"the bucks were coming up alarmingly fast."
"when general forsyth arrived," continued the scout, in his description of the battle of wounded knee creek, "he ordered the male indians to come for a talk. they come out, scowling and sullen, and gathered in a half-circle in front of big foot's tent. the chief was inside, ill with pneumonia.
"the general told them they must surrender their arms in groups of twenty. by this time they were thoroughly enraged, but most of our boys thought they were so cowed they would obey without much trouble. i didn't like their looks, and told jenkins at my side to hold himself ready, for i believed them fellows meant mischief, and a fight was sure.
"'i guess not,' he answered; 'they're obeying orders.'
"the first score slunk back without a word. we waited a long while, and by-and-by they came out agin, and how many guns do you 'spose they brought with 'em. just two miserable pieces, worth so much old iron.
"the major was impatient because of the delay, and, when he saw this, he too was angry. he turned and talked a few minutes with general forsyth, both speaking so low that i couldn't catch what they said, though i seen the general was as angry as the major, but he kept cool. you see, the major was managing the business, but he made sure that everything was done as general forsyth wanted.
"the cavalry was now ordered to dismount, and they done so, forming a square about fifty feet back and closed in, standing within a half-dozen yards of the indians that was in the centre.
"it was plain that the latter didn't mean to obey orders, though they pretended to. accordingly a body of cavalry was sent to make the search themselves. when they came out, which they did in a few minutes, they brought sixty good rifles with 'em. that was doing the business up in style; but the general and the major didn't intend there should be any half-way work about it. the soldiers were directed to search the bucks themselves, for there was no doubt that all of 'em had their guns hid under their blankets.
"the sioux stood scowling, ugly and savage. when about a dozen had been searched and their rifles brought out, they couldn't stand it. they were furious. like a flash, the rest of 'em whipped out their guns from under their blankets and let fly at us. it was so sudden that before we knew what it meant, a hundred guns had been fired, and the reports sounded like one volley.
"it was all done in a twinkling. there we were, close enough almost to touch the redskins, and the flash of their rifles was right in our faces. i remember that i was looking into the muzzle of one of 'em, when the gun went off, and i felt the bullet nip my ear; but others weren't so fortunate, and the poor boys dropped as though so many thunderbolts had fallen among 'em.
"it didn't take us long, howsumever, to get in our work.
"i can tell you," added scout jackson, "there were lively times for twenty minutes or half an hour. during the battle we stood off some distance when firing at each other, but it was like you and me standing near enough almost to shake hands, and blazing away. them redskins fought hard. it was bang, bang, with the soldiers dropping all around, and no saying when your own turn was to come.
"but the hostiles got the worst of it. some of 'em, seeing how it was going, broke through our lines and dashed for the hills to the south-west. we followed 'em, and the fighting kept up as bad as ever, though the shots wasn't so rapid. we lost about thirty, and more than that wounded, and of them some are likely to die."
"where were the squaws and children during the fight?" asked brinton.
an expression of scorn passed over the face of the scout as he made answer—
"where was they? fighting like so many wild cats. you'll be told that we chased and shot down women and children. there's no question that a big lot of 'em was killed, and how was it to be helped? them squaws was dressed so much like the bucks that you couldn't be certain which was which. from the way they fought, you might have believed each one was ten bucks rolled into one.
"but of course we cleaned 'em out, for that's what the seventh always does, when it undertakes that sort of thing; from what i've told you, you'll know there was hot work for a time. a youngster about like yourself had charge of a hotchkiss gun. and the way he handled that all through the fight made us feel like cheering, even when we didn't dare to stop shooting long enough to do so.
"when the sioux fled, this youngster dragged his gun from the knoll where he had been stationed. leftenant hawthorne was at his side, and the fighting had become skirmishing on the crests of the ravines, where big foot's band had taken refuge. the bullets were singing and whistling through the air, but that boy wheeled his hotchkiss to the mouth of the gulch, where the firing was the heaviest. the minute he done that, he and the men attached to the gun become the targets of the indians, who was determined to shoot 'em down. the bullets splintered the wheels of the gun, and sent the dirt flying right and left and in the air. a ball struck leftenant hawthorne's watch, glanced off, and wounded him; but the youngster pushed the gun forward and shelled the pockets in the ravines.
