The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-03-12

day he looked purty bad. Well, waited for orders
 till we were nearly crazy. and when it seemed as if couldn't stand it any longer, along came an official letter for the captain with War Department stamp on it. There letter from the girl too. carried them to him and waited to what he wanted He read the girls letter first and when he had finished 1t his face white sheet and he just groaned, 70 GodP and buried his face in his Well, walked little closer and says:
 "Tsn't there anything I can do for you, Captain!; ! "He raised his head at that. and the look of him scared me. He just burted out:
 Brown, she's thrown She won't marry me-do you understandl She says I don't care for her or I'd come anyway; that there Ire plenty of men to take my place. and God knows and you know that can't go when we're likely to get orders any rrinute.'
 "'Theres an official letter there that may want an answer, sir
 aFIe grabbed it up and it open and read it twice Then of the color came back in his face They've offered rowing commission, Brown, he says I'm to raise and equip fifty scouts I'll ask for authority include you. Get traps together so we can at a moments notice
 @Then he wrote long letter to the girl and when came mail it he looked almost as if he'd been crying, but I didn't take any notice
 seWe had our work for then. The cap tain knew everybody in Territory and weren't long in getting and horses Then along came the rifles, and they beauties No one there had ever anything like ern, for they were the Henry seven-shot repeaters Each one of us had two
 
 out as fine body of the shone on seWe worked steadily toward the West, and did of scouting without coming with any of the hostiles You boys all know that country-nothng but arkaE plains covered with greasewood and sage brush cut up by deep guies and dry washes and high ranges of rocky, barren hills with broad valleys in between Game was plentiful, and we always had "One afternoon we found plenty of fresh signs. pony and rnoccasin tracks remember were plumb dis eusted that day; not an Indian had and yet
 
 we made. We tired, toos horses and men. Just at sundown we to where the trail led down little gully. The steep slopes each side were cov- cred with big rocks and tall sage brushs with here and there few squat cedars. likely place for ambush, but hankers explored 1t before we went through. We came into broad meadow sur rounded by low hil1s which cut in two by the river and along the banks big cottonwood trees In the middle of the river a small island COW { cred with willows and 8 good broad current ran on each side, purty swift but only about belly deep to horse It all looked good us, and when the cap tain called the halt were glad enough to stop.
 Well took the captains horse but he didn't seem easy in his mind and presently he and the doctor and Old Bill T1ttle the chief of scouts, were hard at it. heard te captain say Futile, don't like the look of things They're all around to certainty and are just waiting their chance told the boys what had heard and it cheered 'ern up nightly.
 By the time we'd groomed and fed the horses and had supper it dark and the captain orders saddle up, and for each sleep his picket pn all ready to grab his horse case of trouble We posted the sentres and you bet it wasn't long before the of sound asleep.
 "I don't know what time it was but all of sud den hell seemed to break loose. The next thing l knew I had my horse by the head-sta1, and he was rearing and pungng and trying his damnedest to break loose. It the most internal racket I'd ever lis tened toi sounded like herd of buffalo charging down It was the Indians, all right and every mothers of 'em screechng his lungs out and Tapping his blanket in the air to try and stampede the horses. They got the packmu1es-there isn't trying to hold government mule when he's scared but hung our horses and got 'ern queted down. It was over in second almost, and got to the captains side just the trumpeter sounded the mount Up went into saddles, and the captain shouted, This way, boys' and made for the island We forded the river just the light broke in the east and dismounted the island, every stand ing behind his horse.
 "As it turned out, the red devils expected to take the back trail, and they had purty little bush fixed up for in the gully that we'd come through the night before, but they couldn't fool the captain. The minute they charged down from the op- posite direction he seemed to know what their plan was and he upset it by taking the island, which move was mighty unexpected
 "As soon they what we'd done, their howls full of disappointment, and then they started to make things interesting Every bush in the coun- try seemed to be spouting flame and smoke, and as