this was the first race that lieutenant parker and carl, the trailer, had ever engaged in, and if there had not been so much at stake they would have thoroughly enjoyed it. for miles they kept going at the top of their speed, and then, to parker’s amazement, his horse fell behind and required constant spurring to make him keep up. after they had gone half the distance to the fort, parker reluctantly drew rein and gave up the contest.
“that is one thing at which you can beat me,” said he. “i had no idea that that nag of yours could show so much lightness of foot.”
“it is always so when a fellow brings out eastern horses to beat them,” said the guide. “you take a race of five miles, and the eastern horse will beat; but you take a race of page 92 twenty miles, and it is safe to back the endurance of the pony.”
“then i wouldn’t stand much of a show with the sioux in a fair trial of speed,” said parker.
“not if you had any distance to go. more than one fellow has been hauled off his eastern horse and killed within sight of his friends. i remember hearing some trappers talk about it at the time of the custer massacre. one fellow, who had a nice horse, happened to get away from the hostiles, and took out across the plains at the top of his speed, followed by six or seven of the savages. the indians were going to give up after a while, but all of a sudden they saw the officer pull out a pistol and put it to his own head. you see, he knew what his fate would be if captured. that is the only time i ever heard of an eastern horse beating a pony.”
lieutenant parker was not very well pleased with such talk as this. it reminded him too much of what might be his own case if he ever got into a race with the indians. lieutenant kidder and band, who had been page 93 overtaken and annihilated by some of the same indians among whom he was going, had tried on american horses to escape the death they saw threatening them, but after a race of fifteen miles the ponies came up, and it was all over with them. he did not ask any more questions after that until his guide pointed out something on the top of a distant swell. he looked, and there were the walls of the fort in plain sight; and scarcely had this thought passed through his mind when he heard a voice directly in front of him saying:
“halt! who comes there?”
“an officer without the countersign,” replied parker.
“halt, officer. dismount. corporal of the guard!—number 6.”
lieutenant parker and his guide dismounted, and in a few minutes the corporal came up, bringing a lantern to assist him in making out who the visitors were.
“i have been sent here with dispatches for general miles,” said the young officer. “i am lieutenant parker, and this man is my guide.”
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“well, i guess you are all right, so you can come on,” said the corporal. “how did you get through the sioux lines, sir?”
“we did not have any trouble with the sioux at all,” said parker. “i guess that kicking bull is holding a ghost dance somewhere, is he not? we listened, but we heard no yelling.”
“that’s where he is now, sir; but the agent sent to him to give up the man, and old bull told him that he was going to send him home. but what’s the use of that, sir? the indians will learn all they want to know in that time, and they can go on with the dance without his help.”
when lieutenant parker followed the corporal through the gate, which stood wide open, he kept his eyes on the watch for some of those wily sioux braves who were there to apprise sitting bull of their coming, but he saw none. in fact he had not seen a sioux indian since he left fort scott. he began to breathe a good deal easier.
“i believe we can go out as we came in,” said he in a low voice to his guide. “the page 95 indians are all away learning the ghost dance, and there is not one of them here to carry the news to headquarters.”
“i hope it is so, but i am afraid it isn’t,” said carl. “some brave, somewhere, has seen us come in here, and when we are ready to go out he will have help enough to stop us.”
parker sent in his name by the orderly who stood in front of the general’s door, who in a few moments came out, again, with an invitation to the lieutenant to step inside. parker obeyed, and presently found himself in the company of an elderly gentleman who had evidently just got up out of a warm bed, for his hair was all rumpled up, and he had thrown on a dressing-gown which enveloped him from his head to his heels.
“i believe i have seen you before, lieutenant parker,” said the general, taking the papers which were handed him.
“yes, sir; that was when you ordered me to report to colonel dodge of the —th cavalry.”
“well, you found it a good place, didn’t you?”
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“yes, sir. that is, it is well enough now.”
“what do you mean by now?”
“i mean, sir, that the colonel has got so that he can trust me, and he sends me out on little expeditions—like this one, for instance.”
“oh,” said the general with a smile. “well, you live up to your full duty while you are in garrison and i will answer for it that you will see plenty of service of this kind.”
the general then opened the dispatches, and when he had got a page half read he noticed that parker was still standing, with his hat in his hand, and he told him to sit down, at the same time offering a slight apology for his neglect. the lieutenant thanked him and took a chair, running his eye over the articles of furniture with which the general had thought it necessary to surround himself, and he made up his mind that the officer was not as fond of hunting as his colonel was. there were no weapons to be seen, and not a stuffed head of antelope or buffalo did he see to remind him of the plains.
“now, lieutenant, i shall want you to have page 97 my answer in your colonel’s hands as soon as possible,” said the general. “do you want some refreshments—you or your men?”
“no, sir. we brought in our pockets a bite to eat. i have but one man with me.”
the general did not say anything more. he did not express surprise that parker had come away from the fort with only a guide, for he evidently thought that was the way to do. he wrote rapidly for fifteen minutes, and when the dispatch was completed he handed it to the young officer and said: “there you are, sir. good luck to you,” and his interview with the general was completed.
