Page:The Indian History of the Modoc War.djvu/108

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in their breastworks was to fire at the place where they saw the puff of smoke made, whenever the Modoc fired with his Springfield rifle. They had the same kind of fire arms that the soldiers had, as they had captured plenty of guns in their former battles with the soldiers. The first Indians killed hap- pened a day or so before the Modocs vacated their forts and cave. One afternoon, the date I cannot tell, two young braves were sitting in the long cave where the women and children were eating dried beef. They had been out all morning in the line of battle and had also been on guard all night without food. They were hungry. Some one saw what they called the big soldiers' bullets fall near the entrance of the cave. The shell rolled over a few times and settled against a rock and did not explode. The two young braves were eager to examine the bullet. They wanted to see how and what it was made of, or what there was about the big bullet that caused it to make so much noise when it would explode. One of the two ran out and secured the shell. He took it in the cave where the women and children were. The women made the young fellows take it out of the cave. They told them it might explode. If it did, it would kill nearly all of them in the caves, so the fellows laid the shell down between them and began to pound it with rocks. They could not do anything with it, so one went in the cave and got an old ax and file. He joined his chum again. One took the file and commenced to file on the plug in the shell. The squaws was calling at them all the while to quit, as they might get hurt. They both said the soldiers' big bullet was dead. It would hurt no one; no danger at all. One of them got the axe, told his chum to stand back. He says, "I'll hit it with the ax, I think it will break easy," so he drew back and struck the shell with all his strength. The lick caused the shell to explode. All the In- dians ever recovered of the two young braves was their heads and one foot. Both heads was brought into Gillem's head- quarters by some of the soldier boys. I went and viewed them. One soldier asked me if I recognized the faces. I told him that I did. He asked who or what Indians the heads belonged to. I told them that they w r ere two young men's