Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-07-15

1t.
The chance came but none too soon.
Many a trooper welcomed the oraers
that sent the Twelfth to winter quar-
tiers. but not so was it vita me Trays
Fosters Five Hundred marched Ill PAST
the agencies and through the line Oh
frontier forts to snug stations along the
railway, but the Grays bsgge1 10 De
gwen FIRST chance at the Brules, for
haIf-breed scouts and "squaw men
whjspered the tale that both the nrice-
less siIken treasure and the scalp OF
DOOR. brave hearted Bill Flint, who bore
1t foremost IN the enarge. were nid1eA
in the lodge of that painted villain
Stabber. In the fatal minute in which
the troop was thrown into confusion
plunging and struggling upon the cnaFs-
ers' necks in quicksand. Hunther. Flint
and the few that managed TO cross were
cut off in the thick, screening WILLOWS
and. though the Sioux had scurried
away at sight Of the approach OF fos-
ter's main column, they had snatehea
as trophies two bloody scalps and the
silken s~wallow-tail.
And these were nov in the Brule VII
lage-Stabber's ~village-were theyY VI
course no soldier could presume to en-
ter there. The Aegis of the Indian
bureau overspread the warriors In their
winter home, and the bureau would be
lieve no such iniquity of the wards OF
the nation as that laid at their door by
envious hangers-on about the agency.
Stabber, of course. swore it was all a lie
and laughed in his frowsy blanket at
the way the agent backed him up.
"A1l right said the Grays: He'll
take the war path again next spring
Then give us a fair field and no-Fos-
ter"
And SO It came about. Those were
the days when we fought Indians all
summer and fed them all winter-that
being the policy of a wise and beneficsnt
government. What the Twelfth asked
was that the Indians shouldn't be "fos-
tered summer and winter both. In
May the Brules Jumped and Joined
the Northern Sioux; in June the
Twelfth was far to the "Chonook' side
of the Cheetish mountains, and one day
the bluffs of the Rosebud were red with
daring, dashing Indian warriors in hot
battle with long lines Of dismounted
skirmishers, and up and down the bill
lowing field, hither and yon, yelling
haunting, screaming shrill defiance
rode that paint-streaked villain Stab
Der, waving aloft over his feathered
head the guidon of the Grays.
Twice they charged-only to see
every warrior fash away from their
front and darting out of sight behind
bluffs and divides to right and left, and
to feel their lead kissing about them
from rock and copse and covert, telling
more of their beautiful grays end emp
tying half a dozen saddles.
mo sense in that" said the veteran
trooper in supreme command, and or
dered them back to the, lines. Back
they rode, burdened with wounded, and
out came Stabber from the screen of the
ridge full a thousand yards away, and
darted along parallel with the fighting
front at top speed of his pony-his
feathered war bonnet and the silken
guidon streaming in the wind-a taunt-
ing, ~tantalizing mark. Vengefully the
carbines cracked and the bullets tore at
the turf about him, but the range was
too great. Only a chance shot would
lay him low. The Grays, dismounting,
ground their teeth and sent their horses
to the rear, while the wounded hobbled
or were borne away to the pack train
Then up rode old Stannard, the fight
ing major, his eyes flashing, his face
aflame.
Fire slow" he shouted; Just stand en-
off awhile, men" Then he signalled to
their raging captain to follow him, and in
eAiAOttlSA ~ u tNAS
were crouching at a knoll in rear of the
center of the line. There was a moment
of eager gestures, Stannard evidently ex-
planning some projected move. We could
see him pointing down the valley, and up
to the crests of the eastward bluffs where
our reserves were posted to prevent at
tack from the rear. We could see hat
lanky Blake was arguing, and that Billy
Ray, all Impotence, had leaped again into
saddle. Whatever the discussion 1t didn't
last long. STANDARDS word was law with
NOSE of them-even s~low-going old Gregg.
We saw Ray dart for the far right of the
line. We saw Legs Blake straddle his
gaunt charger and follow. We saw Gregg
and Wayne and gruff old Stand climb into
saddle and trot back to their skirmish line
and then came our own troop leader with
blood in his eye" and we knew there was
fun ahead for somebody. 1t came soon
enough. Far down at the right, Rays
men rose up from the prairie and began
slowly backing toward the stream bed
wherein their horses were sheltered. At
the same moment. as though answering
STANDARDS signals, TX" troops fellows, in
the cottonwoods to our left, opened saw
agely on the clumps of warriors across
the valley. making them duck and dive for