"that boy kept it up, pushing steadily on and sending the shells wherever they could do the most harm. when the battle was over, he was found wounded, leaning against the shattered wheel of his gun, too weak to stand erect. big foot was among the killed."
brinton kingsland was so interested in the story of his companion, who was too modest to dwell upon his own exploits, that he forgot for a few minutes his own situation and the absence of his friends. with only a brief comment on what had been told him, he said, starting up—
"but, nick, of what have i been thinking? here the morning is fully come, and i have not learned anything of father, mother, and edith. how could i forget them so long?"
"it was my fault more than yours," replied jackson; "there's nothing to be made by staying here; let's ride out of the gully and look around; i've had a bite, and have something left over; will you have it?"
"not just now," replied brinton, as he rode side by side with him out of the depression where he had spent the night.
reaching the higher ground, they looked over the surrounding country. the youth gave his chief attention to the rear—that is, in the direction of the big cheyenne, for he believed that wolf ear and the other hostiles were not far off. but, if so, they were not in sight.
the scout, however, had discovered something in front, and at a considerable distance, which interested him. shading his eyes with one hand, he gazed intently toward the north.
"by gracious!" he exclaimed, "i believe that's them."
"where?" eagerly asked his companion.
"i don't mean your folk, but that waggon train with supplies from rapid city."
brinton's heart sank, for his hopes had been high; but he found some consolation, after all, in the declaration of the scout.
a mile away, across the prairie, a party seemed to be preparing to leave camp. at that distance it was impossible to identify them, but jackson was positive that they were the train in search of which he had left the camp at wounded knee.
brinton's hope was that his parents were with them. it would have been hard for him to explain just why his hope was so strong in this respect, but it seemed reasonable to suspect that the light of the camp had attracted their notice during the darkness, and that they had gone thither, after finding it impossible to rejoin him.
the real, but slight, ground on which he based this fancy was that his pony jack had been found while he, his owner, was travelling in a direct line from the big cheyenne toward the camp. since the animal must have kept company for a time with the other two, the kingslands had continued the same course, and might have descried the twinkle of the camp fire.
"i myself would have seen it, had i not ridden the other way and gone into the gully, where i couldn't detect anything a dozen feet away."
"yes, i'm almost sure it's them," added jackson, after further studying the camp; "let's find out."
the proposition suited brinton, and the two headed their ponies toward the camp.
although at the moment of starting there was no danger in sight, and the supply train did not seem to have been disturbed, nicholas jackson was too experienced to forget every precaution, and while he studied the scene in front, he kept glancing toward the other parts of the compass.
and it was well he did so, for a few hundred yards only were passed when he said in a low voice, in which no excitement could be noted—
"it looks as if them bucks would like to j'in our company."
brinton glanced back, and saw the half-dozen hostiles with whom he had had his stirring experiences the night before dashing towards them from the direction of the cheyenne.
there was no need to engage them in a fight: indeed, it would have been the height of imprudence to do so. jackson and brinton were well mounted, and they instantly struck their horses into a run. the indians shouted on perceiving that they were discovered, and they also urged on their animals. several shots were fired, but the distance was too great to do execution.
the race had continued but a little while when it became apparent that the pursuers were gaining, jackson's horse was doing his best, but brinton's was not. he could draw away from the indian ponies, but his rider held him back to keep the scout company.
the chase could not last long, for the camp was comparatively near at hand, but the bucks were coming up alarmingly fast.
"there's no use of both of us being overhauled," said jackson; "ride ahead and save yourself."
"but i can't desert you."
"faugh! don't be foolish; you can't help me, and you're sure to be shot if you stay; off with you!"
"but what will become of you?"
"that's nothing to you; it looks as if i must bid you good-bye; billberry has gone lame, but i'll make the best fight i can, and if i go down, some of 'em have got to go with me."
brinton was much perplexed what to do, but he knew that the question of life and death must be decided within the next few seconds.
