Page:Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains.djvu/569

Rh came up, knowing that the command would lose no time in getting there, and that it would be before daylight if it was possible.

We counted the horses of the Indians as best we could by moonlight, and made out eighty head of them. We could not make out just the number of Indians, but estimated them at seventy-five, After ascertaining as near as we could the lay of the ground and the general situation, we returned to our horses, and all started in the direction that we expected the command to come from. After we had ridden about a half mile I stopped, and George Jones started on with the other scouts to meet the command. After riding five miles they met Lieut. Jackson coming with two companies of cavalry and the entire scout force; and long before I expected them Black Bess told me by her actions that they were coming.

The Lieutenant formed his men in a triangle on the ridge, his object being to pocket the Indians; in other words, to bunch them up or prevent them from scattering. While he was forming his men and giving instructions, I told my men where the horses were and that we must get to them about the time the cavalry made the attack on the Indians. I told them that no doubt the horses would have ropes on them and the first one that I come to I would take him and lead the way. "And when you hear the first shot, all raise the yell, for by doing that we will be able to make the stampede, and if nothing goes wrong we will keep the stock going until we reach headquarters." When I got to the horses about the first one I stumbled onto was a white one, with a