Page:The life and adventures of James P. Beckwourth, mountaineer, scout, pioneer, and chief of the Crow nation of Indians (IA lifeadventuresof00beckrich).pdf/273

Rh that time, to go home and report to the village that we were all slain. I also requested Mr. Hunter to select the best horse in the herd, and go with the boys. But he refused, saying, if there was any fighting in the wind, he wanted to have his hand in it. I then endeavoured to persuade the heroine to go, but was answered with an emphatic "No!"

The boys started with the horses, but only succeeded in reaching the fort with about two hundred. We had a very poor chance for defending ourselves against such an overwhelming force as was then before us in an open-field fight. There was no fort, nor breast-work, nor rocks, nor bushes to protect us, but we were exposed to the storm of bullets and arrows that they poured upon us without ceasing. At last we discovered a large hole in front of a hill, and we all leaped into it for shelter. The enemy, confident of an easy victory, displayed great bravery for Black Feet. They charged up to the very brink of our entrenchment, discharging their volleys at us in lines, which, considering the advantage of their position, produced comparatively little effect. One of my warriors repeatedly ran out of the entrenchment alone, and drove all before him. Exasperated at my cursed misadventure, and absolutely sickening at the scene of mourning we should occasion at the village, I grew desperate, and lost all consideration of safety. I sprang from the gully, and rushed singly among a crowd of besiegers; wherever I advanced the enemy drew back. It was truly astonishing to see three or four hundred recede, and many of them fairly run, as often as two or three of us showed ourselves at the top of the bank, when they might have burned us to death with the powder from the muzzles of their guns. They seemed to be panic-struck or bewildered. The warrior who had charged so often among them had his thigh broken; he then sat down and tantalized them. He told them who he was, how many of their warriors' scalps he had taken, and at what times; how many of their squaws and horses he had captured; and then desired them to come and finish him, and take his scalp, for it had long been forfeit to them. He reminded me of the words of the poet, which I had read when at home: