the strongest of their strongholds
and that war to the knife was the
least that could be expected. Still,
with Anterior in general command,
with two strong battalions such as were
led by Barry and Stannard, with the
strong force from White River, all in
the field in front Of him, perhaps old
Yellow Wolf might think it best to sur
render, sure as he was of kind treat
ment, and this was the hattar;no ,,no