, 1904-01-27
THE GANTLET
copyright. 1903. by C. B. Lewis.l

captured by the Cheyennes between
Forts Wallace and Lyon as he carried
dispatches.
The tribe then had it's headquarters
on the Smoky hill fork of the Repub-
lican river. 1t was after dark when
they reached the town, and Hall was
tied hand and foot and placed in a
tepee and four guards stationed aroun
1t. A small raiding party had that day
captured a mar belonging to the Sew
enth cavalry wagon train. The Chey-
ennes had determined not to spare
man, woman or child who fell into
their hands, but after a powwow last
ing an hour the teamster was brought
out, and Roman Nose said to him:
I'VE have captured the Flying Horse
HalD, and we want all white men to
know it. They will not believe us, but
they will believe you. Come and see
him.
He was led to the tepee, and Hall ad-
mitted his identity and charged him
with some farewell messages to friends.
He also gave him the dispatches he
was to deliver, or rather asked Roman
Nose to do so, and the chief then said:
"That your white brothers may know
you have been a captive in our hands
we will send them our mark"
The chief thereupon sliced off both of
the transfers ears and handed them to
him to put in his pocket. The direction
of Fort Wallace was pointed out, and
he was given one of the stage horses
and started off, reaching the post next
forenoon.
There did not appear to be n
chance in a hundred for Hall to escape,
but the village had no sooner become
quiet than he began to plan. He was
so triced up that it was impossible to
free himself. He worked at his lash
ings for an hour or so and then gave
up the attempt.
He knew the situation of the village
and the country around it, and he final
ly decided that his opportunity would
come next day when taken out to run
the gantlet. No matter what the rest
of the programme was, this portion or
preface was never omitted. The In
dians seemed to get more amusement
out of it than any other part.
When morning came Halls arms
were east loose, and he vas provided
with a hearty breakfast. The Indians
knew he was game, and they wanted
him TO keep his full strength and last
as long as possible. He had also an
object in view and ate all they brought
him.
1t was about 8 o'clock when he was
taken out to run the %gantlet. All his
lashings were cast off, a rope tied
around his waist, and he was exercised
for fifteen minutes to timber him up.
There We're about 400 bucks in the
lines as they were presently formed.
In most instances the warriors are al
lowed to strike with clubs, the handles
of tomahawks or hickory bows, but
in this case only switches We're used.
Hall was a swift runner, and his plan
was to make a bolt as soon as he reach
ed the west end of the line. To his
chagrin he found Il dozen mounted war
riors placed to head off any such at
tempt. He made it, however. Run
ming down the lines at the top of his
speed and receiving a cut from almost
every warrior as he passed, he broke
out on the prairie and ran for his life.
The pursuing Indians could have kill
ed him, but the idea was recapture. He
got two full miles from camp and dodg-
ed them for IN hour before this was ac-
complished. He was then made to pass
up n down the ines four times, after
which he was returned to the tepee for
an hours rest. Being stark naked,
every blow of the switches had raised
a welt, and he was SCARED from head
to heel.
The next o on the programme
was to bind him to a tree and throw
knives and tomahawks at him. The
idea vas to torture his mind, but some
of the weapons slightly wounded him,
and those who threw them were
laughed at as bunglers. Hall won the
admiration of all the warriors by his
display of nerve during the trying or
deal.
At noon he was taken back to the
AOhSC anu SlNGA dllOlIIeI utdIly uledl
and an hour later was brought out to
be tied to the stake. Before this had
been accomplished an old buffalo bull
pursued by wolves dashed into the
herd of ponies about half a mile away
and started a panic and a stampede.
There were 600 ponies in the herd, and
they made straight for the village, and
SO sudden was the alarm that for the
moment everybody was upset.
The general idea was that an attack
was being made by the soldiers, II
there was a rush in every direction for
weapons.
Hall and his guards were knocked
hown like tenpins, but the instant h