“he is a man after my own heart,” said parker, when he came up to the place where the guide was standing, holding the horses. “there is the officer of the day at the gate. let us ask him to pass us out.”
this was easily done, and the boys mounted their horses and turned their faces homeward. it was now broad daylight, and lieutenant parker wondered how they were going to slip by the indians unperceived. it depended upon where the indians were. if they were page 98 still interested in their ghost dance, they could cross the river without being seen by anybody; but if they were done with it and were at home, they would be discovered and stopped. he thought at first that he would see what carl thought about it; but on looking toward him he found that he was engaged in filling up his pipe, and was going to indulge in a smoke.
“i believe i will not say anything to him about it,” said parker. “when he is ready to tell me, well and good; but i don’t care to let him see how ignorant i am.”
and the guide did not get ready to broach the subject until they had passed over the fifty miles that lay between them and the river, and were drawing near to the school-house. it was a barren-looking place, with no flowers or shade-trees around it, and it was not such a spot as would have been chosen for a place of learning in a civilized country. there was no school in session now, for, their parents being deeply interested in the ghost dance, the children could not be expected to learn anything; and, furthermore, they had page 99 to go to the new camp with their elders. as parker looked at the house he was certain that he saw a head thrust carefully around it and then as quickly withdrawn. he glanced at his guide and was satisfied that he had seen it, too, but his face never changed color.
“it is all up with us,” he said coolly.
“what do you mean by that?” asked parker; and although he intended that his voice should be firm, it trembled a little in spite of himself.
“it means that we are captured; at least i am, but you can go where you please,” said the guide.
“good heavens! let us fight!” exclaimed the lieutenant; and in an instant he had thrown his winchester up to his shoulder and held it in position.
“put up your gun,” said carl sternly. “if there is one indian there, there are a dozen. besides, the report of your rifle would bring the whole camp on us. every one of those tepees out yonder has two or three indians in it, sleeping soundly.”
“how do you know?”
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“why, haven’t you seen the women looking out once in a while? of course they know that we are coming, and depend on those fellows behind the school-house to capture us. now, when i am gone——”
carl was about to go on and give his companion some minute instructions as to the course he must pursue in order to reach the fort, but just then, as they went rapidly along the road which ran close by the side of the school-house, half a dozen indians, painted in all manner of grotesque shapes, suddenly sprang up from their place of concealment and made a wild dash for the guide’s horse. one seized his horse by the bridle, and another took hold of his gun, which was slung over his shoulder by a broad strap, and with a knife cut it loose from him. no attention was paid to parker, who sat on his horse and wondered if the savages in a fight moved as quickly as these did.
“white soldier, you go on,” said one who seemed to be the leader of the assaulting party. “we want nothing to do with you.”
lieutenant parker turned and looked closely page 101 at the speaker. the voice did not sound as though it came from an indian, and when he had taken a second glance at him, parker saw his white skin through the places where he had not been touched up by the paint. he was a squawman beyond doubt, and the lieutenant wondered what carl had been doing to him to incur his enmity.
“yes,” said the guide, “you go on to the fort; i will have to stay here.”
“why, how in the world am i to find my way back there unless you go with me?” inquired parker, who was amazed at the proposition.
“you can see the sun, can’t you? well, just keep it to your right and go ahead. trust a little to your horse. he has been that way once, and he can follow his old trail back. good-by.”
“good-by,” said the squawman. “you have wasted time enough here already.”
as if in answer to the threat implied by these words, two of the indians raised their guns and pointed them at his head, and parker, taking the hint, urged his horse forward page 102 and began crossing the river. when he reached the opposite side he turned to look at carl, and found that he and his captors were just disappearing behind the water oaks which lined the banks of the stream.
“carl knew what he was talking about when he said that some brave, somewhere, had seen us go into the fort,” thought the lieutenant, who was very much depressed by what had occurred. “but it beats me how he got into trouble with that squawman. carl never associated with such fellows as those. they have got him, and now the next thing is to find out what they are going to do with him. i must see the colonel about it as soon as possible.”
parker’s first care was to sling his winchester over his shoulder, and his second to put his hands into his pockets. he remembered how he had drawn that rifle to his face and pointed it at an imaginary indian who would attempt to rush upon him, and here he had gone and surrendered to half a dozen savages who took his guide away from him. he was fairly disgusted with himself when he thought page 103 of it. why did he not make a fight, as he had wanted to do?
“perhaps it is just as well for me that i didn’t,” said parker to himself. “there must have been five hundred indians in that camp, if they were all in their tepees, and of course i couldn’t hold my own with them. if i ever reach the fort, which is extremely doubtful, randolph will make no end of fun of me.”
by casting his eyes a little in advance of him parker could see that his horse was following the old trail that he had made some hours before. he could easily tell it, for there were two trails, the grass all pressed down and leaning in the opposite direction, and it had been made while the dew was on. he came along there in the night, but how would it be when they reached the trail over which they had passed in the daytime? he could only wait and see.
