Waterbury Democrat., 1900-10-22

iturhto Fetaenfnan.si lAny'mAn wlthiafr eye2 for kHmnn nature could see at a glance, as Dean saw, that both the aid
 snd his ;bi. friend. the quartermaster,
 had been exchanging comments at the boys expense. He had shouted
 eheeery salntation to the, engineer in answer to bis friendly nod, then turned :. in saddle and looked squarely at the
 two on the back seat. and the con
 straint in their manner, the almost sui len look in their faces, told the story
 without words. It nettled Dean frank, outspoken,s straightforward ase he. had ;i always been. He hated any species of back
 biting, and he had heard of Burleigh
 as an adept in the art, and man to be
 feared. Signaling to his sergeant to keep the column opened out, as the
 prairie was almost level nowson every side. be- rode. smif onsspevolming in
 his mind how to meet and checkmate
 Burleigh's insidious moves, for in- stinctively he felt he was already at
 work. The general in command in
 those days was not Q field soldier by
 any means. His office was far away
 at the banks of the Missouri, and all
 heNknew of what was actually going
 on in his department he derived from
 official written reports; much that
 was neither official nor reliable he learned from officers of Burleigh's
 stamp. and Dean had never yet set eyes
 on him. In the engineer he felt he had
 friend on whom he could rely. and he determined to. seek his counsel at the campfire that very night, meantime to hold his peace. ..l ,... f,.. ,t,v .,..s:.. ..
 They were :trotting through shall. low depressionlint the.tmoment.;' the two springsAzagons:gu and es-' .corted by some 30 dusty hardy looking troopers. In, the, second, the yellow "' ambulance. Brooks was stretched at Rhgth, taking It easy, an attendant' 'jeggihg alongside. Be- hind them: canie d third, a big quar-
 terElast 's3wagon, drawn by six mules and loaded with .tentage and rations. Out so11ie 300 yards to the right and left rode little squads as fankers. Gut beyond them, further still, often cut off from view. by low waves of prairie, were individual troopers, rid ing as lookouts, while far to the front, full 600 yards, three or four others, spreading over the front on each side of the twisting trail, moved rapidly
 from crest to crest, always carefully scanning the country ahead before rid ing up to the summit. And now, as Deans eyes turned from his charges 10 look along the sky line to the east. he saw sudden sign of excitement and commotion at che front. A sergeant, riding with two. troopers midway be
 tween him and those foremost scouts, was eagerly. signaling to him with his
 broad brimmed hat. Three of the
 black dots along the gently rising slope far ahead had leaped from their mounts and were slowly crawling for
 ward, while one of them, his horse
 turned .adrift and .eontentedly nib bling at the buffalo grass, was surely signaling that there was mischief ahead. "l' -.. -' '
 In an instant the lieutenant was galloping out to the front, ,eautioning ently he overhauled the sergeant and bade him follow, and together the
 four men darted up on the gradual in- cline until within ten yards of where the leaders horses were placidly graz ing. There they threw themselves from saddle; one of the men took the
 reinS of the four horses, while Dean
 and the. other two, unslinging carbine
 and crouchins low, went hurriedly on
 up the slope until they came within Q
 few yards of the nearest scout. '''
 '1ndians!" he called to them, as
 soon as they were within earshot.
 But, they don't seem to be on lookout
 for us at all. They're fooling with some buffalo over here" +,. ..:
 Crawling to the crest, leaving his hat behind, Dean peered over into the swale beyond, and this was what he
 saw: k.-. . +, Half a mile away to the east the low, concave sweep of the prairie was
 cut by the jagged banks and curves
 of watercourse which drained the
 melting snows in earlier spring. Along
 the further bank a dozen buffalo were
 placidly grazing, unconsciousa of the
 fact that in the shallow, dry ravine
 itself half a dozen young Indians
 Sioux, apparently. 7- were lurking,
 awaiting the nearer coming of: the herd,. whose. leaders. at least, were
 gradually s1t: approaching the edge. Away down to the northeast. toward the, distant .Powder tiye-. the shallow stream bed gen4ed, and, following
 the pointing finger; of t:ae scout who
 crawled to his. side.- Dean gazed and
 saw, Q confused mass of slowly moving objects. betrayed for miles by the light, cloud, of dust that lowered over
 them, covering many an acre of the | prairie. stretching away down the vale. Even before he could unsling his field glass and gaze, his plainscraft told hi1n what was. slowly, steadily approaching, as though to cross his frontAan Indian village! a big one. on the move to. the mountains. bound l perhaps for the famous race. course ot
 the Sioux, 9 grand amphitheater in | the southern hills. s -i s!:. e- .Ei And even as they gazcd. 1.-two tiny | jets Of fla me ard sInolie shot from the
 ravine edge there below them. and be- | fore the dull reports could reach their ears the foremost bison dropped. on his | knees and then rolledfover on the sodi; l and then came the order. at sound ot 1 ,.A -3,s rnfF.. .,s